Matthew 13:2-9 · Bible study
Matthew 13:2-9 Commentary: The Sower and the Soils
Greek · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Study of Matthew 13:2-9: Jesus teaches from a boat, the parable of the sower, and the different responses to the word of God.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The parable of the sower shows that the word of the Kingdom is sown generously, but its fruitfulness depends on the condition of the hearer’s heart.
- Key words: σπείρων (sowing), the action of scattering seed; παραβολή (parable), a comparison; καρπός (fruit), the result of receiving the word.
- Main debate: Whether the four soils represent four distinct kinds of people or four stages in one person’s life; most agree it describes different responses.
- Theological theme: The Kingdom of God advances through the preaching of the word, and human response determines whether that word takes root and bears fruit.
- Best use: This passage is ideal for teaching about the nature of evangelism, the importance of hearing well, and the call to persistent fruitfulness.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
2Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore.
3And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
5Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.
6But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings.
8Still other seed fell on good soil and produced a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.
9He who has ears, let him hear.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
2Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.
3He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.
4As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.
5Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.
6When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.
7Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.
8Others fell on good soil and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.
9He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
KJV King James Version 1769
2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
2And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.
3And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow;
4and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them:
5and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:
8and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9He that hath ears, let him hear.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
2and gathered together unto him were many multitudes, so that he having gone into the boat did sit down, and all the multitude on the beach did stand,
3and he spake to them many things in similes, saying: `Lo, the sower went forth to sow,
4and in his sowing, some indeed fell by the way, and the fowls did come and devour them,
5and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang forth, through not having depth of earth,
6and the sun having risen they were scorched, and through not having root, they withered,
7and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns did come up and choke them,
8and others fell upon the good ground, and were giving fruit, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.
9He who is having ears to hear--let him hear.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
2And great crowds were gathered together to him, so that going on board ship himself he sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow:
4and as he sowed, some [grains] fell along the way, and the birds came and devoured them;
5and others fell upon the rocky places where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang up out of [the ground] because of not having [any] depth of earth,
6but when the sun rose they were burned up, and because of not having [any] root were dried up;
7and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them;
8and others fell upon the good ground, and produced fruit, one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty.
9He that has ears, let him hear.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went up into a boat and sat: and all the multitude stood on the shore.
3And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying: Behold the sower went forth to sow.
4And whilst he soweth some fell by the way side, and the birds of the air came and ate them up.
5And other some fell upon stony ground, where they had not much earth: and they sprung up immediately, because they had no deepness of earth.
6And when the sun was up they were scorched: and because they had not root, they withered away.
7And others fell among thorns: and the thorns grew up and choked them.
8And others fell upon good ground: and they brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold, and some thirty fold.
9He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · Matthew 13:2
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that the boat setting and the gathered crowd set the stage for Jesus’ first parable. Calvin observes that the sight of the great multitude moving him to compare his doctrine to seed, since all hear but not all receive it fruitfully. Gill notes that the crowd had come “on one account and another,” mirroring the mixed soils of the parable. Wesley adds that the boat was likely a vessel kept ready for Jesus on the lake, giving him a natural pulpit. The phrase “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” (v. 9) is taken by the Cambridge Bible as a call to those who have spiritual perception, following the shape of John’s parable itself. The main point is clear: the word of the Kingdom is scattered generously, and the condition of the hearer determines whether it bears fruit. This much is undisputed.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Jesus clearly teaches that the word of God is sown widely and that the condition of the human heart determines whether it bears fruit.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The purpose of the parable | All traditions agree the parable explains why the same message produces different responses. | Some emphasize that it comforts the sower (the preacher) in the face of apparent failure; others stress the responsibility of the hearer to prepare their heart. |
| Meaning of the four soils | The seed is universally understood as the word of God (or the message of the Kingdom). | A few traditions have read the soils as successive stages in the life of one believer, but the dominant interpretation sees them as four distinct types of hearers. |
| The boat setting | Jesus uses the boat simply to accommodate the crowd; it serves as a natural platform. | Some see a symbolic separation between Jesus (in the boat) and the world (on the shore), while others view it as purely practical. |
| The yield (thirty, sixty, hundredfold) | All agree the varying amounts show that fruitfulness is not uniform and that even the smallest yield (thirtyfold) is a genuine harvest. | A few have debated whether the numbers imply different levels of reward in the Kingdom, but most see them as examples of abundant grace. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The Sea of Galilee was a hub of fishing and trade. Many of Jesus’ early disciples were fishermen who owned boats, and it was natural for him to use one as a speaking platform. Mark 4:1 and Luke 5:3 record similar scenes. Vincent’s word study notes that the Greek term for shore here, αἰγιαλός, describes a beach where the sea washes up, a vivid setting for a large open-air gathering.
In first-century Galilee, farmers sowed seed by hand, scattering it across a field that often included a footpath (the hard‑packed wayside), patches of shallow soil over limestone bedrock, and areas where thorn bushes had taken root. The yields Jesus mentions, a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown, are extraordinary, as Vincent points out, citing Herodotus’s reports of Babylon’s two‑hundred‑fold harvests. The parable would have resonated immediately with an audience of small farmers and rural laborers.
The practice of teaching in parables was well known in Jewish tradition, as seen in Nathan’s parable to David and Jotham’s parable in Judges 9. Poole remarks that this method “had a double advantage upon their hearers: upon their memory and upon their affection.” Jesus uses the familiar act of sowing to unveil the mysteries of the kingdom, a kingdom that begins small and seemingly vulnerable but produces abundant fruit.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Matthew 13:2, 9. The primary difference among manuscripts is the inclusion or omission of the article before “ship” in verse 2 (some read “into the boat” rather than “into a boat”), but this does not change the meaning. The passage is textually secure.
Reception History
The parable of the sower has been a staple of Christian preaching from the earliest centuries. It appears in the sermons of Chrysostom and Augustine, who used it to explain why some respond to the gospel while others do not. In the medieval period, it shaped monastic teaching on the need for a receptive heart. The Reformation saw it cited frequently to emphasize the sovereignty of God in the harvest, while also calling hearers to self-examination. The phrase “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” has entered common Christian language as a summons to attentive listening. Hymns such as “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy” echo the invitation of this parable. In modern times, the parable remains central to discussions of evangelism and the nature of the church as a mixed body.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Generous Sower. The farmer sows widely, not sparingly. God’s word is offered to all, regardless of the soil. The focus is on the sower’s extravagance, not the soil’s worthiness.
- The Four Soils as Responses. Each soil represents a different heart condition: hard (path), shallow (rocky), crowded (thorns), and receptive (good). The same seed, different outcomes, the difference is the state of the hearer.
- The Call to Hear. Jesus ends with an invitation: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Hearing is not automatic; it requires attention, humility, and a willingness to let the word take root and flourish.
Five-point outline
- The Setting: The Boat Pulpit. The crowded scene illustrates the universal offer of the gospel. Jesus uses the boat as a natural platform.
- The Path: Missed Opportunity. Seed by the wayside, eaten by birds, the word snatched away before it can be understood.
- The Rocky Ground: Short-lived Zeal. Immediate joy but no depth; when trouble comes, the plant withers.
- The Thorny Ground: Choked Growth. The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches crowd out the word.
- The Good Soil: Abundant Harvest. The receptive heart produces fruit in varying amounts, but all are fruitful.
Illustration hooks
- Think of a friend who tries to offer advice but the listener is distracted, unwilling, or quickly forgets. The parable names the same dynamic spiritually.
- A gardener knows that rocky, weedy, or packed soil needs preparation before planting. The parable invites us to ask: what needs to be cleared or softened in our hearts so the word can grow?
- The boat and the shore: sometimes we must create distance from the noise of the crowd to hear clearly. Jesus withdrew to teach; we may need to step back to receive the word.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Why do some people who hear the gospel for years never seem to change?”
- “Is there hope for hard soils? Can a heart be softened?”
- “What does ‘fruitful’ look like in everyday life, and is thirtyfold enough?”
Leading a Discussion
This passage invites us to examine how we receive God’s word. Jesus told the parable not only to explain why the Kingdom spreads unevenly, but also to challenge his hearers to pay attention. As you discuss, let each person consider where they see themselves in the four soils, and what might need to change.
Discussion questions
- What do you notice about the setting of this parable (the boat, the crowd, the beach)? Why might Matthew include these details?
- In the parable, what does the seed represent? What do the different soils represent? (Use Jesus’ own explanation in Matthew 13:18, 23 as a guide.)
- Which of the four soils do you identify with most right now? What makes that soil hard, shallow, thorny, or good?
- Why does Jesus tell the same seed to fall on all four soils? What does this say about the nature of God’s proclamation?
- How can we “have ears to hear” in our daily lives? What practical steps help us become good soil?
- The good soil produces different yields (thirty, sixty, hundredfold). What does this variety suggest about faithfulness?
- How does the boat setting remind us that God meets us in our physical, everyday world with his word?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 49:10 | The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him. |
| Matthew 4:25 | Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him. |
| Matthew 15:30 | Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them, |
| Mark 4:1 | Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea. |
| Luke 5:3 | He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. |
| Luke 8:4 | When a great multitude came together and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable: |
| Luke 8:8 | Some fell into the good ground and grew and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” |
| Judges 9:8 | The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
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What the Commentators Say
4 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke grounds the parable in observable agriculture rather than spiritual theory, describing actual experiments where a single oat grain produced 726 grains and a wheat plant multiplied into five hundred. For him, the hundredfold yield is not a symbol but a literal biological fact that demonstrates the power inherent in seed and soil.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes defines a parable as a comparison from nature to teach spiritual truth, stressing that the narrative need not be literally true. He notes Jesus used parables both to reveal truth to willing hearers and to conceal it from those who would not understand.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The essential point of the tares parable is that good and evil often look alike in the visible Church. Attempts to purge the church of the wicked before the final judgment have always failed, as history shows. Only God's harvest at the end will make the separation clear.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent emphasizes that a parable always involves comparison, but Christ’s parables go further by assuming a law common to both the natural and spiritual worlds. The symbol and the thing symbolized do not merely resemble each other superficially; they stand in actual coherence and harmony, so one illustrates the other intrinsically.