Mark 4:2
in Mark 4And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he taught them many things in parables, and said unto them in his teaching,
KJV
And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
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This verse in Mark 4
Commentary
12 notes on this verseWe try to think in a general way about every parable, the elaborate interpretation of which has not been recorded by the Evangelists, remembering that Jesus explained all things to his own disciples privately. The writers of the Gospels have withheld any detailed exposition of the parables, because the things signified by them were beyond the power of words to express. Not even the whole world itself could contain the books that might be written to fully clarify and develop the parables. But it may happen that a receptive heart will grasp something of them.
This site's exposition
Jesus began to teach beside the sea
on Mark 4:1-2
Such a large crowd gathered that Jesus got into a boat and sat in it to teach beside the sea. The chapter that opens with Jesus teaching from the sea ends with Him calming that same sea.
This site's exposition
He taught them many things in parables
John Wesley explains that a parable is any teaching that sets out spiritual things through natural ones. Eastern teachers often taught this way. John Chrysostom adds that a parable wakes the hearer by putting something before the eyes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(ubi sup.) For He rouses the minds of His hearers by a parable, pointing out objects to the sight, to make His discourse more manifest.
The Medieval Church4 voices
Now this ship showed in a figure the Church, to be built in the midst of the nations, in which the Lord consecrates for Himself a beloved dwelling-place. It goes on: And he taught them many things by parables.
And in order to rouse the attention of those who heard, the first parable that He proposes is concerning the seed, which is the word of God. Wherefore it goes on, And he said to them in his doctrine. Not in that of Moses, nor of the Prophets, because He preaches His own Gospel.
A parable is a comparison made between things discordant by nature, under some similitude. For parable is the Greek for a similitude, when we point out by some comparisons what we would have understood. In this way we say an iron man, when we desire that he should be understood to be hardy and strong; when to be swift, we compare him to winds and birds. But He speaks to the multitudes in parables, with His usual providence, that those who could not take in heavenly things, might conceive what they heard by an earthly similitude.
And a great crowd gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and sat in the sea, and the whole crowd was on the land by the sea; and he taught them many things in parables. The fact that a great crowd gathered …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he taught them many things by parables,....
The Nineteenth Century3 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.
He taught them many things by parables - See every part of this parable of the sower explained on Mat 13:1 (note), etc.
The words behind it
13 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 |
| ἐδίδασκεν | edidasken | He was teaching | G1321 → | 96 times |
| αὐτοὺς | autous | them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| παραβολαῖς | parabolais | parables | G3850 → | 50 times |
| πολλὰ | polla | many things | G4183 → | 367 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἔλεγεν | elegen | He was saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| αὐτοῖς | autois | to them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῇ | tea | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| διδαχῇ | didachea | teaching | G1322 → | 30 times |
| αὐτοῦ· | autou | of Him; | G846 → | 5565 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐδίδασκενHe was teaching
edidaskenG1321 →96 times
αὐτοὺςthem
autousG846 →5565 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
παραβολαῖςparables
parabolaisG3850 →50 times
πολλὰmany things
pollaG4183 →367 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἔλεγενHe was saying
elegenG3004 →1325 times
αὐτοῖςto them
autoisG846 →5565 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῇthe
teaG3588 →19766 times
διδαχῇteaching
didacheaG1322 →30 times
αὐτοῦ·of Him;
autouG846 →5565 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
Psalms 49:4I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:
it leads to
- Psalms 78:2
I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 78:2
Through
Matthew 13:3And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
it leads to
- Mark 4:2–9
And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,
- Mark 4:13
Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?
- Mark 4:2–9
Through
Mark 4:11He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,
it leads to
- Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Luke 8:10
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing,…
- Colossians 4:5
Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.
- 1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:12
Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.
- Matthew 11:25
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of 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 Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 14.12; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.