Mark 4:1-9. The Parable of the Sower 1. _by the sea side_ The scenery round the Lake doubtless suggested many of the details of the Parables now delivered. (1) On the shore was the vast multitude gathered "out of every city" (Luke 8:4); (2) from the fishing-boat the eye of the Divine Speaker would r... [ Continue Reading ]
_by parables_ (i) The Greek word thus rendered denotes (_a) a placing beside_, (_b) a comparing, a comparison_. In Hellenistic Greek it became coextensive with the Hebrew _mâshâl_= similitude. (ii) In this sense it is applied (1) _In the Old Testament_, to (_a) The shortest proverbs:_as 1 Samuel 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hearken_ This summons to attention is peculiar to St Mark. _went out_ The expression implies that the sower did not sow near his own house, or in a garden fenced or walled, but went forth into the open country. Thomson's _Land and the Book_, p. 82.... [ Continue Reading ]
_by the way side_ i. e. on the hard footpath, or road, passing through the cultivated land.... [ Continue Reading ]
_stony ground_ This must be compared with "the rock" mentioned by St Luke (Luke 8:6). What is meant is not a soil mingled with stones, for then there would be no hindrance to the roots striking deeply; but a thin coating of mould covering the surface of a rock, which stretched below and presented an... [ Continue Reading ]
_when the sun was up_ For the reference of the word thus translated to _the rising of the sun or stars_comp. Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 60:1; Malachi 4:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thorns_ The "Nâbk" of the Arabs, which grows abundantly in Syria and Palestine, and of which the Crown of Thorns was probably woven. _and choked it_ or as Wyclif translates it "pornes stieded up, and _strangliden_it." The seed and the thorns grew together, but the thorns gradually out-topped it, d... [ Continue Reading ]
_some thirty_ St Luke says simply "_and bare fruit an hundred-fold._" St Matthew says "_some an hundred-fold, some sixty fold, some thirty-fold_." St Mark begins from the lowest return, and ascends to the highest. It is said of Isaac that he sowed and "received in the same year an hundred-fold" (Gen... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that hath ears to hear_ These solemn words are found in the three Gospels. Our Lord is recorded to have used them on _six_occasions; (1) Matthew 11:15; (2) Matthew 13:43; (3) Mark 4:9; (4) Mark 4:23; (5) Mark 7:16; (6) Luke 14:35. They are not found in St John's Gospel, but occur eight times in... [ Continue Reading ]
The Explanation of the Parable 10. _And when he was alone_ St Mark here anticipates what took place after the Saviour had "_sent the multitudes away_" and "_gone into the house_" (Matthew 13:36).... [ Continue Reading ]
_the mystery_ The word Mystery denotes (1) _a religious mystery_like those of Eleusis, into which men were initiated; (2) _a secret_(as in 1 Corinthians 15:51); and is applied (_α) to the Gospel itself_(as here and in 1 Corinthians 2:7; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9); (_β) to the various parts and tru... [ Continue Reading ]
_that seeing they may see, and not perceive_ At the beginning of His ministry our Lord did not teach by Parables. "The Sermon on the Mount may be taken as the type of the -words of grace" which He spake -not as the Scribes." Beatitudes, laws, promises were uttered distinctly, not indeed without simi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Know ye not this parable?_ For it afforded the simplest type or pattern of a Parable. _all parables_= ALL MY PARABLES.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sower_ This is applicable to (i) Christ, who "_came forth_from the Father and was come into the world" (John 16:28); (ii) His Apostles; (iii) all who go forth in His Name, and with His authority. For other comparisons of the relations of the teacher and the taught to those between the sower and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Satan_ See note above, Mark 3:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_affliction_ The word thus translated denotes (i) _pressure_, that which presses upon or burdens the spirit; then (2) the _distress_arising therefrom. The word _tribulation_rests upon thids image, coming as it does from _tribulum_= _the threshing-roller_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the cares of this world_ The word rendered "cares" denotes in the original "distracting anxieties," which, as it were, "cut a man in sunder." St Luke expands the one word here employed into "cares," "riches," and "pleasures" (Luke 8:14).... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is a candle brought_ Rather, THE LAMP IS NOT BROUGHT, IS IT? The article here points to the simple and indispensable furniture in every Jewish household. The original word means not a _candle_but a _lamp_. Wyclif renders it, "Whera _lanterne_come, _that_it be put vndir a bushel?" _to be put under... [ Continue Reading ]
_with what measure ye mete_ According to the measure of your ability and diligence as hearers, ye shall receive instruction, and be enabled to preach to others.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he that hath_ Comp. Matthew 13:12; Matthew 25:29; Luke 8:18; Luke 19:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Seed growing secretly 26. _as if a man should cast seed into the ground_ This is _the only parable which is peculiar to St Mark_, and seems to take the place of "the Leaven" recorded by St Matthew (Matthew 13:33).... [ Continue Reading ]
_spring and grow up_ We need not inquire too minutely who the Sower is, though primarily it refers to the Lord Himself. It is the property of the seed which is intended to engage our attention, the secret energy of its own, the principle of life and growth within itself, whereby it springs up and gr... [ Continue Reading ]
_of herself_ = _of its own accord_, spontaneously. It is used of the gate of St Peter's prison _opening of its own accord_in Acts 12:10. _first the blade_ There is a law of orderly development in natural growth, so also is it in reference to spiritual growth; comp. 1 John 2:12-14. _after that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_when the fruit is brought forth_ Literally, WHEN THE FRUIT YIELDS ITSELF; or OFFERS ITSELF, i. e. IS RIPE. The original word only occurs here in this sense. Comp. Virgil _Geo_. i. 287, "Multa adeo gelidâ melius _se_nocte _dedere_." _the sickle_ The sickle is only mentioned here and in Revelation... [ Continue Reading ]
The Parable of the Mustard Seed 30. _Whereunto shall we liken_ This method of asking a question before beginning a discourse was not unknown to the Rabbis. See the parallel in Luke 13:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a grain of mustard seed_ The growth of a worldly kingdom had been already set forth under the image of a tree, and that of the kingdom of God also had been similarly compared. (See Daniel 4:10-12; Ezekiel 17:22; Ezekiel 17:24; Ezekiel 31:3-9.) _in the earth_ In St Matthew 13:31 a man is represente... [ Continue Reading ]
_great branches_ In hot countries, as in Judæa, the mustard-tree attains a great size. Thomson, _Land and the Book_, p. 414, tells us he has seen it on the rich plain of Akkâr as tall as the horse and his rider. A variety of it may have been _cultivated_in the time of our Lord, which grew to an enor... [ Continue Reading ]
The Stilling of the Storm 35. _he saith unto them_ The three Synoptic Evangelists all agree in placing the Stilling of the Storm before the healing of the possessed in the country of the Gadarenes. _the other side_ After a long and exhausting day he needed retirement, and repose could nowhere be m... [ Continue Reading ]
_as he was_ i. e. without any preparation for the voyage. Just before the boat put off three of the listeners to His words desired to attach themselves to Him as His disciples, (1) a scribe, (2) an already partial disciple, (3) another who wished first to bid farewell to his friends at home (Matthew... [ Continue Reading ]
_a great storm_ The word here used is found in Luke 8:23. The word employed in Matthew 8:24 generally means an _earthquake_. It was one of those sudden and violent squalls to which the Lake of Gennesaret was notoriously exposed, lying as it does 600 feet lower than the sea and surrounded by mountain... [ Continue Reading ]
_a pillow_ The word only occurs here. It was probably the leather cushion of the steersman. These details we learn only from St Mark. _Master_ The double "_Master_," "_Master_" of St Luke (Luke 8:24) gives vividness to their haste and terror. The exclamation recorded by St Mark sounds more like reb... [ Continue Reading ]
_rebuked the wind_ All three Evangelists record that He _rebuked_the wind (comp. Psalms 106:9), St Mark alone adds His distinct address to the furious elements. On _be still_see above, Mark 1:25. Comp. Matthew 8:26; Luke 8:24, and note. The perfect imperative of the original implies the command that... [ Continue Reading ]