Parable of the Growing Seed
Mark 4:26-29
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Mark.4.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Και: CONJ
- ελεγεν·Ουτως: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- 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
- ως: ADV
- ανθρωπος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- βαλη: VERB,pres,act,ptc,nom,sg,m
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- σπορον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- επι: PREP
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- γης: NOUN,gen,sg,f
Parallels
- Matthew 13:3-9 (verbal): Parable of the Sower uses the same sowing imagery and introductory formula (’Behold, a sower went out to sow’), linking Mark’s seed-parable to the broader sower-tradition about the kingdom.
- Luke 8:4-8 (verbal): Luke’s version of the Parable of the Sower parallels Mark’s use of sowing language and the theme of how seed/word falls on different soils in the kingdom-parables tradition.
- Matthew 13:31-32 (thematic): Mustard seed parable: another synoptic kingdom-parable that stresses the kingdom’s growth from small/hidden beginnings to full development, thematically close to Mark’s growing-seed image.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (thematic): Paul’s statement ‘I planted… Apollos watered… but God gave the growth’ echoes Mark’s emphasis that growth of the seed/kingdom is ultimately God’s work, not human agency.
- Isaiah 55:10-11 (allusion): The prophetic image of rain causing seed to sprout and accomplish God’s purpose parallels the theological idea that God-ordained processes (rain/seed) reliably produce growth—similar to Mark’s depiction of the kingdom growing by divine order.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he said, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground.
- And he said to them, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground.
Mark.4.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- καθευδη: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- εγειρηται: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,sg
- νυκτα: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- ημεραν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- σπορος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- βλαστα: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- μηκυνηται: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,sg
- ως: ADV
- ουκ: PART,neg
- οιδεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτος: PRON,nom,sg,3,m
Parallels
- Mark 4:28 (structural): Immediate context of the parable: continues the same image of the earth producing by itself—‘first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain’—emphasizing growth apart from human understanding.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6 (verbal): Paul’s formula ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth’ echoes the contrast between human activity and divinely-allowed growth expressed in Mark 4:27.
- Isaiah 55:10–11 (thematic): Isaiah’s image of rain and snow watering the earth so it brings forth and yields seed parallels the motif that natural (or divine) processes produce growth independent of human comprehension.
- Matthew 13:31–32 (thematic): The mustard-seed parable likewise uses seed imagery to depict the kingdom’s surprising, organic growth from small beginnings into something much larger.
Alternative generated candidates
- He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how.
- He sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he himself does not know how.
Mark.4.28 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- αυτοματη: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- γη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- καρποφορει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- πρωτον: ADV
- χορτον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ειτα: ADV
- σταχυν: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ειτα: ADV
- πληρης: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- σιτον: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- εν: PREP
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- σταχυι: NOUN,dat,sg,m
Parallels
- Mark 4:27 (structural): Immediate context of the same parable: the seed grows 'of itself'—emphasizing spontaneous, God‑ordered growth leading to fruit.
- Luke 8:5–8 (or Luke 8:11–15) (structural): Synoptic parallel to Mark's Sower parable (seed, soil, and resulting fruit); Luke presents the same teaching about seed producing a harvest in good soil.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6–7 (verbal): Paul's agricultural metaphor ('I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase') echoes the point that growth/fruitfulness ultimately comes from a providential source, not merely human action.
- James 5:7–8 (thematic): Uses the farmer/harvest image—'be patient... the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth'—linking patience and natural growth until harvest.
- Psalm 65:9–13 (thematic): Describes the earth yielding its increase after God sends rain and blesses the land—paralleling the motif of the earth bringing forth successive stages of growth and fruit.
Alternative generated candidates
- For the earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
- The earth produces by itself—first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
Mark.4.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- οταν: CONJ
- δε: CONJ
- παραδοι: VERB,aor,act,subj,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- καρπος: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ευθυς: ADV
- αποστελλει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- δρεπανον: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- οτι: CONJ
- παρεστηκεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θερισμος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
Parallels
- Mark 4:28 (structural): Immediate context of the same parable: the grain yields of itself, then the harvest arrives — v.29 completes the thought about harvesting when ripe.
- Joel 3:13 (Joel 4:13 LXX) (quotation): Prophetic wording almost identical to Mark’s language: 'Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe' (LXX), serving as an Old Testament background for the harvest imagery.
- Revelation 14:15 (allusion): Heavenly command to 'put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come' echoes Mark’s linkage of ripeness and immediate reaping.
- Matthew 13:30 (thematic): In the companion parables of Matthew, harvest-time judgment and the sorting of grain and tares reflect the same idea that harvest/time will determine action toward the crop.
- John 4:35 (thematic): Jesus’ harvest imagery ('look, the fields are white for harvest') parallels the urgency and preparedness implicit in Mark’s statement that when the crop is ripe the sickle is immediately sent.
Alternative generated candidates
- And when the grain is ripe, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
- And when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
And he said to them, This is what the kingdom of God is like: a man scatters seed on the ground.
He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he does not know.
The earth produces fruit by itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, immediately he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.