12 · Parable of Jesus

The Sower

Mark 4:1–20

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A sower scatters seed across different kinds of ground in a biblical landscape, including a path, rocky soil, thorns, and fertile soil.

Jesus tells of the same seed falling on four different kinds of ground.

What makes Jesus' words take root?

Choose a perspective

There is no score – choose the perspective you find closest and discuss why.

Discuss: What keeps what we believe from shaping how we live?

After your discussion: compare with our assessment

Our assessment

A follows a clear recurring pattern in Jesus' own explanation: the groups are described as people who hear the word. Hearing is therefore not the endpoint. The question is what happens to the word afterward. C summarizes several obstacles Jesus himself names. On rocky ground there is no root, and trouble or persecution leads to falling away. Among thorns the word is choked by worries, the deceitfulness of wealth, and desires for other things.

12 · Mark 4:1–20

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Text & context

Full translation

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, while the whole crowd was on the land beside the sea. 2 He taught them many things in parables and said to them in his teaching: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell beside the path, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up immediately because the soil was not deep. 6 But when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered. 7 Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no fruit. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil and produced fruit. They grew up and increased and yielded thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 10 When he was alone, those around him together with the Twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He said to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables, 12 so that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven.” 13 Then he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones beside the path where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Likewise, those sown on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root in themselves and endure only for a time. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. 18 Others are those sown among the thorns. These are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries of the age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word, receive it, and bear fruit: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.”

Translated from the Greek text – SBLGNT

What is happening here?
Jesus teaches a large crowd from a boat and tells of a sower whose seed lands on four different kinds of ground. The outcomes differ dramatically: the seed disappears, withers, is choked, or produces abundant fruit. Later, when Jesus is alone, those around him together with the Twelve ask about the parables. Jesus speaks about the mystery of the kingdom of God and quotes Isaiah 6 before explaining the parable himself. The sower sows “the word.” All four groups encounter it, but their response and what follows differ. In the good soil, people hear the word, receive it, and bear fruit.
Notice this

All four groups hear. The path: hears. Rocky ground: hears. Thorns: hear. Good soil: hears. The difference lies in what happens next. The rocky ground even receives the word: “with joy.” The problem is not lack of enthusiasm but that: “they have no root.” Among the thorns, a person does not necessarily openly reject the word either. Other things can simply grow strong enough that the word eventually becomes unfruitful.

Language & translation

From the Greek

Ἀκούετε – akouete

listen! / hear! The parable begins with a direct command to listen.

ὃς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω – hos echei ōta akouein akouetō

whoever has ears to hear, let them hear Akouō, “hear/listen,” is a key verb throughout the passage.

τὸν λόγον – ton logon

the word Jesus himself identifies the seed in the explanation: “The sower sows the word.”

μετὰ χαρᾶς λαμβάνουσιν αὐτόν – meta charas lambanousin auton

they receive it with joy The rocky ground initially responds positively and enthusiastically. The problem appears later: “they have no root.”

ῥίζαν – rhizan

root The root becomes the image for what is lacking when reception does not endure through opposition and trouble.

αἱ μέριμναι τοῦ αἰῶνος – hai merimnai tou aiōnos

the worries of the age Worries are among the things Jesus says can enter and choke the word.

ἡ ἀπάτη τοῦ πλούτου – hē apatē tou ploutou

the deceitfulness of wealth The problem is described not merely as wealth itself but as its capacity to deceive.

συμπνίγουσιν τὸν λόγον – sympnigousin ton logon

they choke the word Sympnigō gives the vivid image of something being crowded out and suffocated by what grows around it.

καρποφοροῦσιν – karpophorousin

they bear fruit The good soil is characterized by the word leading to fruit. Jesus gives quantities but does not define “fruit” in this passage with one exhaustive formula.

Translation note

Independent English translation from the Greek text, using SBLGNT as the primary Greek edition.

Compare for yourself

Read Mark 4:1–20 as a whole and compare Matthew 13:1–23 and Luke 8:4–15. Pay particular attention to:

  • akouō
  • logos
  • rhiza
  • chara
  • merimna
  • apatē tou ploutou
  • epithymia
  • sympnigō
  • karpophoreō
  • Isaiah 6:9–10 behind Mark 4:12

Also compare our cards dealing with worry and wealth. Several of the obstacles Jesus names among the thorns recur elsewhere in his teaching.

Continue the conversation

Discuss further
  1. Why do you think Jesus begins and ends the parable with commands to listen?
  2. What is the difference between responding enthusiastically and actually developing “root”?
  3. How can worries or wealth choke something without a person consciously deciding to abandon it?
  4. What do you think “bearing fruit” means, and what does the text actually state versus leave open?
  5. Are the soils best understood as different people, different periods in one person's life, or different ways of receiving the word?
Parallel passages
  • Matthew 13:1–23
  • Luke 8:4–15
  • Isaiah 6:9–10
  • Mark 4:21–25
Sources
  • The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (SBLGNT), Michael W. Holmes, ed.
  • Mark 4:1–20
  • Matthew 13:1–23
  • Luke 8:4–15
  • Isaiah 6:9–10
  • Standard Greek lexical resources for akouō, logos, rhiza, merimna, apatē, ploutos, sympnigō, and karpophoreō