Parables of the Mustard Seed and Yeast
Luke 13:18-21
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Luke.13.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Ελεγεν: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- ουν·Τινι: CONJ
- ομοια: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- βασιλεια: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- τινι: PRON,dat,sg,neut
- ομοιωσω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- αυτην: PRON,acc,sg,f
Parallels
- Mark 4:30-32 (verbal): Mark uses an almost identical question ('Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God?') and immediately gives the mustard seed parable, paralleling Luke's opening question and ensuing parables.
- Matthew 13:31-32 (thematic): Matthew records the mustard seed parable introduced with the formula 'The kingdom of heaven is like,' thematically parallel to Luke's question about what the kingdom is like.
- Matthew 13:33 (thematic): Matthew's leaven parable ('The kingdom of heaven is like leaven') corresponds to Luke's following comparison of the kingdom to yeast, continuing the same analogy motif.
- Mark 4:26-29 (structural): Mark's parable of the growing seed ('So is the kingdom of God...') is another parable explaining the nature and growth of the kingdom, structurally comparable to the parables prompted by Luke's question.
- Matthew 13:44 (thematic): Matthew's 'The kingdom of heaven is like...' parables (e.g., the hidden treasure) reflect the same literary pattern of likening the kingdom to everyday images, the broader tradition behind Luke's opening question.
Alternative generated candidates
- He said therefore, 'What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall I compare it?'
- He said, "What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall I compare it?"
Luke.13.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ομοια: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- κοκκω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- σιναπεως: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- ον: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- λαβων: PART,aor,act,nom,sg,m
- ανθρωπος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εβαλεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- εις: PREP
- κηπον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- εαυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- ηυξησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- εγενετο: VERB,aor,mid,ind,3,sg
- εις: PREP
- δενδρον: NOUN,nom,sg,n
- και: CONJ
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- πετεινα: NOUN,nom,pl,n
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- ουρανου: NOUN,gen,sg,masc
- κατεσκηνωσεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- εν: PREP
- τοις: ART,dat,pl,n
- κλαδοις: NOUN,dat,pl,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 13:31-32 (verbal): Direct parallel of the mustard seed parable—very similar wording and imagery (mustard seed grows into a large plant/tree; birds nest in its branches); teaches about the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God.
- Mark 4:30-32 (verbal): Another close synoptic parallel presenting the same mustard seed parable with the same growth-to-tree and birds-in-branches imagery; emphasizes kingdom growth from small beginnings.
- Luke 13:18 (structural): Immediate literary pair in Luke: 13:18–19 present the two small-seed parables (mustard seed and leaven); 13:18 introduces the mustard-seed comparison that 13:19 completes.
- Matthew 17:20 (allusion): Uses mustard seed imagery to describe the power of faith—implies the same cultural association of the tiny mustard seed producing great results, alluding to the parable’s theme of small beginnings yielding large outcomes.
Alternative generated candidates
- It is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made their nests in its branches.
- It is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his garden; though it is smaller than all the seeds on the earth, when sown it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.
Luke.13.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Και: CONJ
- παλιν: ADV
- ειπεν·Τινι: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg + PRON,dat,sg,m
- ομοιωσω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- βασιλειαν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Luke 13:18 (structural): Immediately parallel question in the same pericope—Jesus asks ‘To what is the kingdom of God like?’ earlier in Luke 13, framing a series of parables.
- Mark 4:30 (verbal): Nearly identical wording—‘With what shall we liken the kingdom of God?’—and introduces the mustard-seed parable, showing a shared Gospel tradition.
- Matthew 13:31 (thematic): ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed’—a parabolic simile about the kingdom that parallels Luke’s introductory question and ensuing parables.
- Mark 4:26 (thematic): ‘So is the kingdom of God: as if a man should cast seed into the ground’—another parable depicting the kingdom’s mysterious growth, thematically linked to Luke’s likening question.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then he said, 'To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?'
- And he told them another parable, saying, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?
Luke.13.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ομοια: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ζυμη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- ην: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- λαβουσα: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,sg,f
- γυνη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εκρυψεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- εις: PREP
- αλευρου: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- σατα: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- τρια: NUM,acc,pl,n
- εως: CONJ
- ου: PART,neg
- εζυμωθη: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- ολον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- Luke 13:20 (structural): Immediate parallel in the same unit—introduces the same leaven parable and links the question/illustration about the kingdom of God.
- Matthew 13:33 (quotation): Nearly identical telling of the leaven parable in Matthew’s kingdom-of-heaven collection (woman hides leaven in three measures of meal until all is leavened).
- Matthew 13:31 (thematic): Paired in Matthew with the leaven parable as another brief kingdom-of-heaven simile (the mustard seed); Luke likewise groups mustard seed and leaven parables together.
- 1 Corinthians 5:6-7 (verbal): Paul uses the proverbial leaven image—"a little leaven leavens the whole lump"—applying the metaphor to the spread of sin within the community.
- Galatians 5:9 (verbal): Paul again employs the same proverbial formula to warn that a small corrupting influence (leaven) can affect the whole group.
Alternative generated candidates
- It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened.
- It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened."
Then he said, What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and put in his garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air lodged in its branches.
He said again, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.