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Parallel Texts in Matthew, Mark
& Luke

4.
Understanding The Sower
Matt 13:18-23 // Mark 4:13-20
// Luke 8:11-15
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Texts
| EXPLAINING
the PARABLE of the SOWER |
| Matthew
13 |
Mark
4 |
Luke
8 |
| |
|
13 |
And he said to them, |
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"Do you not understand |
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|
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this parable? |
11 |
Now the parable
is this: |
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How then |
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will you understand |
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| |
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all the parables? |
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| 18 |
"Hear then |
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|
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The seed |
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the parable of the
sower. |
14 |
The sower
sows the word. |
|
is the
word of God. |
| |
|
15 |
And these are
the
ones |
12 |
The ones |
| |
|
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along the path,* |
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along the path
* |
| |
|
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where the word is sown; |
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| 19 |
When
anyone |
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when
they |
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are those
|
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hears the word |
|
hear, |
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who have
heard; |
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of the kingdom
and |
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| |
does not understand it, |
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the evil one
|
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Satan immediately
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then the devil
|
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comes |
|
comes |
|
comes |
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and
snatches away |
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and
takes away |
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and takes
away |
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what is
sown |
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the word
which
is sown |
|
the word |
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in
his heart; |
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<into> them.** |
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from their <heart>, |
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that they may not |
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believe and be saved. |
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this is what was sown |
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along the path.* |
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|
16 |
And these |
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in like manner |
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| 20 |
As for what was
sown |
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are
the
ones sown |
13 |
And the
ones |
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on
rocky ground, |
|
on
rocky ground, |
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on
the rock |
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this is he |
|
who, when |
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are those
who,
when |
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who hears
the word |
|
they
hear the word |
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they
hear the word |
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and immediately |
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immediately |
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|
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receives
it with joy; |
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receive it
with joy; |
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receive it with joy; |
| 21 |
yet he has no
root |
17 |
and they have
no
root |
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but these have no
root, |
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in
himself, |
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in
themselves, |
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but endures
for a while, |
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but endure
for a while; |
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they believe
for
a while |
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and when
tribulation |
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then, when
tribulation |
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and in time |
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or persecution arises |
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or persecution arises |
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of temptation |
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on account of the word, |
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on account of the word, |
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immediately |
|
immediately |
|
|
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he falls
away. |
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they fall
away. |
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fall away. |
| 22 |
[As for] |
18 |
And others
|
14 |
[As for]
|
| |
what
was sown |
|
are the
ones
sown |
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what fell |
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among thorns, |
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among thorns; |
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among
the
thorns, |
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this is he |
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they are those |
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they are those |
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who hears
the word, |
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who hear
the
word, |
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who hear, |
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but as they go |
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on their way |
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they are choked |
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but
the
cares |
19 |
but
the
cares |
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by the
cares |
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of the
world |
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of the
world, |
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and
the delight in riches |
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and
the delight in riches, |
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and riches |
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and
the desire |
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and
pleasures |
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|
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for other things, |
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of life, |
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enter in |
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choke the word, |
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and choke
the word, |
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and
it proves unfruitful. |
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and
it proves unfruitful. |
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and their
fruit |
| |
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does not mature. |
| 23 |
[As for]
|
20 |
<And>
|
15 |
[As for] |
| |
what was
sown |
|
those
that were
sown |
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that |
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upon
good
soil, |
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upon the
good
soil |
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in the
good
soil, |
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this is he |
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are the ones |
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they are those who, |
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who
hears the word |
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who
hear the word |
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hearing
the word, |
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and understands
it; |
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and accept it |
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hold
it
fast |
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in an honest |
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and good heart, |
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he indeed
bears
fruit, |
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and bear
fruit, |
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and
bring forth fruit |
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and yields, |
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in one case
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a
hundredfold,* |
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thirtyfold |
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in another
sixty, |
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and sixtyfold |
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and in another
thirty." |
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and
a
hundredfold."* |
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with patience. |

* Note:
In
Greek, as in English, the prepositional phrase "along" the path is
located at the beginning of Mark 4:15 // Luke 8:12 while
it occurs only at the end of Matt 13:19.
**
Note: Early
Egyptian codices -- including Sinaiticus
& Vaticanus (4th c. CE) -- generally have the
prepositional phrase "into them" at the end of Mark
4:15. Most Byzantine texts & codex Bezae,
however, read instead: "in their hearts" (plural). Other mss.,
including a few Egyptian texts like Alexandrinus, also have "their
heart(s)" with some preposition other than "into". Which is
more likely:
- some Egyptian scribe overlooked
"heart" in the Markan text & substituted the logically
awkward preposition "into" for "in"? Or
- some Greek scribe
"corrected" the wording of Mark 4:15
to read more like Matt 13:19?
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|
Color
Code
|
| Blue |
Three
gospels use same vocabulary. |
| Teal |
Two
gospels use same vocabulary. |
| Black |
Words unique
to a particular gospel. |
| * |
Same
wording, different order. |
| [as] |
RSV wording
not found in Greek. |
| <and> |
RSV wording
altered to reflect Greek. |

last revised
28 February 2023
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