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PARALLEL BIBLE - Matthew 13:3


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King James Bible - Matthew 13:3

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

World English Bible

He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow.

Douay-Rheims - Matthew 13:3

And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying: Behold the sower went forth to sow.

Webster's Bible Translation

And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Greek Textus Receptus


και 2532 CONJ ελαλησεν 2980 5656 V-AAI-3S αυτοις 846 P-DPM πολλα 4183 A-APN εν 1722 PREP παραβολαις 3850 N-DPF λεγων 3004 5723 V-PAP-NSM ιδου 2400 5628 V-2AAM-2S εξηλθεν 1831 5627 V-2AAI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM σπειρων 4687 5723 V-PAP-NSM του 3588 T-GSM σπειρειν 4687 5721 V-PAN

Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge

VERSE (3) - :10-13,34,35,53; 22:1; 24:32 Jud 9:8-20 2Sa 12:1-7 Ps 49:4; 78:2

SEV Biblia, Chapter 13:3

Y les habl muchas cosas por parbolas, diciendo: He aquí el que sembraba sali a sembrar.

Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 13:3

Verse 3. He spake many things unto them in parables] Parable, from para, near, and ballw, I cast, or put. A comparison or similitude, in which one thing is compared with another, especially spiritual things with natural, by which means these spiritual things are better understood, and make a deeper impression on an attentive mind. Or, a parable is a representation of any matter accommodated, in the way of similitude, to the real subject, in order to delineate it with the greater force and perspicuity. See more on this subject at the conclusion of this chapter. No scheme, says Dr. Lightfoot, of Jewish rhetoric was more familiarly used than that of parables; which, perhaps, creeping in from thence among the heathens, ended in fables.

It is said in the tract Sotah, chap. 9. "From the time that Rabbi Meri died, those that spake in parables ceased." Not that this figure of rhetoric perished in the nation from that time; but because he surpassed all others in these flowers, as the gloss there from the tract Sanhedrin speaks. "A third part of his discourses was tradition; a third part allegory; and a third part parable." The Jewish books every where abound with these figures, the nation inclining by a kind of natural genius to this kind of rhetoric.

Their very religion might be called parabolical, folded up within the covering of ceremonies; and their oratory in their sermons was like to it.

But is it not indeed a wonder, that they who were so much given to and delighted in parables, and so dexterous in unfolding them, should stick in the outward shell of ceremonies, and should not have brought out the parabolical and spiritual sense of them? Our saviour, who always spoke with the common people, uses the same kind of speech, and very often the same preface which they used, To what is it likened? See Lightfoot in loco.

Though we find the basis of many of our Lord's parables in the Jewish writings, yet not one of them comes through his hands without being astonishingly improved. In this respect also, Surely never man spoke like this man.

Under the parable of the sower, our Lord intimates, 1. That of all the multitudes then attending his ministry, few would bring forth fruit to perfection. And 2. That this would be a general case in preaching the Gospel among men.

John Gill's Bible Commentary

Ver. 3. And he spake many things unto them in parables , etc.] For the parables of the sower, and the different sorts of ground the seed fell in, of the wheat and tares, of the grain of mustard seed, of the leaven in three measures of meal, of the treasure hid in a field, of the pearl of great price, of the net cast into the sea, and of the householder, were all delivered at this time. This way of speaking by parables was much in use among the eastern nations, and particularly the Jews. R. Meir was very famous among them for this way of teaching: they say f774 , that when R. Meir died, ylm ylwm wljb , they that were skilled in, and used parables, ceased.

The commentators on this passage say, that he preached a third part tradition, and a third part mystical discourse, yltm atlytw , and a third part parables: which method of discoursing was judged both pleasant and profitable, and what served to raise the attention of the hearer, and to fix what was delivered the more firmly in their minds: what was our Lords reason for using them, may be seen in ( Matthew 13:13). He begins with the parable of the sower. The design of which is to set forth the nature of the word of God, the work and business of the ministers of it, the different success of the preaching of it, and the fruitfulness of it; and to show when it is truly received, and the various degrees of fruit it produces; that the efficacy of it depends on the grace of God, which makes the heart good, and fit to receive it; and how few they be which hear the word to any spiritual advantage and benefit; and how far persons may go in hearing, and yet fall short of the grace of God; and therefore no dependence is to be had on the external hearing of the word. Behold, a sower went forth to sow ; Luke adds, his seed; as does also Munsters Hebrew Gospel here; and Mark introduces the parable thus, hearken, behold! it being a matter of great importance and concern, which is expressed by this parable, it deserves the most diligent attention.

By the sower is meant the son of man, as may be learnt from the explanation of another parable, ( Matthew 13:37) which is Jesus Christ himself, who is often so called on account of his human nature; and may the rather be thought to be intended here, since the seed he sowed is called his seed; meaning the Gospel, of which he is the author, publisher, sum and substance; and since he is, by way of eminency, called o speirwn , the sower; which must be understood of him as a prophet, or preacher of the word, who was eminently sent of God, and richly qualified for such an office, and was most diligent in it, and yet his success was but small.

Indeed, every minister of the Gospel may be called a sower, who bears precious seed, sows spiritual things, and though in tears, he shall not return empty, but shall reap in joy, and bring his sheaves with him. This sower went forth from his own house to his field; which, as applied to Christ, may intend his incarnation, his coming into this world by the assumption of human nature, his appearance in the public ministry, in the land of Judea, and his going forth still in his ministers, and by his Spirit, in the preaching of the Gospel; and, as applied to the preachers of the word, may be explained of their commission, of their being sent, and of their going forth into the field of the world, preaching the Gospel every where. The end of the sowers going forth is to sow his seed: by his seed is meant the word, the word of God; (see Mark 4:14; Luke 8:11) so called, because of the choiceness and excellency of it in itself, that grain which is reserved for seed being usually the best of the kind; and because of its smallness, it being mean and contemptible in the eyes of those, who know not the nature of it; and because of the generative virtue it has, though not without a divine influence. Nor does it bring forth fruit, unless it is sown in the heart, as seed in the earth; where its operation is secret, its growth and increase gradual, and its fruitfulness different. By sowing, is meant preaching; which, as sowing, requires knowledge and skill, and an open and liberal hand; keeping back nothing that is profitable, a declaring the same doctrine in one place as another; and designs a constant ministration of it, notwithstanding all discouragements, and a patient waiting for success.

Matthew Henry Commentary

Verses 1-23 - Jesus entered into a boat that he might be the less pressed, and be the better heard by the people. By this he teaches us in the outwar circumstances of worship not to covet that which is stately, but to make the best of the conveniences God in his providence allots to us Christ taught in parables. Thereby the things of God were made mor plain and easy to those willing to be taught, and at the same time mor difficult and obscure to those who were willingly ignorant. The parabl of the sower is plain. The seed sown is the word of God. The sower in our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers. Preaching to multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where it will light. Some sort of ground, though we take ever so much pains with it, brings fort no fruit to purpose, while the good soil brings forth plentifully. S it is with the hearts of men, whose different characters are her described by four sorts of ground. Careless, trifling hearers, are a easy prey to Satan; who, as he is the great murderer of souls, so he is the great thief of sermons, and will be sure to rob us of the word, i we take not care to keep it. Hypocrites, like the stony ground, ofte get the start of true Christians in the shows of profession. Many ar glad to hear a good sermon, who do not profit by it. They are told of free salvation, of the believer's privileges, and the happiness of heaven; and, without any change of heart, without any abidin conviction of their own depravity, their need of a Saviour, or the excellence of holiness, they soon profess an unwarranted assurance. But when some heavy trial threatens them, or some sinful advantage may be had, they give up or disguise their profession, or turn to some easie system. Worldly cares are fitly compared to thorns, for they came i with sin, and are a fruit of the curse; they are good in their place to stop a gap, but a man must be well armed that has much to do with them they are entangling, vexing, scratching, and their end is to be burned Heb 6:8. Worldly cares are great hinderances to our profiting by the word of God. The deceitfulness of riches does the mischief; they cannot be said to deceive us unless we put our trust in them, then they chok the good seed. What distinguished the good ground was fruitfulness. But these true Christians are distinguished from hypocrites. Christ does no say that this good ground has no stones in it, or no thorns; but non that could hinder its fruitfulness. All are not alike; we should aim a the highest, to bring forth most fruit. The sense of hearing cannot be better employed than in hearing God's word; and let us look to ourselves that we may know what sort of hearers we are.

Greek Textus Receptus


και 2532 CONJ ελαλησεν 2980 5656 V-AAI-3S αυτοις 846 P-DPM πολλα 4183 A-APN εν 1722 PREP παραβολαις 3850 N-DPF λεγων 3004 5723 V-PAP-NSM ιδου 2400 5628 V-2AAM-2S εξηλθεν 1831 5627 V-2AAI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM σπειρων 4687 5723 V-PAP-NSM του 3588 T-GSM σπειρειν 4687 5721 V-PAN

Vincent's NT Word Studies

3. Parables (parabolaiv). From para, beside, and ballw, to throw. A parable is a form of teaching in which one thing is thrown beside another. Hence its radical idea is comparison. Sir John Cheke renders biword, and the same idea is conveyed by the German Beispiel, a pattern or example; bei, beside, and the old high German spel, discourse or narration.

The word is used with a wide range in scripture, but always involves the idea of comparison:

1. Of brief sayings, having an oracular or proverbial character. Thus Peter (Matt. xv. 15), referring to the words "If the blind lead the blind," etc., says, "declare unto us this parable." Compare Luke vi. 39. So of the patched garment (Luke v. 36), and the guest who assumes the highest place at the feast (Luke xiv. 7, 11). Compare, also, Matt. xxiv. 32; Mark xiii. 28.

2. Of a proverb. The word for proverb (paroimia) has the same idea at the root as parable. It is para, beside, oimov, a way or road. Either a trite, wayside saying (Trench), or a path by the side of the high road (Godet). See Luke iv. 23; 1 Sam. xxiv. 13.

3. Of a song or poem, in which an example is set up by way of comparison. See Micah ii. 4; Hab. ii. 6.

4. Of a word or discourse which is enigmatical or obscure until the meaning is developed by application or comparison. It occurs along with the words ainigma, enigma, and problhma, a problem, something put forth or proposed (pro, in front, ballw, to throw). See Psalms 49. (Sept. 48) 4; 78 (Sept. 77) 2; Prov. i. 6, where we have parabolhn, parable; skoteinon logon, dark saying; aijnigmata, enigmas. Used also of the saying of Balaam (Num. xxiii. 7, 18; xxiv. 3, 15).

In this sense Christ uses parables symbolically to expound the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as utterances which conceal from one class what they reveal to another (Matt. xiii. 11-17), and in which familiar facts of the earthly life are used figuratively to expound truths of the higher life. The unspiritual do not link these facts of the natural life with those of the supernatural, which are not discerned by them (1 Cor. ii. 14), and therefore they need an interpreter of the relation between the two. Such symbols assume the existence of a law common to the natural and spiritual worlds under which the symbol and the thing symbolized alike work; so that the one does not merely resemble the other superficially, but stands in actual coherence and harmony with it. Christ formulates such a law in connection with the parables of the Talents and the Sower. "To him that hath shall be given. From him that hath not shall be taken away." That is a law of morals and religion, as of business and agriculture. One must have in order to make. Interest requires capital. Fruit requires not only seed but soil. Similarly, the law of growth as set forth in the parable of the Mustard Seed, is a law common to nature and to the kingdom of God. The great forces in both kingdoms are germinal, enwrapped in small seeds which unfold from within by an inherent power of growth.

5. A parable is also an example or type; furnishing a model or a warning; as the Good Samaritan, the Rich Fool, the Pharisee and the Publican. The element of comparison enters here as between the particular incident imagined or recounted, and all cases of a similar kind.

The term parable, however, as employed in ordinary Christian phraseology, is limited to those utterances of Christ which are marked by a complete figurative history or narrative. It is thus defined by Goebel ("Parables of Jesus"). "A narrative moving within the sphere of physical or human life, not professing to describe an event which actually took place, but expressly imagined for the purpose of representing, in pictorial figure, a truth belonging to the sphere of religion, and therefore referring to the relation of man or mankind to God."

In form the New Testament parables resemble the fable. The distinction between them does not turn on the respective use of rational and irrational beings speaking and acting. There are fables where the actors are human. Nor does the fable always deal with the impossible, since there are fables in which an animal, for instance, does nothing contrary to its nature. The distinction lies in the religious character of the New Testament parable as contrasted with the secular character of the fable. While the parable exhibits the relations of man to God, the fable teaches lessons of worldly policy or natural morality and utility. "The parable is predominantly symbolic; the fable, for the most part, typical, and therefore presents its teaching only in the form of example, for which reason it chooses animals by preference, not as symbolic, but as typical figures; never symbolic in the sense in which the parable mostly is, because the higher invisible world, of which the parable sees and exhibits the symbol in the visible world of nature and man, lies far from it. Hence the parable can never work with fantastic figures like speaking animals, trees," etc. (Goebel, condensed).

The parable differs from the allegory in that there is in the latter "an interpenetration of the thing signified and the thing signifying; the qualities and properties of the first being attributed to the last," and the two being this blended instead of being kept distinct and parallel. See, for example, the allegory of the Vine and the Branches (John 15) where Christ at once identifies himself with the figure: "I am the true vine." Thus the allegory, unlike the parable, carries its own interpretation with it.

Parable and proverb are often used interchangeably in the New Testament; the fundamental conception being, as we have seen, the same in both, the same Hebrew word representing both, and both being engimatical. They differ rather in extent than in essence; the parable being a proverb expanded and carried into detail, and being necessarily figurative, which the proverb is not; though the range of the proverb is wider, since the parable expands only one particular case of a proverb. (See Trench, "Notes on the Parables," Introd.)

3. A sower (o speirwn). Rev., the sower. Generic, as representing a class.

To sow (tou speirein). "According to Jewish authorities, there was twofold sowing, as the seed was either cast by the hand or by means of cattle. In the latter case, a sack with holes was filled with corn and laid on the back of the animal, so that, as it moved onward, the seed was thickly scattered" (Edersheim, "Life and Times of Jesus").

Robertson's NT Word Studies

13:3 {Many things in parables} (polla en parabolais). It was not the first time that Jesus had used parables, but the first time that he had spoken so many and some of such length. He will use a great many in the future as in Luke 12 to 18 and Matt. 24 and 25. The parables already mentioned in Matthew include the salt and the light (#5:13-16), the birds and the lilies (#6:26-30), the splinter and the beam in the eye (#7:3-5), the two gates (#7:13f.), the wolves in sheep's clothing (#7:15), the good and bad trees (#7:17-19), the wise and foolish builders (#7:24-27), the garment and the wineskins (#9:16f.), the children in the market places (#11:16f.). It is not certain how many he spoke on this occasion. Matthew mentions eight in this chapter (the Sower, the Tares, the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, the Hid Treasure, the Pearl of Great Price, the Net, the Householder). Mark adds the Parable of the Lamp (#Mr 4:21; Lu 8:16), the Parable of the Seed Growing of Itself (#Mr 4:26-29), making ten of which we know. But both Mark (#Mr 4:33) and Matthew (#13:34) imply that there were many others. "Without a parable spake he nothing unto them" (#Mt 13:34), on this occasion, we may suppose. The word parable (parabole from paraballw, to place alongside for measurement or comparison like a yardstick) is an objective illustration for spiritual or moral truth. The word is employed in a variety of ways (a) as for sententious sayings or proverbs (#Mt 15:15; Mr 3:23; Lu 4:23; 5:36-39; 6:39), for a figure or type (#Heb. 9:9; 11:19); (b) a comparison in the form of a narrative, the common use in the Synoptic Gospels like the Sower; (c) "A narrative illustration not involving a comparison" (Broadus), like the Rich Fool, the Good Samaritan, etc. "The oriental genius for picturesque speech found expression in a multitude of such utterances" (McNeile). There are parables in the Old Testament, in the Talmud, in sermons in all ages. But no one has spoken such parables as these of Jesus. They hold the mirror up to nature and, as all illustrations should do, throw light on the truth presented. The fable puts things as they are not in nature, Aesop's Fables, for instance. The parable may not be actual fact, but it could be so. It is harmony with the nature of the case. The allegory (allgoria) is a speaking parable that is self-explanatory all along like Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_. All allegories are parables, but not all parables are allegories. The Prodigal Son is an allegory, as is the story of the Vine and Branches (#Joh 15). John does not use the word parable, but only paroimia, a saying by the way (#Joh 10:6; 16:25,29). As a rule the parables of Jesus illustrate one main point and the details are more or less incidental, though sometimes Jesus himself explains these. When he does not do so, we should be slow to interpret the minor details. Much heresy has come from fantastic interpretations of the parables. In the case of the Parable of the Sower (#13:3-8) we have also the careful exposition of the story by Jesus (#18-23) as well as the reason for the use of parables on this occasion by Jesus (#9-17).

{Behold, the sower went forth} (idou elqen ho speirwn). Matthew is very fond of this exclamation idou. It is "the sower," not "a sower." Jesus expects one to see the man as he stepped forth to begin scattering with his hand. The parables of Jesus are vivid word pictures. To understand them one must see them, with the eyes of Jesus if he can. Christ drew his parables from familiar objects.



CHAPTERS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
VERSES: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58

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