Section 4:30–34
Jesus told the parable of a mustard seed
This parable compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed. The parable illustrates how God’s kingdom will grow from a very small beginning to a very large size.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The parable about a mustard seed
-or-
Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a tiny seed that grows into a big shrub/bush
-or-
The mustard seed parable/story/illustration
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 13:31–34 and Luke 13:18–19.
Paragraph 4:30–32
4:30a
Then He asked: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then He asked is the same phrase as in 4:26a that the Berean Standard Bible translated as Jesus also said. As there, this phrase indicates that Jesus was beginning a new topic.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
He continued, saying
-or-
He also said
-or-
Then Jesus said (New Century Version)
Because Jesus asked a rhetorical question, it is also possible to translate this as the New Living Translation, 1996 edition has done:
Jesus asked
4:30b–c
To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it?: These two questions are similar in meaning. The first question To what can we compare the kingdom of God? is asking about a comparison in a general way. The second question With what parable shall we present it? is asking specifically about a parable for comparison. Another way to translate these questions is:
What shall we say the kingdom of God is like? What parable shall we use to describe it?
These are rhetorical questions. Jesus used them to introduce his teaching about the kingdom of God. They caused the listener to start thinking about what the kingdom of God is like. Jesus himself answered the rhetorical questions in 4:31–32. Translate these questions in a way which shows that Jesus was introducing a teaching about the kingdom of God. Some ways to translate this are:
• As a rhetorical question or questions. For example:
Is there something we(incl) can compare the kingdom of God to, or a parable to describe it? Here is something to compare it to:
-or-
Shall we(incl) find something to compare the kingdom of God to? Shall we find a parable to describe it? How about this comparison?
• As a statement. For example:
There is something we(incl) can compare the kingdom of God to; we can use this parable to describe it.
-or-
Here’s what we(incl) can compare the kingdom of God to. Let me tell you(plur) this parable.
• As a rhetorical question followed by a statement. For example:
To what shall we compare the kingdom of God? Here is a parable we can use to describe it.
Use whichever form is most natural in your language to introduce a new teaching.
parable: Here Jesus used the word parable to describe the illustration about the mustard seed in 4:31–32. Use a word in your language that describes this illustration. See the notes on 4:2a and 4:10b.
© 2008 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.