Mark 4:14
in Mark 4The farmer sows the word.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The sower soweth the word.
KJV
The sower soweth the word.
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This verse in Mark 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Each of these has his agents among men themselves; and Christ's agents in the sowing of the good seed are the preachers of the word. Thus, as in all the cases about to be described, the sower is the same, and the seed is the same; while the result is entirely different, the whole difference must lie in the soils, which mean the different states of the human heart.
This site's exposition
how then will ye know all parables
on Mark 4:13-14
Jesus treats the sower as the key parable, the one that unlocks the method for reading all the rest, and his mild rebuke, know ye not this parable, expects more from the twelve than they had shown. The sower soweth the word: the seed is identified once and for all, so every soil that follows describes a hearer's heart rather than a variation in the message itself. The bench notes how deliberately Mark keeps this explanation reserved for the inner circle, matching the pattern of private instruction that runs through the whole Gospel.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The Greek culture, along with its philosophy, was preparatory. By this it is made clear how obliquely, not with a straight direction, gifts have come from God to humanity—in that miscellaneous way that showers fall down on the good land, and on the dunghill, and on the houses. Then both grass and wheat sprout. Both figs and reckless trees grow on sepulchers. These things are like a figure of the truth disclosing itself. All enjoy the same influence of the rain.
The Medieval Church2 voices
The reading of the holy Gospel which you have just heard, dearest brothers, does not need exposition, but exhortation. For human frailty does not presume to examine what Truth itself has expounded. But there is something you ought carefully to consider in this very exposition of the Lord: that if we were to tell you that the seed signifies the word, the field the world, the birds demons, the thorns riches, your mind would perhaps hesitate to believe us. Hence the same Lord deigned to expound through himself what he was saying, so that you might learn to seek the meanings of things even in those matters which he did not wish to explain through himself. Therefore by expounding what he said, he made it known that he was speaking figuratively, so that he might make you certain when our frailty opened up to you the figures of his words. The words of the Lord which you perceive with your ears, retain in your mind. For the word of God is food for the mind. And just as food taken in is rejected when the stomach is weak, so a word that is heard is not retained in the belly of memory. But whoever does not retain nourishment, his life is surely despaired of. Therefore fear the danger of eternal death, if you receive the food of holy exhortation but do not keep in memory the words of life, that is, the nourishment of righteousness. Behold, everything you do passes away, and to the final judgment, without any intervening moment, you hasten daily, whether willing or unwilling. Why then is what must be left behind loved? Why is that to which we are heading neglected?
(non occ.) And for this reason, the Lord in saying these things, shows that they ought to understand both this first, and all following miracles. Wherefore explaining it, He goes on, The sower soweth the word.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
24-26 ); they must not observe winds and clouds ( Eccl. xi. 4, 6 ), and must look up to God, who gives seed to the sower, 2 Cor. ix. Secondly, That of the many that hear the word of the gospel, and read it, and are conversant with it, there are, comparatively, but few that receive it, so as to bring forth the fruits of it; here is but one in four, that comes to good.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
The sower soweth the word.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses contain the parable of the sower. Of all the parables spoken by our Lord, none is probably so well-known as this. There is none which is so easily understood by all, from the gracious familiarity of the figures which it contains. There is none which is of such universal and perpetual application. So long as there is a Church of Christ and a congregation of Christians, so long there will be employment for this parable. The language of the parable requires no explanation. To use the words of an ancient writer, "it needs application, not exposition."
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses contain the parable of the sower. Of all the parables spoken by our Lord, none is probably so well-known as this. There is none which is so easily understood by all, from the gracious familiarity of the figures which it contains. There is none which is of such universal and perpetual application. So long as there is a Church of Christ and a congregation of Christians, so long there will be employment for this parable. The language of the parable requires no explanation. To use the words of an ancient writer, "it needs application, not exposition." Let us now see what it teaches. We are taught, in the first place, that there are some hearers of the Gospel, whose hearts are like the wayside in a field . These are they who hear sermons, but pay no attention to them. They go to a place of worship, for form or fashion, or to appear respectable before men. But they take no interest whatever in the preaching. It seems to them a mere matter of words and names, and unintelligible talk. It is neither money, nor food, nor drink, nor clothes, nor company; and as they sit under the sound of it, they are taken up with thinking of other things. It matters nothing whether it is Law or Gospel. It produces no more effect on them than water on a stone. And at the end they go away, knowing no more than when they came in. There are myriads of professing Christians in this state of soul. There is hardly a church or chapel, where scores of them are not to be found. Sunday after Sunday they allow the devil to catch away the good seed that is sown on the surface of their hearts. Week after week they live on, without faith, or fear, or knowledge, or grace — feeling nothing, caring nothing, taking no more interest in religion, than if Christ had never died on the cross at all. And in this state they often die and are buried, and are lost forever in hell.
The words behind it
5 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | The [one] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σπείρων | speiron | sowing | G4687 → | 52 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγον | logon | word | G3056 → | 329 times |
| σπείρει. | speirei | sows. | G4687 → | 52 times |
ὁThe [one]
hoG3588 →19766 times
σπείρωνsowing
speironG4687 →52 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
λόγονword
logonG3056 →329 times
σπείρει.sows.
speireiG4687 →52 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 13:19When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
it leads to
- Luke 8:11–15
Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
- Hebrews 2:1
We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- Matthew 13:38
The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
- 1 John 5:18
We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.
- Luke 8:11–15
Through
Luke 8:11Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:23–25
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
- Mark 4:14–20
The farmer sows the word.
- Matthew 13:19
When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
- James 1:21
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.
- 1 Peter 1:23–25
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 1; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 15; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.