Mark 4:18
in Mark 4Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And others are they that are sown among the thorns; these are they that have heard the word,
KJV
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
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This verse in Mark 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIt should be noted that the Lord, in His explanation, says that cares, pleasures, and riches choke the word. For they choke it because by their importunate thoughts they strangle the throat of the mind; and since they do not allow good desire to enter the heart, they kill, as it were, the passage of the breath of life. It should also be noted that He joins two things with riches, namely cares and pleasures, because indeed they both oppress the mind through anxiety and dissolve it through abundance.
This site's exposition
And these are they which are sown among thorns
on Mark 4:18-19
The thorny ground hearer actually hears the word, unlike the first soil, and the choking powers are named with precision, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in. None of the three is inherently evil, care, wealth, and desire all having a lawful place in life, and the bench reads unfruitful rather than destroyed as the verdict, a life crowded out rather than uprooted. Mark's list names desire itself alongside worry and wealth as a choking power, slightly wider than the shorter phrasing elsewhere in the Gospels.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Allow the Spirit of God to dwell within you; then in his love he will come and make a habitation with you; he will reside in you and live in you. If your heart is pure you will see him and he will sow in …
A commentator
John ChrysostomTHE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW, HOMILY 44.7 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
When the Word is choked, it is not merely due to the thorns as such, but to the negligence of those allowing them to spring up. There is a way, if there is a will, to hinder evil growth and use wealth appropriately. For this reason he warned not of "the world" but of the "care of the world"; not "riches" as such but "the deceitfulness of riches." Let us not place the blame on what we possess, but on our own corrupt mind. For it is possible to be rich and not be deceived. It is possible to be in this world, and not be choked with its cares. For indeed riches have two contrary disadvantages; one, anxiety over them, wearing us out, and spreading darkness over us; and the other, luxury, which makes us soft.… Do not marvel at his calling our luxuries "thorns." If you are intoxicated in your sense you may not be aware of this. One is in sound health who knows that luxury pricks sharper than any thorn. Luxury wastes the soul away even worse than anxiety. It causes more grievous pains both to body and soul. For no one is as seriously harmed by anxiety as by immoderate indulgence.… It brings on premature old age, dulls the senses, darkens our reasoning, blinds the keen-sighted mind, and makes the body flabby.
The Medieval Church2 voices
(ubi Sup.) There are some who both experience its usefulness and feel a desire for it, but some of them the calamities of this world frighten, and others its prosperity allures, so that they do not attain to that which they approve. Of the first of whom He says, And these are they who fell on stony ground; of the latter, And these are they which are sown among thorns. But riches are called thorns, because they tear the soul with the piercing of its own thoughts, and after bringing it to sin, they, as one may say, make it bleed by inflicting a wound. Again He says, And the toil of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches; for the man who is deceived by an empty desire of riches must soon be afflicted by the toils of continual cares. He adds, And the lusts of other things; because, whosoever despises the commandments of God, and wanders away lustfully seeking other things, is unable to attain to the joy of beatitude. And concupiscences of this sort choke the word, because they do not allow a good desire to enter into the heart, and, as it were, stifle the entrance of vital breath. There are, however, excepted from these different classes of men, the Gentiles who do not even have grace to hear the words of life.
Here three classes of people are indicated in whom the word is lost: some are inattentive, these are signified by the phrase "by the road"; others are fainthearted, these are understood by the phrase "on rocky ground"; the third are lovers of pleasure, signified by …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And these are they that are sown among thorns,.... Such hearers of the word are designed by the thorny ground, upon which other seed fell, as it was sown, who are of worldly dispositions; who are immoderately careful and anxious about the things of this life, and are bent upon acquiring earthly riches, and gratifying their carnal and sensual appetites: such as hear the word; who notwithstanding are prevailed upon through custom, or the dictates of their consciences, to attend upon the ministry of 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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἄλλοι | alloi | another | G243 → | 155 times |
| εἰσὶν | eisin | are | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| οἱ | hoi | those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| εἰς | eis | among | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀκάνθας | akanthas | thorns | G173 → | 14 times |
| σπειρόμενοι· | speiromenoi | sown; | G4687 → | 52 times |
| οὗτοί | houtoi | These | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| εἰσιν | eisin | are | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| οἱ | hoi | those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγον | logon | word | G3056 → | 329 times |
| ἀκούσαντες, | akousantes | hearing, | G191 → | 425 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἄλλοιanother
alloiG243 →155 times
εἰσὶνare
eisinG1510 →2333 times
οἱthose
hoiG3588 →19766 times
εἰςamong
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
ἀκάνθαςthorns
akanthasG173 →14 times
σπειρόμενοι·sown;
speiromenoiG4687 →52 times
οὗτοίThese
houtoiG3778 →1381 times
εἰσινare
eisinG1510 →2333 times
οἱthose
hoiG3588 →19766 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
λόγονword
logonG3056 →329 times
ἀκούσαντες,hearing,
akousantesG191 →425 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 13:22The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
it leads to
- Luke 8:14
The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 6:9–10
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 4:18–19
Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
- Luke 12:15
And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
- Luke 8:14
Through
Jeremiah 4:3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.
it leads to
- Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- Matthew 13:7
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 10:12
Through
Luke 8:14The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does…
it leads to
- 1 John 2:15–17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 John 2:15–17
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Evagrius Ponticus, ADMONITION ON PRAYER; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 15; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW, HOMILY 44.7; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.