Jesus was knowledgeable about farming

JESUS WAS KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT FARMING
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 13:3 3Then he told them many things in
parables, saying:"A farmer went out to sow his seed.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Parable Of The Sower
Matthew 13:3-23
Marcus Dods
The objectof this parable is to explain the causes ofthe failure and successof
the gospel. It might have been supposed enoughto proclaim the kingdom.
Why does this fail? It fails, says our Lord, because ofthe nature of the soil.
This soil is often impervious, often shallow, oftendirty.
I. "SOME SEEDS FELLBY THE WAYSIDE, AND THE FOWLS CAME
AND DEVOURED THEM." The spiritual analogue is said to be in him "who
heareth the Word, but understandeth it not. The beaten footpath and the cart
track have their uses, but they grow no corn. The seedmay be of the best
quality, but for all purposes of sowing you might as well sprinkle pebbles or
shot. So there is a hearing which keeps the Word entirely outside. It does not
even enter the understanding. It rouses no inquiry, provokes no contradiction.
You have occasionsometimes to mention a fact to a friend which should alter
all his purpose, but you find he has not taken it in. So, says our Lord, there
are hearers who do not take in what is said; their understanding is
impervious, impenetrable. They hear because this has come to be one of the

many employments with which they fill up their time, but they have never
consideredwhy they should do so, or what result they should look for. Or
there may be a slowness andcold frostiness of nature which prevents the seed
from fructifying. The proposals made suggestnothing to the wayside hearer.
In some cases the seedapparently lost for years is quickened and brings forth
fruit, but in this case never.
II. THE SECOND FAULT IS SHALLOWNESS. The sprinkling of soil on the
surface of the rock, where the seedquickly springs, and for the same reason
quickly decays. There is not depth of soilfor any time to be spent in rooting.
The shallow heareris distinguished by two characteristics- he straightway
receives the Word, and he receives it with joy. The man of deepercharacter
receives it with seriousness, reverence, trembling, foreseeing the trials he will
be subjected to. But while these are pondering the vastness ofthe revelation
and the majesty of the hope, and striving to forecastallthe results in and
upon them, hesitating because they would receive the Word for eternity or not
at all, the superficial man has settled the whole matter out of hand, and he
who yesterdaywas known as a scofferis today a loud-voiced child of the
kingdom. These men are almostcertainly takento be the most earnest;you
cannot see the root, and what is seenis shown in greatestluxuriance by them.
But the same nature which made them susceptible to the gospeland quickly
responsive makes them susceptible to pain, suffering, hardship, and easily
defeated. When consequenceshave to be facedthey give way. The question of
how these shallow natures canbe savedhardly falls within the parable, but it
may be right to saya man's nature may be deepened by the relationships and
conflicts of life. Much deepening of characteris effectedin passing through
life.
III. THE THIRD FAULT IS WHAT IS TECHNICALLY KNOWN AS DIRT.
The soilcan only support a certain amount of vegetation, and every living
weedmeans a chokedblade of corn. This is a picture of the preoccupiedheart,
the rich vigorous nature occupiedwith so many other interests that only a
small part is available for giving effect to Christ's ideas. Their interest is real,
but there are so many other cares and desires that the result is scarcely
discernible. The goodcrop is not the one with the greatestdensityof
vegetation, but where all is wheat. Mostsoils have a kind of weedcongenial,

and the weeds here specifiedare the care of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches," the former being merely the poor man's species ofthe latter
Among rich and poor alike you will find many who would be left without any
subject of thought and any guiding principle in action, if you took from them
anxiety about their own position in life. It is not enough to put aside
distracting thoughts. Cutting down the thorns won't do; still less holding them
aside till the seedbe sown. It is vain to hope for the only right harvest of a
human life if your heart is sownwith worldly ambitions, a greedyhasting to
be rich, an undue love of comfort, a true earthliness of spirit. One seedonly
must be sown in you, and it will produce all needed diligence in business as
well as all fervour of spirit. There is one important distinction between
material and moral sowing. Man is possessedoffree will, the power of
checking to some extent natural consequences.Therefore the gospelis to be
preachedto every creature, and we may be expectedto bring to the hearing of
it a soft, deep, cleansoil of heart - what Luke calls "anhonest and good
heart." There will be differences of crop even among those who bring good
hearts, but whereverthe Word is held fast and patiently caredfor, there the
life wilt produce all that Godcares to have from it. But even the honest heart
is not enough unless we keepthe Word. The sowermust be at pains to cover in
the seedand watch that it be not takenaway. So the hearerloses his labour
unless his mind goes back on what he has heard, and he sees thathe has really
got hold of it. We have all heard all that is necessaryfor life and godliness;it
remains that we make it our own, that it secures a living root in us and in our
life. We must bear it in mind, so that all that comes before us may throw new
light on it and give it further hold on us. - D.

Biblical Illustrator
And He spake many things unto them in parables.
Matthew 13:3
Christ a moral, painter
W. W. Newell.
Jesus did not confine Himself to the mere announcement or proof of a
doctrine. But by means of words, He often presented to His hearers a moral
picture — flashed upon the mind's eye a whole scene of truth with such
vividness and power that it could not be well perverted or forgotten. We
should imitate His pointed, emotional preaching.
I. SOME REASONSFOR THE USE OF MORAL PAINTING IN
SERMONS.
1. It imitates the style of Christ's painting, and is part of His gospel.
2. It meets a want in our nature. It appeals to man's perceptive facilities. God
has met this want in the natural world.
3. It adds point and force to the argument. Reasoning andillustration are both
essential.
4. Men who have deeply moved the human heart have used it. Poets,
advocates,orators, etc. And shall the children of this world be wiser, etc.?
Inspiration is full of it.

II. THE KIND OF MORAL PAINTING TO BE USED. Greatcondensation,
is essentialto a good picture of truth. Deepemotion. The vastness ofour work
is enough to make an angelweep.
(W. W. Newell.)
The designof speaking in parable
A. Barnes D. D.
1. To convey truth in a more interesting manner to the mind. adding to the
truth conveyedthe beauty of a lively image or narrative.
2. To teachspiritual truth so as to arrest the attention of ignorant people,
making an appeal to them through the senses.
3. To convey some offensive truth, some pointed personalrebuke, in such a
way as to bring it home to the conscience (2 Samuel12:1-7, and many of our
Saviour's parables addressedto the Jews).
4. To concealfrom one part of His audience truths which He intended others
should understand (Mark 4:53; Matthew 13:15-16.)
(A. Barnes D. D.)
Similitude mentally stimulating
C. H. Parkhurst, D. D.
Christ's habit, therefore, was not so much to tell what things were, as to draw
pictures of them and mention some familiar thing they were like; as a boy
really knows more about the earth when told that it is shaped like a big
cricket-ball, than when taught to saythat it is an oblate spheroid with a polar
diameter of 8,000 miles. Thus Christ was continually telling, in an easyway,
what this and that was like (drawing pictures). which is to saythat He taught
by parables. "and without a parable spake He not unto them."... A truth felt is
more than a truth stated. Christ was continually dropping hints that led His

disciples forward into a new surmise; kept treading down their horizon; did
not let their opinions go to seed. He knew how to talk with them in such a way
as to make them feel that what He did not tell them was considerablymore
than what He did tell them.
(C. H. Parkhurst, D. D.)
Why our Lord used parables
U. M. Taylor, D. D.
1. As a means of attracting attention.
2. To prevent His auditors from being repelled by a too sudden revelation,
either of His purpose or of His message.
3. To stimulate inquiry.
4. To test the characterof His hearers.
(U. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Behold, a sowerwent forth to sow.
The parable of the sower
The Clergyman's Magazine.
Four kinds of soil:
1. The impenetrable.
2. The superficial.
3. The preoccupied.
4. The prepared.Observation:
1. The seedis the same in every case;the difference is in the kinds of soils.

2. The parable is Christ's answerto the objection, If the gospel be from God,
why is it not more effective? The answeris, that, like any other remedy, much
will depend on the way in which it is used.
(The Clergyman's Magazine.)
Parable of the sower
F. W. Robertson, M. A.
Where is the fault of failure?
1. It does not lie in God, the sower. Goddoes not predestinate men to fail. He
willeth not the death of a sinner.
2. The cause of failure is not in any impotency of truth. The old thinkers
accountedfor it by the depravity of matter. Once acknowledgefreewillin
man, and the origin of evil does not lie in God.
3. The fault might be solelyin the soil of the heart.
I. THE CAUSES OF FAILURE.
1. The first of these is want of spiritual perception. There are persons whose
religion is all outside, never penetrates beyond the intellect. Conceptions of
religious life, which are only conceptions outward, having no lodgment in the
heart, disappear. Fowls of the air devoured the seed. This is a picture of
thought dissipated, and no man can tell when or how it went.
2. A secondcause offailure is want of depth of character. This stony ground is
the thin layer of earth upon a bed of rock. Shallow softis like superficial
character. There is easily-movedsusceptibility. A pleasant, sunny religion
would be the life to suit them. The superficial characteris connectedwith the
hard heart; beneath the thin surface lies the bed of rock. It is among those of
light enjoyment we must look for stony heartlessness.
3. Once more impressions come to nothing when the mind is subjected to
dissipating influences, and yieids to them — "Some fell among thorns." Two

classesofdissipating influences distract such minds. The cares ofthis world.
Martha was "cumbered with much serving." The deceitfulness of riches
dissipate. Weeding work painful.
II. FOR THE PERMANENCE OF RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONSTHIS
PARABLE SUGGESTS THREE REQUIREMENTS.
1. An holiest and goodheart. Earnestsincerity.
2. Meditation is a secondrequisite for perseverance.Theykeepthe Word
which they have heard. Must not confuse reverie with meditation. Truth is
dwelt on till it receives innumerable applications; it is done in silence.
3. The third requisite is endurance — "Theybring forth fruit with patience."
There is an active and passive endurance, bearing pain without complaining;
and under persecution. It is also the opposite of that impatience which cannot
wait. We are disappointed if the harvest does not come at once.
(F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
G. Burder.
1. The careless hearer.
2. The temporary hearer.
3. The worldly-minded hearer.
4. The sincere hearers of the Word.
(1)They understand it;
(2)They receive it;
(3)They retain it:
(4)They practise it.

(G. Burder.)
The Christian's unfaithful hearing of the Word not natural
St. Paul's Cathedral Sermons.
1. The unlimited method of the sower's work;the indiscriminate manner in
which the seedis castupon the ground. His care not limited to a single spot.
The overflowing bounty, the merciful providence of God towards all classes.
2. The impediments to growth are to be found not in natural defects or
incapacities, but in self-induced hindrances and wilful indisposition to listen to
the truth.In the gospelhistory these hearers are to be discovered:
1. The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. Infidelity is a sad hardener of
the heart.
2. Those ofour Lord's disciples of whom mention is made that they went
back, and walkedno more with Him. The varieties of soil does not describe
varieties of heart as formed by nature, but the condition which the heart and
mind assume, as men either neglector employ the means of grace. They
represent, not the physical but the moral condition of the human mind.
Human and Christian societyis divided into various classesofevery variety of
feeling and conduct; but the motive of goodor ill is in the heart.
(St. Paul's CathedralSermons.)
G. F. Pentecost.
I. THE SOWER. Jesus ChristHimself; through all the dispensations of
dreams, angels, prophets: at last He came Himself with the seedof the
kingdom.
II. THE SEED.

1. Ordinary seedis coveredwith an outward coat. The life principle is hidden
awayfrom observation. So we find Christ in appearance like a man. The
words you hear are but the outward covering;there is an inward life. There
are those who split hairs about Christianity; they know the outward form, but
not the vital principle. Others ignore the outward form, and say Christianity
is wholly spiritual. Both necessary.
2. The life-giving property is not in the soil, but in the seed. You may enrich
the soilas you will, but without seedyou canhave no life. Scientists have given
up the idea of spontaneous generation. There is no salvationapart from the
indwelling Christ.
3. Where life is there is power. Sow pebbles, but they have no powerto reach a
harvest. The Word powerful because living.
4. Every seedbrings forth after its kind. You cannotsow wickednessand reap
religion.
III. THE SOIL.
1. The wayside hearer.
2. The stony-ground hearer. The emotional hearer.
3. Among the thorns — the double-minded hearer.
4. Goodsoil — the man who hears aright.
(G. F. Pentecost.)
H. S. Brown.
I. THE SOWER.
1. Our Lord first of all means Himself. His work chiefly was sowing the seeds
of Divine truth in the minds of men. The reaping beganon the day of
Pentecost.

2. Then by the soweris meant our Lord's apostles and the seventy disciples
whom He sent cut to preachthe gospel, and all ministers of His Word.
3. All Christian people are sowers.By our words and actions we are sowing
some kind of principle in the minds of others; we cannot help it.
II. THE SEED. God's Word.
1. It is sometimes rather more the word of man than the Word of God — the
Word of God mingled with the Word of man.
2. It may be one part of the Word of God to the exclusionof another, grace to
the exclusionof works.
3. Christ is in an emphatic sense the Word of God; so we are to sow the Word
concerning Christ.
III. THE GROUND. What does the ground mean? — the heart rather than
the head, the affections rather than the intellect. A cold, feelingless man
cannot effectmuch as regards religious truth.
IV. THE RESULT OF THE SOWING.
(H. S. Brown.)
Bad soul-conditions not unalterable
H. S. Brown.
Why, there was a time, I suppose, when the very fruitfullest fields of England
were something like either the stony places or the thorny places in this
parable. I have recentlyseenin the distant parts of these islands, and in one of
the most ruggedparts of the Westof Scotland, ground which I saw four or
five years ago, whenthe present proprietor came into possessionofit; and
that ground — well, I cannot say there was anything on it like a wayside, for
there was not a wayside within miles of it — but still, it was chiefly stones, and
gorse, and heather, and all sorts of stuff; but the application of culture, skill,
some capital, and so on, has made it very decent land indeed, and it is yielding

something now for the support of man and beast. There is nothing fatalistic in
this parable, nothing to drive to despair the man who feels he is bad, and
wishes to be a true Christian, and nothing to encourage in sin the man who
has no desire after good things. God's grace cando for the heart, be what it
may, what man's skill has done a thousand times for the land that he
cultivates.
(H. S. Brown.)
The parable of the soweropened
B. Keach.
I. THE AGENT. The hearts of men and womenare Christ's spiritual
husbandry.
1. Christ is the principal sower, the mastersower;ministers are His servants
(2 Corinthians 6:1).
2. Christ sows His own by creation. Ministers have no seedof their own; their
doctrine and word belong to Christ.
3. Christ is a most wise and skilful sower;He hath a perfectknowledge ofall
sorts of ground.
4. Christ is a universal sower.
5. Jesus Christis an efficacious sower. He can cause the seedto take root; but
so cannot a minister.
II. His ACTION. Jesus Christmay be saidto go forth in three ways:
1. In His own person.
2. In the ministry of His servants.
3. To sow His seedby the Spirit.
III. His DESIGN.

(B. Keach.)
Ministers are Christ's seedsmen
1. They, like seedsmen, must sow the seedin its proper season(2 Corinthians
6:2),
2. They must sow their seed, let it be what weatherit will, a time of peace, ora
time of persecution.
3. They must sow no seedof their own, but Christ's doctrine (Deuteronomy
22:9).
4. They must sow all Christ's seed.
5. Constantly, as long as seed-time lasteth (Ecclesiastes11:6).
6. They sow, but the whole successis of God.
Why the Word is compared to seed
B. Keach.
1. Seedsprings not out of the ground naturally; it must first be sown. The
heart must first have the seedof grace infused.
2. Seed, let it be of wheat or barley, is the choice, stof eachsort respectively.
True grace is of an excellentnature.
3. Until seedis sownthere will be no increase. So the heart must take in the
Word by faith.
4. Seedsometimes which is sownlies a considerable time in the ground before
it springs up, or visibly appears;it must have time to take root.
5. Clods of earth, being not broken, oftentimes obstruct the springing up of
the seed, orit is from thence it appears not to have takenroot so soonas in

some other ground; so likewise, throughthe powerof Satan's temptations and
corruption of the heart, the Word is for a time hindered.
6. A husbandman observes the proper time and seasonofsowing his seed.
7. Men are not sparing in sowing their seed, but scatterit plentifully, though
they expectnot all to take root.
8. A husbandman sowethhis seedon what ground he pleaseth;some he lets lie
barren. There are nations to whom the gospelis not sent.
9. That the earlier seedis sownthe better it is rooted; so with the Word sown
in the hearts of young people.
(B. Keach.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(3) He spake many things unto them in parables.—This is the first occurrence
of the word in St. Matthew’s Gospel, and it is clearfrom the question of the
disciples in Matthew 13:10 that it was in some sense a new form of teaching to
them. There had been illustrations and similitudes before, as in that of the
houses built on the sand and on the rock in Matthew 7:24-27, and that of the
unclean spirit in Matthew 12:43-45, but now for the first time He speaks to the
multitude in a parable, without an explanation. The word, which has passed
through its use in the Gospels into most modern European languages
(palabras, parôle, parabel), means literally, a comparison. It had been
employed by the Greek translators of the Old Testamentfor the Hebrew word
mashed, which we commonly render by “proverb,” and which, like the Greek
parabole, has the sense of similitude. Of many, perhaps of most, Eastern
proverbs it was true that they were condensedparables, just as many parables
are expanded proverbs. (Comp. John 16:25; John 16:29.)In the later and New

Testamentuse of the word, however, the parable takes the fuller form of a
narrative embracing facts natural and probable in themselves, and in this
respectdiffers from the fable which (as in those of Æsop and Phædrus, or that
of the trees choosing a king in Judges 9:8-15) does not keepwithin the limits
even of possibility. The mode of teaching by parables was familiar enough in
the schools ofthe Rabbis, and the Talmud contains many of great beauty and
interest. As used by them, however, they were regardedas belonging to those
who were receiving a higher education, and the son of Sirach was expressing
the current feeling of the schools whenhe said of the tillers of the soiland the
herdsmen of flocks that they “were not found where parables were spoken”
(Ecclesiasticus 38:33). With what purpose our Lord now used this mode of
instruction will appearin His answerto the question of the disciples. The
prominence given in the first three Gospels to the parable that follows, shows
how deep an impression it made on the minds of men, and so far justified the
choice of this method of teaching by the divine Master.
(3) A sower.—Literally, the sower—the man whose form and work were so
familiar, in the seed-time of the year, to the peasants ofGalilee. The outward
frame-work of the parable requires us to remember the features in which
Easterntillage differs from our own. The ground less perfectly cleared—the
road passing across the field—the rock often cropping out, or lying under an
inch or two of soil—the patch of goodground rewarding, by what might be
calleda lucky chance rather than skill of husbandry, the labour of the
husbandman.
BensonCommentary
Matthew 13:3. And he spake many things unto them — “Deliveredmany
doctrines of the highest importance, wisely making choice ofsuch for the
subject of his sermons, when he had the greatestnumber of hearers, because
on those occasionsthere was a probability of doing the most goodby them.”
In parables — The word parable sometimes signifies a sublime discourse,
elevatedbeyond the common forms of speech, as Numbers 23:7; Numbers
24:15;Job 27:1; Job 29:1, where see the notes:sometimes a mere proverb, or

adage, suchas those mentioned Luke 4:23, Physician, heal thyself; and Luke
6:39, Canthe blind lead the blind? in both which places the word παραβολη,
parable, is used in the original, and in the former place is rendered proverb in
our translation. Sometimes the word means an apologue, orfable, as Ezekiel
17:2, where also see the note. But here, and generallyin the gospels,the word
is to be understood, according to its Greek etymology, as signifying a
similitude or comparison, namely, takenfrom the ordinary affairs of men,
and used to illustrate the things of God. As this is the first time the term
occurs in this history, and as we shall frequently meet with it hereafter, it may
not be improper to make the following generalobservations, applicable, more
or less, to all our Lord’s parables. 1st. It is not necessaryto a parable that the
matter contained, or things related in it, should be true in fact. Forparables
are not spokento inform us in matters of fact, but in some spiritual truths, to
which they bear some proportion. This we see in Jotham’s parable of the trees
going to choose themselves a king, Jdg 9:7 to Jdg 15:2 d. It is not necessary
that all the actions of men, mentioned in a parable, should be morally just and
good. The actions ofthe unjust steward, Luke 16:1-8, were not Song of
Solomon3 dly. For the right understanding of a parable, our greatcare must
be to attend to the main scope ofit; or to what our Lord had chiefly in view,
and designedto teachby it. 4th. This may be learned, either from his general
or more particular explication of it; or from what hath been termed the pro-
parabola, or preface to the parable; or the epi-parabola, or conclusionof it.
5th. It is not to be expectedthat all the particular actions or things
representedin a parable, should be answeredby something in the explication.
Lastly, Though the scope ofthe parable be the main thing we are to attend to,
yet it may collaterallyinform us in severalotherthings also. This way of
teaching, extremely common in the easterncountries, and much used by our
Lord, was particularly calculatedto draw and fix the attention of mankind; to
excite the inquiry of such as were well disposed, and to lead them to a serious
examination and diligent searching afterthe truth veiled under such
emblems; to teach, in a manner the most natural, beautiful, and instructive,
by common and familiar objects, the most divine and important doctrines,
and give clearerideas of them than could have been otherwise attained; to
cause divine truths to make a more deep and lasting impression on men’s
minds, and to be better remembered. Our Lord’s parables were particularly

adapted to produce this last-mentioned effect, being generallytaken from
those objects about which his hearers were daily employed, or which daily
came under their observation. Add to this, he taught by parables, that he
might convey in a manner the leastoffensive some very ungrateful and
unpalatable truths, such as the rejectionof the Jews and the calling of the
Gentiles. It must be observed, also, as we learn from Matthew 13:11-15, that,
by an awful mixture of justice and mercy, our Lord intended hereby to throw
a veil over some of the mysteries of his kingdom, and to concealfrom the
proud and carelessthose truths which, if they understood, he foresaw they
would only abuse to their greatercondemnation.
In this chapter our Lord delivers sevenparables, directing the four former, as
being of generalconcern, to all the people; the three latter, to his disciples. He
begins with the parable of a sowerwho casthis seedon four different kinds of
ground, only one of which brought forth fruit, not because ofany difference in
the seedwherewiththe others were sown, or any defectin the cultivation of
them, but because of other reasons specifiedin the parable. And these were
designedto represent four classes ofhearers of the word of God, only one of
which bears fruit to his glory; not because a different doctrine is declaredto
the others, or less labour bestowedupon them, but because ofthe hinderances
of fruitfulness spokenof in the explanation of the parable. How exquisitely
proper was this parable to be an introduction to all the rest! inasmuch as in it
our Lord shows us why, when the same sower, he himself, or any messengerof
his, always sows the same seed, it does not always produce the same effect.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
13:1-23 Jesus enteredinto a boat that he might be the less pressed, and be the
better heard by the people. By this he teaches us in the outward circumstances
of worship not to covetthat which is stately, but to make the best of the
conveniences Godin his providence allots to us. Christ taught in parables.
Thereby the things of God were made more plain and easyto those willing to
be taught, and at the same time more difficult and obscure to those who were
willingly ignorant. The parable of the soweris plain. The seedsownis the

word of God. The sower is our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his
ministers. Preaching to a multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where it
will light. Some sortof ground, though we take ever so much pains with it,
brings forth no fruit to purpose, while the goodsoil brings forth plentifully. So
it is with the hearts of men, whose different characters are here describedby
four sorts of ground. Careless, trifling hearers, are an easyprey to Satan;
who, as he is the greatmurderer of souls, so he is the greatthief of sermons,
and will be sure to rob us of the word, if we take not care to keepit.
Hypocrites, like the stony ground, often getthe start of true Christians in the
shows of profession. Manyare glad to hear a goodsermon, 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 abiding
conviction of their own depravity, their need of a Saviour, or the excellenceof
holiness, they soonprofess an unwarranted assurance. Butwhen some heavy
trial threatens them, or some sinful advantage may be had, they give up or
disguise their profession, or turn to some easiersystem. Worldly cares are
fitly comparedto thorns, for they came in with sin, and are a fruit of the
curse;they are goodin 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 greathinderances to
our profiting by the word of God. The deceitfulness ofriches does the
mischief; they cannot be said to deceive us unless we put our trust in them,
then they choke the goodseed. What distinguished the goodground was
fruitfulness. By this true Christians are distinguished from hypocrites. Christ
does not saythat this goodground has no stones in it, or no thorns; but none
that could hinder its fruitfulness. All are not alike; we should aim at the
highest, to bring forth most fruit. The sense ofhearing cannotbe better
employed than in hearing God's word; and let us look to ourselves that we
may know what sort of hearers we are.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
In parables - The word "parable" is derived from a Greek word signifying "to
compare together," and denotes a similitude taken from a natural objectto
illustrate a spiritual or moral subject. It is a narrative of some fictitious or
real event, in order to illustrate more clearlysome truth that the speaker

wished to communicate. In early ages itwas much used. Paganwriters, as
Aesop, often employed it. In the time of Christ it was in common use. The
prophets had used it, and Christ employed it often in teaching his disciples. It
is not necessaryto suppose that the narratives were strictly true. The main
thing - "the inculcation of spiritual truth" - was gainedequally, whether it
was true or was only a supposedcase. Norwas there any dishonesty in this. It
was well understood no person was deceived. The speakerwas not
"understood" to affirm the thing "literally narrated," but only to fix the
attention more firmly on the moral truth that he presented. The "design" of
speaking in parables was the following:
1. To convey truth in a more interesting manner to the mind, adding to the
truth conveyedthe beauty of a lovely image or narrative.
2. To teachspiritual truth so as to arrest the attention of ignorant people,
making an appeal to them through the "senses."
3. To convey some offensive truth, some pointed personalrebuke. in such a
way as to bring it "home" to the conscience. Ofthis kind was the parable
which Nathan delivered to David 2 Samuel 12:1-7, and many of our Saviour's
parables addressedto the Jews.
4. To "conceal" from one part of his audience truths which he intended others
should understand. Thus Christ often, by this means, delivered truths to his
disciples in the presence ofthe Jews, whichhe well knew the Jews wouldnot
understand; truths pertaining to them particularly, and which he was under
no obligations to explain to the Jews. See Mark 4:33;Matthew 13:13-16.
Our Saviour's parables are distinguished above all others for clearness,
purity, chasteness, importance of instruction, and simplicity. They are taken
mostly from the affairs of common life, and intelligible, therefore, to all
people. They contain much of "himself" - his doctrine, life, designin coming,
and claims, and are therefore of importance to all people; and they are told in
a style of simplicity intelligible to the child, yet instructive to people of every
rank and age. In his parables, as in all his instructions, he excelledall people
in the purity, importance, and sublimity of his doctrine.

Matthew 13:3
A sowerwent forth to sow - The image here is takenfrom an employment
known to all people, and therefore intelligible to all.
Nor canthere be a more striking illustration of preaching the gospelthan
placing the seedin the ground, to spring up hereafterand bear fruit.
Sower- One who sows orscatters seed - a farmer. It is not improbable that
one was nearthe Saviour when he spoke this parable.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, &c.—These
parables are SEVEN in number; and it is not a little remarkable that while
this is the sacrednumber, the first FOUR of them were spokento the mixed
multitude, while the remaining THREE were spokento the Twelve in
private—these divisions, four and three, being themselves notable in the
symbolical arithmetic of Scripture. Another thing remarkable in the structure
of these parables is, that while the first of the Seven—thatof the Sower—isof
the nature of an Introduction to the whole, the remaining Six consistof three
pairs—the Secondand Seventh, the Third and Fourth, and the Fifth and
Sixth, corresponding to eachother; eachpair setting forth the same general
truths, but with a certaindiversity of aspect. All this can hardly be accidental.
First Parable:The Sower(Mt 13:3-9, 18-23).
This parable may be entitled, The Effect of the Word Dependent on the State
of the Heart. Forthe exposition of this parable, see on [1286]Mr4:1-9, 14-20.
ReasonforTeaching in Parables (Mt 13:10-17).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Ver. 1-3. Mark saith, Mark 4:1, He beganagainto teachby the seaside:and
there was gatheredunto him a greatmultitude, so that he enteredinto a ship,
and satin the sea;and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. Luke,
Luke 8:4, saith no more than, when much people were gatheredtogether, and
were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable. Two evangelists

agree that this sermon of our Saviour’s was preachedout of a ship, to
multitudes that stoodon the shore. The occasionofhis going into a ship was
the throng of people, both for his own and their convenience. It is here said
that he sat; this, we observedbefore, was the usual gesture of the teacher
amongstthe Jews. This sermonis said to have been made the same day, which
some observe in historical narrations is to be takenstrictly, and lets us know
the assiduity of Christ in his work.
And he spake many things unto them in parables:the term parable often in
Scripture signifies dark sayings, or proverbial speeches, Ezekiel17:2 20:49.
But in the Gospels it generallyhath another sense, andsignifies similitudes or
comparisons of things. This being the first time we have met with the term,
and the first formed and perfectparable we have met with, because we shall
meet with the term often hereafter, with many formed parables, I shall here
give some notes which may be not only of use to understand the following
parables we shall meet with in this chapter, but in the following part of the
Gospel.
1. A parable, in the gospelsense ofthe term, signifieth a similitude, taken
from the ordinary actions of men, and made use of to inform us in one or
more points of spiritual doctrines.
2. That it is not necessaryto a parable that the matter contained in it should
be true in matter of fact; for it is not brought to inform us in a matter of fact,
but in some spiritual truth, to which it bears some proportion. This we see in
Jotham’s parable of the trees going to choosethemselves a king, &c.
3. That it is not necessarythat all the actions of men mentioned in a parable
should be morally just and honest. The actions of the unjust steward, Luke
16:1, &c., were not so.

4. That, for the right understanding of a parable, our greatcare must be to
considerthe main scope ofit, whither the story tends, and what our Saviour
designedprincipally by the parable to instruct and teachthe people by that
discourse.
5. That the main scope of the parable is to be learned, either from our
Saviour’s generalor more particular explication of it, either from the
proparabola, or preface to it, or from the epiparabola, or the conclusionof it.
6. It is not to be expectedthat all particular actions representedin a parable
should be answeredby something in the explication of it.
7. Lastly, though the scope of the parable be the main thing we are to attend
unto, and in which it doth instruct us, yet it may collaterallyinform us in
severalthings besides that point which is in it chiefly attended.
It is said that our Saviour spake many things to the multitude in parables,
covering truths under similitudes fetched from such ordinary actions as men
did or might do. This was a very ancient way of instruction, by fables or
parables, as we may learn by Jotham’s parable, Judges 9:7,8, &c. It is now
much out of use with us, but amongstthe Jews was very ordinary; so as our
Saviour spake to them in their own dialect. It had a double advantage upon
their hearers:
1. Upon their memory, we being very apt to remember stories.

2. Upon their minds, to put them upon studying the meaning of what they
heard so delivered; and also upon their affections, similitudes contributing
much to excite affection.
But withal it had this disadvantage, that he who so taught was not understood
of a greatpart of his auditory.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he spake many things unto them in parables,.... Forthe parables of the
sower, and the different sorts of ground the seedfell 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 greatprice, of the net castinto the
sea, and of the householder, were all delivered at this time. This way of
speaking by parables was much in use among the easternnations, and
particularly the Jews. R. Meirwas very famous among them for this way of
teaching:they say (a),
"that when R. Meir died, , "they that were skilled in, and used parables,
ceased".''
The commentators (b) on this passagesay,
"that he preacheda third part tradition, and a third part mystical discourse, ,
"and a third part parables":''
which method of discoursing was judged both pleasantand 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 Lord's reasonfor using them,
may be seenin Matthew 13:13. He begins with the parable of the sower. The
design of which is to setforth the nature of the word of God, the work and
business of the ministers of it, the different successofthe preaching of it, and
the fruitfulness of it; and to show when it is truly received, and the various
degrees offruit it produces; that the efficacyof 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 ofGod; and
therefore no dependence is to be had on the external hearing of the word.
Behold, a sowerwent forth to sow;Luke adds, "his seed";as does also
Munster's Hebrew Gospelhere;and Mark introduces the parable thus,
"hearken, behold!" it being a matter of great importance and concern, which
is expressedby 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
calledon accountof his human nature; and may the rather be thought to be
intended here, since the seedhe sowedis 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 , "the sower";which must be understood of him
as a prophet, or preacherof the word, who was eminently sent of God, and
richly qualified for such an office, and was most diligent in it, and yet his
successwas but small. Indeed, every minister of the Gospelmay 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"wentforth" 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 ofthe word, may be
explained of their commission, of their being sent, and of their going forth into
the field of the world, preaching the Gospelevery where. The end of the
sower's going forth is to "sow his seed":by "his seed" is meant the word, the
word of God; see Mark 4:14 so called, because ofthe choicenessand
excellencyof it in itself, that grain which is reservedfor seedbeing usually the
best of the kind; and because ofits smallness, it being mean and contemptible
in the eyes of those, who know not the nature of it; and because ofthe
generative virtue it has, though not without a divine influence. Nor does it
bring forth fruit, unless it is sownin the heart, as seedin the earth; where its
operationis 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 constantministration of it, notwithstanding all discouragements,
and a patient waiting for success.
(a) Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 15. (b) Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. e Talmud. Bab.
Sanhedrim, fol. 38. 2.
Geneva Study Bible
And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower
went forth to sow;
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 13:3 f. Παραβολή (Arist. Rhet. ii. 20), ‫מ‬ ָ‫ש‬ ָ‫,ל‬ the narrating of an
incident which, though imaginary, still falls within the sphere of natural
events, with the view of thereby illustrating some truth or other (ἵνα καὶ
ἐμφατικώτεροντὸνλόγον ποιήσῃ, καὶ πλείονα τὴν μνήμην ἐνθῇ, καὶ ὑπʼ ὄψιν
ἀγάγῃ τὰ πράγματα, Chrysostom). See Unger, de parabolar. Jesunatura,
interpretatione, usu, 1828, who gives the following definition: collatio per
narratiunculam fictam, sed veri similem,[448]serio illustrans rem
sublimiorem.[449]The correctcanonfor the interpretation of the parables is
already to be found in Chrysostomon Matthew 20:1 : ΟὐΔῈ ΧΡῊ ΠΆΝΤΑ
ΤᾺ ἘΝ ΤΑῖς ΠΑΡΑΒΟΛΑῖς ΚΑΤᾺ ΛΈΞΙΝ ΠΕΡΙΕΡΓΆΖΕΣΘΑΙ, ἈΛΛᾺ
ΤῸΝ ΣΚΌΠΟΝ ΜΑΘΌΝΤΕς,ΔΙʼ ὋΝ ΣΥΝΕΤΈΘΗ, ΤΟῦΤΟΝ
ΔΡΈΠΕΣΘΑΙΚΑῚ ΜΗΔῈΝ ΠΟΛΥΠΡΑΓΜΟΝΕῖΝ ΠΕΡΑΙΤΈΡΩ.
Ὁ ΣΠΕΊΡΩΝ]the sower, whom I have in view. Presentparticiple, used as a
substantive. See on Matthew 2:20. A similar parable is given in the Jerusalem
Talmud Kilaim I. f. 27.
ΠΑΡᾺ Τ. ὉΔΌΝ]upon the road (which went round the edge of the field), so
that it was not ploughed in or harrowed in along with the rest.

τὰ πετρώδη]the rockyparts, i.e. “saxumcontinuum sub terrae superficie
tenui,” Bengel.
[448]To be distinguished from the fable, which, for example, may introduce
animals, trees, and such like as speaking and acting. “Fabula est, in qua nec
vera nec verisimiles res continentur,” Cic. invent. i. 19. So far as appears from
the New Testament, Christnever made use of the fable; as little did the
apostles;in the Old Testament, in Jdg 9:8 ff.
[449]Observe, moreover, that the New Testament παραβολή and ‫מ‬ ָ‫ש‬ ָ‫ל‬ may
mean something more comprehensive and less definite (including every
description of figurative speech, Mark 3:23;Mark 4:30; Mark 7:17; Luke
4:23; Luke 5:36; Luke 6:39; Luke 14:7; Matthew 15:15; Matthew 24:32)than
is implied in the above definition of the parable as a hermeneuticalterminus
technicus. Comp. the Johanneanπαροιμία (note on John 10:6). John does not
use the word parable; but then he does not report any such among the sayings
of Jesus, though he has a few allegories;as, for example, those of the vine and
the goodshepherd.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 13:3-9. The Parable.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
3. in parables]Up to this time Jesus had preachedrepentance, proclaiming
the kingdom, and setting forth the laws of it in direct terms. He now indicates
by parables the reception, growth, characteristics,and future of the kingdom.
The reasonfor this manner of teaching is given below, Matthew 13:10-15.

A parable (Hebr. mashal) = “a likeness”or“comparison.” Parablesdiffer
from fables in being pictures of possible occurrences—frequentlyof actual
daily occurrences,—andin teaching religious truths rather than moral truths.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 13:3. Ἐν παραβολαῖς, in parables)The Evangelisthere indicates a
remarkable period of Christ’s teaching to the people in Galilee, as to the chief
priests and elders of the people in Jerusalem. See Mark 12:1,—ἤρξατοαὐτοῖς
ἐν παραβολαῖς λέγειν, He BEGAN to speak to them in parables.[597]Parables
are frequent in the East:but our Lord had previously taught much, in both
places, without parables. The parables in the presentpassage are seven:four
addressedto the people, in Matthew 13:3; Matthew 13:24; Matthew 13:31;
Matthew 13:33; and three to the disciples, in Matthew 13:44-45;Matthew
13:47.[598]The first four and the last three form severallytwo groups, which
are, respectively, intimately connectedtogether. The former are connectedby
the formula, “anotherparable;” the latter, by the formula, “Again the
kingdom of heaven is like” And since the seventh refers more than any of the
others to the end of the world, which the first does not refer to at all, but
applies the prophecy of Isaiahto the people at the time of our Lord’s
teaching,—thesesevenparables have a most recondite meaning (see Matthew
13:35), applying especiallyto distinct periods of the Church’s history and
condition, besides the common and universal principles which they teach
concerning the course and administration of the kingdom of heaven: and this
in such a manner, that eachbegins successivelyto be fulfilled after that which
precededit, though no preceding one concludes before the beginning of that
which follows. The first and second, and only these two, were explained to the
apostles. In the first, before the explanation—in the second, afterit—occurs
the formula, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. The first, indeed, was
fulfilled, as we have already observed, in the first age—namely, that of our
Lord’s ministry; the second, in that of His apostles, andthenceforward, for
then men beganto sleep (see Matthew 13:25);the third and fourth denote the
propagationof the kingdom of God among princes and the whole human
race;the fifth describes the darker condition of the Church; the sixth, the
state of the kingdom of God when esteemedabove all things; the seventh, the
condition of the Church in the last days, greatly mixed. It may be asked,

whether these sevenparables extend through the whole period of the New
Testamentdispensationin such a manner that the three latter begin from the
goalof the four former; or whether those four extend from the beginning to
the end, and also these three? On the settlement of these questions depends a
more accurate distribution, which I leave to be decided by the wise, [merely
subjoining the following sketch]:—
[597]Compare Matthew 21:23. [Qy. 28].—E. B.
[598]The parable concerning the four different kinds of soilthe Saviour
explained to His disciples, at their request, before that He returned to the
house—allother witnesses,however, being out of the way—whetherHis
explanation was given on the sea or on land, Matthew 13:10; with which
comp. Mark 4:10. Then next He set forth the rest of the parables before the
multitude, Mark 4:33; and, returning to the house, He clearedup also the
parable of the tares for the disciples, who beggedHim to do so, Matthew
13:36;with which comp. Mark 4:34. After the setting forth of these parables,
of which severalare derived from the tillage of land, within the lapse of a few
days the barley harvest began. In like manner the parable of the net (Matthew
13:47)castinto the sea, was put forth close by the sea.—Harm., p. 322.
1. The time of the apostles, Matthew 13:162. Afterthe deceaseofthe apostles,
Matthew 13:253. Constantine, Matthew 13:324. Nine centuries under the
trumpet of the seventh angel, Matthew 13:335. The kingdom of the Beast, and
the Reformation, Matthew 13:446. The kingdom of God esteemedabove all
things, Satanbeing bound, Matthew 13:467. The last confusion, Matthew
13:47Ο σπείρων.—He that soweth)in the present tense;i.e. Christ.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 3. - And he spake many things. Of which but a few are here recorded
(cf. vers. 34, 51). Unto them in parables. Taking the expressionin the widest

sense, "speaking in parables" beganin the very earliestages, whennatural or
spiritual truths were describedunder figures takenfrom everyday life, and
continues until the present time, more especiallyamong Easternnations.
Interesting examples of such a method of instruction are to be seenin the
Haggadoth(which are frequently parabolic narratives) of the Talmuds and
other Jewishworks. But both myth (cf. Alford) and parabolic Haggada share
the common dangerof being misunderstood as narratives which are intended
to be takenliterally, while in the parable, in the narrowersense of the word,
such a confusionis hardly possible. For the narrative then suggests,eitherby
its introduction or its structure, that it is only the mirror by which a truth can
be seen, and is not the truth itself. Such parables also, though seldom even
approaching in beauty to our Lord's, are very frequent in Jewishwritings,
though they come but seldom in the Old Testament(Isaiah28:23-29;2 Samuel
12:1-6; 2 Samuel14:6-11; 1 Kings 20:35-40;comp. also Isaiah5:1-7 and
Ezekiel17:1-10, which are rather allegories;and Judges 9:7-15 and 2 Kings
14:9, which are fables). (On the distinction of parable in the narrowersense
from fable, myth, proverb, allegory, see Alford and Trench.)Weiss ('Life,'
2:115)thinks that the most profound reasonof all which the Lord had for
employing parables was that he wishedto show that the same regulations
which hold goodfor the world round us and ourselves in relation to the world
and eachother, hold goodalso in the higher ethicaland religious life. But at
the most this can have been a very subsidiary motive with him. Saying,
Behold, a sower. Observe that our Lord enters upon his parable at once
(contrastver. 24). He will attract attention. Mark's "Hear ye" would have
forwarded this. A sower;literally, the sower, as the RevisedVersion; i.e. the
sowerof whom I am about to speak (cf. Driver on 1 Samuel 19:13; also
Matthew 1:23; Matthew 12:43). Went forth. In the Greek this verb comes
first, as though our Lord wished to call attention, not so much to the sower
himself as to his action. To sow. (For the minute adherence to actuallife
throughout the whole of this parable, see by all means Thomson's 'Land and
the Book,'p. 82, edit. 1887;Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,'pp. 425, sqq., edit.
1868.)
Vincent's Word Studies
Parables (παραβολαῖς)

From παρά, beside, and βάλλω, 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 ornarration.
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
(Matthew 15:15), referring to the words "If the blind lead the blind," etc.,
says, "declare unto us this parable." Compare Luke 6:39. So of the patched
garment (Luke 5:36), and the guestwho assumes the highest place at the feast
(Luke 14:7, Luke 14:11). Compare, also, Matthew 24:39;Mark 13:28.
2. Of a proverb. The word for proverb (παροιμία) has the same idea at the
root as parable. It is παρά, beside, οἶμος, a way or road. Either a trite, wayside
saying (Trench), or a path by the side of the high road (Godet). See Luke 4:23;
1 Samuel 24:13.
3. Of a song or poem, in which an example is setup by way of comparison. See
Micah2:4; Habakkuk 2:6.
4. Of a word or discourse whichis enigmaticalor obscure until the meaning is
developed by application or comparison. It occurs along with the words
αἴνιγμα, enigma, and πρόβλημα, a problem, something put forth or proposed
(πρό, in front, βάλλω, to throw). See Psalm49:4 (Sept. 48:4); Psalm 78:2
(Sept. 77:2); Proverbs 1:6, where we have παραβολὴν, parable;σκοτεινὸν
λόγον, dark saying; and αἰνίγματα, enigmas.Usedalso of the sayings of
Balaam(Numbers 23:7, Numbers 23:18; Numbers 24:3, Numbers 24:15).
In this sense Christ uses parables symbolically to expound the mysteries of the
kingdom of God; as utterances which concealfrom one class what they reveal
to another (Matthew 13:11-17), andin which familiar facts of the earthly life
are used figuratively to expound truths of the higher life. The un-spiritual do
not link these facts of the natural life with those of the supernatural, which are
not discernedby them (1 Corinthians 2:14), and therefore they need an

interpreter of the relation betweenthe two. Such symbols assume the
existence ofa 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 actualcoherence and
harmony with it. Christ formulates such a law in connectionwith the parables
of the Talents and the Sower. "To him that hath shall be given. From him that
hath not shall be takenaway." 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 seedbut soil. Spiritual fruitfulness requires an
honest and goodheart. Similarly, the law of growthas setforth in the parable
of the Mustard Seed, is a law common to nature and to the kingdom of God.
The greatforces in both kingdoms are germinal, enwrappedin 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 GoodSamaritan, the Rich Fool, the Pharisee and the Publican. The
element of comparisonenters here as betweenthe particular incident
imagined or recounted, and all casesofa 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"). "Anarrative 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 Testamentparables resemble the fable. The distinction
betweenthem 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 dealwith the impossible, since there are fables in which
an animal, for instance, does nothing contrary to its nature. The distinction
lies in the religious characterofthe New Testamentparable as contrasted
with the secularcharacterofthe fable. While the parable exhibits the
relations of man to God, the fable teaches lessons ofworldly 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 reasonit choosesanimals 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 allegoryin 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 thus
blended instead of being kept distinct and parallel. See, for example, the
allegoryof 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 owninterpretation with it.
Parable and proverb are often used interchangeably in the ;New Testament;
the fundamental conceptionbeing, as we have seen, the same in both, the same
Hebrew word representing both, and both being enigmatical. They differ
rather in extent than in essence;the parable being a proverb expanded and
carried into detail, and being necessarilyfigurative, which the proverb is not;
though the range of the proverb is wider, since the parable expands only one
particular case ofa proverb. (See Trench, "Notes onthe Parables," Introd.)
A sower(ὁ σπείρων)
END OF BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WAS A FARMER

By Dr. JaredStaudt
In the secondcreationstory one of the first acts of God is to plant:
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east;and there he put the
man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to
grow every tree that is pleasantto the sight and goodfor food, the tree of life
also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge ofgoodand evil
(verses 8-9).
Jesus latertells us that His Fatheris a farmer. We are used to the translation
in John 15:1, which says my Fatheris the “vine grower,” but the Greek is
γεωργός (georgos)and the Latin is agricola. Bothgeorgosandagricola mean
farmer, not simply vine grower(as we see in Virgil’s Georgicsonagriculture
and the name George,whichmeans farmer). God is the one who gives life,
nourishes, tends, and brings to fruition. He is a farmer.
And that makes us… a field. St. Paul explains in First Corinthians 3: “Forwe
are God’s fellow workers;you are God’s field, God’s building.” What God
wants to grow is us! What does He want to grow in us? His life. God created
our life and now recreatesus into the divine nature.
We are also farmers, who like St. Paul become fellow laborers not only in the
harvest of our own lives, but in others as well. Augustine unpacks this reality
further. “God is a farmer, and if he abandons man, man becomes a desert.
Man is also a farmer and if he leaves God, he turns himself into a desertas
well” (Commentary on Psalm 145, 11). What makes it even more interesting is
that Augustine says that we cultivate God as well. He says this because the
Latin word for worship is colere, which also means to cultivate (and its
participle is cultus, from which we derive culture and cult).
For we cultivate God, and God cultivates us. But we do not so cultivate Godas
to make Him any better thereby. For our cultivation is the labour of the heart,
not of the hands. He cultivates us as the husbandman does his field. In then
that He cultivates us, He makes us better; because so does the husbandman
make his field better by cultivating it, and the very fruit He seeksin us is, that

we may cultivate Him. The culture He exercises onus is, that He ceasesnotto
root out by His Word the evil seeds from our hearts, to open our heart, as it
were, by the plough of His Word, to plant the seedof His precepts, to wait for
the fruit of piety. Forwhen we have so receivedthat culture into our heart, as
to cultivate Him well, we are not ungrateful to our Husbandman, but render
the fruit wherein He rejoices. And our fruit does not make Him the richer, but
us the happier (Sermon 37 on the New Testament).
Aquinas refers to this passage in Augustine and explains a little more what it
means to cultivate God, when commenting on John 15:
God cultivates us to make us better by his work, since he roots out the evil
seeds in our hearts. As Augustine says, he opens our hearts with the plow of
his words, plants the seeds ofthe commandments, and harvests the fruit of
devotion. But we cultivate God, not by plowing but by adoring, in order that
we may be made better by him: ‘If anyone is a worshiper,’that is, a
cultivator, ‘of Godand does his will, God listens to him’ (9:31).
Cultivating God, or worshipping Him, as these are the same words in Latin,
means cultivating a relationship with Him, by which we give Him honor and
we are ourselves are cultivated to be more like Him. The seeds of His life grow
in us and blossominto the divine life.
St. Teresa ofAvila has expanded on this image of the cultivation of the soul
possibly more than any other spiritual writer, as she developed a whole
progressionofprayer basedon the image of a garden. “The beginner must
think of himself as of one setting out to make a garden in which the Lord is to
take His delight, yet in soilmost unfruitful and full of weeds. His Majesty
uproots the weeds and will set goodplants in their stead(Autobiography, ch.
11). It is important that God is the one who does the realgardening and we
cooperate withHim. Teresa says thatas we grow in prayer, God directly
waters the garden with His rain, taking the place of our little buckets.
If our soul is the field or gardenand we are meant to be fellow laborers,
gardeners, and famers with God, what does this mean in our life concretely? I
think it is not coincidentalthat God the farmer, when he came into the world
was a builder, which we usually translate as carpenter, though the Greek and

Latin are more general(faber and τέκτωνboth of which mean something like
craftsman, artisan, or maker). God wants us to build and grow things,
interiorly but also exteriorly. God is the only Creator, but He has willed that
we join in the work of creationby being stewards and perfectors of creation.
God wants us to exercise ourown creativity in our work, taking up the fruits
of creationand imprinting our personality on them (see Rerum Novarum).
In exercising our missionof dominion over creationand in the creativity of
our work and art, we are imitating God the farmer.
Twelve Truths That Jesus TaughtAbout Farming
Contributed by Paul Fritz on Aug 19, 2004
Scripture: Mark 4:1-22
Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Summary: Goodsowing is done with confident hope that God will give the
harvest! Let us ask the Lord for wisdom, faith and guidance in knowing how
to be the best spiritual farmers He wants us to be.
Twelve Truths That Jesus TaughtAbout Farming (Mark 4:1-4:22)
Illustration: Other seedfell on goodground and yielded a crop that sprang
up, increased, and produced. --Mark 4:8
John Chrysostomwas one of the most captivating preachers of the early
Christian church. However, he recognizedthat even greatorators cannot
make everyone listen.

Chrysostomnoted, "My preaching is addressedto all . . . , but it is the duty of
eachone of my listeners to take what is suited for his affliction. I do not know
who are sick, who are healthy. Therefore, I discuss subjects of every sort and
suited to every illness."
In Mark 4, the parable of the sowerand the soils teaches the importance of
how we respond to the Word of God. It tells us that the successorfailure of a
crop isn’t necessarilyin the skillof the farmer or in the powerof the seed, but
in the quality of the soil.
Some listeners are like rich soil, and the messagetakes rootin their heart.
Other audiences resemble the church parking lot, and the seedsimply
bounces off them. Still others are like a weedpatch that chokes potential
growth.
Preaching is not "the fine art of talking in someone else’ssleep."We need to
"drink in" the teaching of the Word just as the sick need medicine or as crops
need rain. That’s why Jesus urged, "Take heedwhat you hear" (v.24).
Whether or not you benefit from a sermonis largely up to you. (Our Daily
Bread)
As planted seedin fertile soil
Has life and will take root,
God’s Word, if nurtured in our hearts,
Will grow and bring forth fruit. --Hess
In goodsoil, the seedtakes root and will soonbear fruit.
1. Jesus equatedthe ministry of the His kingdom with farming in Mark 4:1-20
where He said, "The farmer sows the seedalong the path, where the word is
sown. Satancomes and takes awaythe word that was sownin them. Others,
like seedsownon rockyplaces, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
But since they have no root, they lastonly a short time. When trouble or
persecutioncomes because ofthe word, they quickly fall away. Still others,
like seedsownamong thorns, hear the word; but the worries, riches and
pleasures of this life choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed

sownon goodsoil, hear the word, acceptit and produce a crop - thirty, sixty
or even a hundred times what was sown."
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The Lord knew that farmers must be wise in determining the best places,
times and methods of sowing their seedto get the greatestreturn for their
investments. Resistthe temptation to hop from one place to another thinking
that you will do a lot of goodthrough frenetic activities.
2. Jesus knew that farmers concentrate onlooking after one field at a time
rather than flittering from place to place hoping that by haphazardly
spreading the seedit would miraculously spring up and yield a harvest. People
who are apt to be a "bumblebee" type minister are failing to follow the
example of our Lord’s teaching on the principles and practices ofwise
spiritual farming.
Application: Ask the Lord for the ability to remain in one ministry long
enough to bear much fruit and so prove to be His disciples.
3. Jesus knew that most godly people are called to dwell in the land and
cultivate faithfulness through a long-term relationship with a network of local
relationships. The Lord knew that people who were willing to remain in one
area for a long period of time and establishtheir roots in a locationwould be
able to see long term fruit.
Application: Ask the Lord for the wisdom to overcome the tendency to hop
from place to place or person to personwithout getting beyond superficial
relationships. (Psa. 37:3-5)
4. Jesus knew that the ministry of eachlocalchurch would best be analogized
to a farmer who knows the ins and outs of localterritory along with its
accompanying problems. Even Paul the apostle wrote, "The hardworking
farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops." (2 Tim. 2:2-6) In
order to produce disciples we must be willing to work with faithful people
over a long period of time to develop them spiritually, socially, mentally,
Biblically and in their ministry skills. No one candevelop mature leaders
without a concentratedtraining curriculum that allows people to develop

uniquely over time. Every localchurch can bestdevelop its own
contextualized curriculum that is relevant, appropriate and suited just for the
needs of people. Without a customized farming approachto disciple making,
the Greatcommissionof Christ cannotproperly be fulfilled. (Matt. 28:18-
20)RalphWinter has said that missions is more about being a locksmith to
find the right keyto open the doors to unreachedpeople groups than
anything. I agree.
5. Jesus knew that in order to geta goodharvest a godly minister, teacheror
disciple-makermust have a sense that whateveris sown that will they also
reap. When people are treated as hired hands they are not as productive as if
they own their own land and expect to live off the fruits of their labor. (John
10)
6. Jesus knew that farmers are required to trust the Lord for the blessings
from heaven in order to enjoy an abundant crop. A "bumblebee" type
minister gets lots of temporary excitement by hopping from one ministry to
another spreading their teaching. The "bumblebee" type minister rarely
worries about the long-term effects of his seedscattering. However, the local
farmer carefully guards, nurtures and waters his crops because he knows that
it is his responsibility to plant and water, but only God can give the growth.
7. Jesus knew that farmers are best equipped and positioned to guard their
crop from thieves, animals and elements that may threaten his harvestfields.
The Lord said, "Pray to the Lord of the harvestto send forth workers into His
harvest fields. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." (Matt. 9:36-
38) Bumblebee ministers rarely stay around in any one place long enoughto
protect, nurture and guard their crops.
8. Jesus knew that successis cumulative with farmers. As they carefully
groom, nourish and care for their localsoil they will eventually see the fruits
of their labor. "Bumblebee" type ministers are not thinking of cumulative
results, as they are more concernedabout the next opportunity to spread their
pollen seeds. Yes, we do need to sow many seeds, but let us concentrate on
faithful people who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim. 2:1,2)

9. Jesus knew that their fruits would best know a man. Farmers are happy to
be identified with their products because they are a measure of their identity,
roles, and responsibilities. Bumblebee type ministers are more known for
their activities than their results of their ministries.
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10. Jesus knew that godly characteris best developedthrough the day to day
struggles offarming than through the impulsive-short term perceptions of the
"bumblebee" type minister.
11. Jesus knew that the key to eternalfruitfulness is found in consistent
abiding in the vine. Jesus said, "I am the vine and you are the branches. If a
man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you
can do nothing." (John 15:5) "Bumblebee" type ministers have a hard time
staying in one place where they can develop long term credibility,
relationships, and wisdom.
12. Jesus knew that "When the plowman plows and the thresher threshes,
they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest." (I Cor. 9:10) Good
sowing is done with confident hope that God will give the harvest! Let us ask
the Lord for wisdom, faith and guidance in knowing how to be the best
spiritual farmers He wants us to be.
Illustration: I picked up a gardening book the other day and got some good
advice: Take care ofthe soil, and don’t worry about the plants. If the soil is
good, the seedwill take root and grow."
In the parable of the sowerin Mark 4, Jesus spoke ofthe importance of "good
ground" (or goodsoil). He defined goodsoilas referring to those who "hear"
God’s Word, "acceptit," and "bear fruit" (v.20). If we keepour heart soft
and receptive, God’s Word will take root, grow, and produce fruit.

In gardening, life is in the seed. Under the right conditions, it will grow until it
reaches maturity and produces fruit. Similarly, if the seedof the Word is
planted in the goodsoilof a receptive heart, it will grow until the characterof
Jesus is seen.
For the Christian, the powerof the spiritual life comes from the indwelling
Holy Spirit. As we open our heart to the Word with an eagernessto obey it,
the Spirit causes us to grow and bear fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
We can’t make ourselves grow, any more than we can force growth from the
seeds in our gardens. But we can tend the soil, keeping our hearts soft,
receptive, and obedient to God’s Word. Then we will yield the fruit of
righteousness.
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What kind of soilare you? (Our Daily Bread)
Lord, I would be soilin which You canplant
Your Word with its promise of fruit;
I want to be open to You every day,
So what You have planted takes root. —Hess
A heart open to God is soilin which the seedof His Word canflourish.
Three Lessons from the Farmer About Faith
Article by Christine Hoover

GuestContributor
My brother-in-law Travis, a farmer, daily dips his hands in the fertile south
Texas soilthat is his family’s very provision. In the current season, the
realized hope of summer harvest has past, and the remnants of harvested
crops have been destroyed, and now the soilhe sifts in his hands has once
againtaken centerstage. He, along with his farmer-father and his farmer-
uncles, has already turned, tilled, leveled, and molded the soil into neat rows
and borders, preparing ready receptaclesfor seeds. TheseFebruarydays are
for fertilizing — acres and acres must be covered, and then acres and acres
must be implanted with various species ofseeds:sorghum, sugarcane, cotton,
sesame, orcabbage.
Their work — the daily wrestling with the soil — is circadian and perennial
yet has only ever just begun. After planting, they will scrupulously monitor
the soil, coaxing it with aeration, searching it for even the smallestof weeds,
scrutinizing it for signs of pests or worms. And then they will wait, giving time
and space for the sun and the rain and the mysterious and miraculous work of
seeds becoming sprouts becoming stalks.
A farmer, perhaps more than most, knows something about faith.
Lessons from the Farmer
It’s no wonder that Scripture encouragesus to look to the farmer as an
example. When Paul tells Timothy to be strong in the grace ofChrist, he
points specificallytoward the hard-working farmer (2 Timothy 2:6). When he
exhorts the Galatian churches toward endurance, he speaks ofperennial
planting and patient waiting for an inevitable harvest (Galatians 6:9).
In my own life, I recognize my need to look to the farmer. I find myself more
often growing weary in doing goodas I plant and wait for growth and harvest.
My husband and I have been married and in ministry for 16 years. We have
parented for 13, with 14 years of intense parenting left to go. We’re

completing our eighth year of planting and growing a church, and I’m staring
aheadat years of more cultivating, weeding, and watering. I feel like a farmer
who has enjoyeda good crop but who is looking at bare fields, preparing to
start the planting cycle all over again.
At times, I feel trapped by the everydayness of life and how much work there
is yet to do. I stand with the soilcupped in my hands, wondering if my labor
matters or will amount to anything in the end. How do I continue in all God
has calledme to do without growing weary, especiallywhen the work is
demanding and the harvest appears so far into the future?
I look to the farmer for answers.
A Farmer Has an Unwavering Commitment to the Harvest
Travis tells me that farming is a way of life, a lifelong commitment. It’s not a
typical job, he says, where you can give your two weeks notice and walk away.
When you farm, you’re connectedto a specific land, and you’ve invested in
expensive equipment, a community, and oftentimes to previous generations of
your family who have farmed before you. In other words, there is a deep-
roots, big picture perspective required. The big picture is this: The farmer is
covenantedto his work for a lifetime, and he works his land with the yearly
harvest ever before him. Every investment in equipment, every decision
regarding the precise planting time, every weeduprooted — all of it is done
with the harvestin mind.
This reminds me that I too am called to a lifelong commitment to the harvest,
and this lifelong commitment is played out in everyday small acts of devotion.
A lifelong commitment entails unrelenting hard work with brief moments of
harvest. I’ve believed the opposite about the Christian life — that short-term
hard work would produce an unending harvest. I suppose I prefer a simpler,
more glamorous way, but Scripture never portrays the Christian life this way.
At its very centeris a commitment to self-death— to a deep-root, big picture
where instant growth, instant fruit, instant reward can never be the goalbut
rather a steady pace over the long haul.

A Farmer Lives and Works by Faith
Farming is backbreaking work, dirty work, detailed work, and, most of all, it
is risky work. There aren’t any guarantees.A few years ago, Travis reminds
me, when the crop stoodbeautiful and bountiful in the fields, ready for
harvest, a hurricane blew through the Rio Grande Valley and wiped it away
entirely. All that labor, all that grime, all that waiting, for nothing.
What is the point? Why would we invest everything in a risky venture? We
might ask this, thinking of our own lives and our own efforts to produce a
spiritual harvest and have seeminglyharvested nothing or been wiped out
entirely.
The farmer looks at his failed crop as a tangible reminder that the harvest
inevitably belongs to the Lord. The farmer must be faithful to lay the
groundwork for the harvest, but the harvest cannotbe forced; it canonly
happen through the Lord’s providence.
Travis tells me of his cautious optimism as the harvest approaches eachyear,
how at the lastminute the weathercanchange, and how there is nothing he
can do to protect his crop. He draws the connectionfor me to the Christian
life:
It’s like parenting. I’m parenting my kids over a long period of time, and
there are little moments that show me I’m on the right track, but I know I
won’t see the full reward until the end. Even then, I may not see the reward
that I want to see. As in farming, however, there are steps you have to
faithfully take to get to the harvest. There are things that pop up in the
growing seasonthataren’t helpful or what you want to see. We getrain that
we don’t want on the crops. I’ve learned not to go look at the crops on the day
it rains, because that’s when it looks the worst. It’s never as bad as we thought
after we come through it, though, and even what doesn’t look goodis working
toward the end goalof the harvest. In the end, no matter what the crop looks
like, we have to trust God that he’s going to take care of us.

To focus on fruitfulness is a frustrating endeavor;to work in faith is all we are
askedto do. And it’s really all we can do. Our lives, like the farmer’s, are
ongoing and various exercisesin learning to trust God despite what we cansee
today.
A Farmer Enjoys a Unique Reward
I ask Travis if he thinks about the harvest every day. He says most days he
does. On the days when you’re knee-deepin manure? “Yes.” Whenthe
irrigation line bursts? “Yes.” Whenyou’re working sun-up to sun-down in the
summer? “Yes, especiallythen. It’s the time of the year that we work the
hardest, but it’s the most satisfying. You’ve made it another year, you’ve
grown anothercrop. It’s financially rewarding, but it’s also the satisfactionof
knowing that you’ve put it into the ground and you’ve harvestedit.”
The reward is always in sight. There is joy in the harvest, and the greatest
satisfactionbelongs to the one who carefully cultivated it all along the way.
The hard-working farmer, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:6, is the one “who
ought to have the first share of the crops.” I’ve takenthat to mean that the
farmer eats of his labor, but, in talking to Travis, I see that it means so much
more.
Joy results from his long-term faithfulness. He is contentin his work and in
seeing what it’s produced over the years. He has learned the secretjoy of
trusting in God’s providence and experiencing his constantgoodness.But
there is also joy for Travis in what he cannot see. He explains how one tiny
seedbecomes a huge plant that produces a thousandfold of seeds. The harvest
multiplies itself and goes out into the world in a way that he will never see
with his own eyes. But because he can’t see it doesn’tmean it isn’t happening.
In our work and in our weariness,letus look to the farmer. Let us keepthe
deep-root, big picture in mind. If we don’t give up, one day we will enjoy the
final harvest and its bountiful rewards. Unlike our farming friends, this
harvest, one cultivated by faith, is absolutelyguaranteed.

Christine Hoover (@ChristineHoover)is the author of numerous books,
including Searching for Spring: How God Makes All Things Beautiful in
Time. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband Kyle and their
three boys.
26 Bible Verses for Farmers
Farming is fueled by science, but it is rooted in faith.
By Lisa Foust Prater
11/30/2019
John Noltner
Despite researchand scientific breakthroughs, and despite innovations in
technology, farming remains largely an act of faith. You plant a seedand you
harvest a crop. You care for your livestock and they provide you with
offspring. So much of what happens in betweenis out of your control. Here
are some verses that speak to a farmer’s faith.
God’s Blessings to You
1. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put
your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land. – Deuteronomy
28:8
2. But I will bless the personwho puts his trust in me. He is like a tree growing
near a stream and sending out roots to the water. It is not afraid when hot
weathercomes, becauseits leaves stay green;it has no worries when there is
no rain; it keeps onbearing fruit. – Jeremiah17:7-8

3. The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse ofhis bounty, to send rain
on your land in seasonand to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend
to many nations but will borrow from none. –Deuteronomy28:12
4. May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness – an abundance
of grain and new wine. – Genesis 27:28
When You Worry About the Future
5. The threshing places will be full of grain; the pits beside the presses will
overflow with wine and olive oil. I will give you back what you lost in the years
when swarms of locusts ate your crops. – Joel2:24-25
6. I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not
disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. – Jeremiah29:11
7. Jesus saidto them, “The times and occasions are setby my Father’s own
authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be.” – Acts 1:7
8. The light shines in the darkness, andthe darkness has never put it out. –
John 1:5
9. Fill your minds with those things that are goodand deserve praise;things
that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. Put into practice what
you learned and receivedfrom me, both from my words and from my actions.
And the God who gives us peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:8-9
10. I look to the mountains; where will my help come from? My help will
come from the Lord, who made heavenand earth. – Psalm121:1-2
Biblical Advice for Farmers
11. Be sure you know the conditions of your flocks, give carefulattention to
your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all
generations. – Proverbs 27:34-35

12. Farmers who wait for perfect weathernever plant. If they watch every
cloud, they never harvest. – Ecclesiastes11:4
13. But ask the animals what they think – let them teachyou; let the birds tell
you what’s going on. Put your ear to the earth – learn the basics. Listen – the
fish in the oceanwill tell you their stories. Isn’t it clearthat they all know and
agree that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand? – Job12:7-12
14. Those too lazy to plow in the right seasonwillhave no food at the harvest.
– Proverbs 20:4
15. Goodplanning and hard work leadto prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead
to poverty. – Proverbs 21:5
16. Plant your seedin the morning and keepbusy all afternoon, for you don’t
know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. –
Ecclesiastes11:6
Watch: 10 Bible Verses for Farmers
Farming is referencedover and over againin the Bible. Here are 10 of our
favorite inspirational verses for farmers.
Play Video

When You NeedReassurance
17. The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.
… The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacherand he gives the
farmer greatwisdom. – Isaiah 28:26, 29
18. He will also send you rain for the seedyou sow in the ground, and the food
that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will
graze in broad meadows. – Isaiah30:23
19. I do not need bulls from your farms or goats from your flocks;all the
animals in the forestare mine, and the cattle on thousands of hills. All the wild
birds are mine and all living things in the fields. – Psalm 50:9-11
20. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer
and winter, day and night will never cease. – Genesis 8:22
21. And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you
today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and
with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early
rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and
your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall
eat and be full. – Deuteronomy 11:13-15
22. The one who plants and the one who waters work togetherwith the same
purpose. And both will be rewardedfor their own hard work. – 1 Corinthians
3:8
23. He calmed the raging storm, and the waves became quiet. – Psalm107:29
When You Want to Give Thanks
24. When you have eatenand are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the
goodland he has given you. – Deuteronomy8:10

25. Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever
and ever, praising your greatness from generationto generation. – Psalm
79:13
26. Give 26 Bible Verses for Farmers
11/30/2019
John Noltner
28:8

John 1:5

– Proverbs 20:4
Ecclesiastes11:6
Play Video

3:8
79:13

26. Give26 Bible Verses for Farmers
11/30/2019
John Noltner
28:8

John 1:5

– Proverbs 20:4
Ecclesiastes11:6
Play Video

3:8
79:13
26. Give26 Bible Verses for Farmers
11/30/2019

John Noltner
28:8

Jesus was knowledgeable about farming

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