Section 13:1–17

Jesus told the parable about the man who sowed seeds

In this section, Jesus told the first of eight parables about the kingdom of heaven. These parables helped the disciples understand the kingdom of heaven. They also helped the disciples understand why some people did not accept Jesus’ message.

The first parable is about a farmer who sows seed in different kinds of soil. The different kinds of soil represent different kinds of people and how they accept God’s Word. In 13:18 Jesus referred to this parable as “the parable of the sower.”

After Jesus told this parable, he explained why he told parables (13:10–17).

Some other examples for a heading for this section are:

A story about a farmer planting seed
-or-
The parable about the four kinds of soil

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 4:1–12 and Luke 8:4–10.

Paragraph 13:1–9

13:1a

That same day: This phrase indicates that the events in this section occurred on the same day as the events at the end of chapter 12.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

On that same day
-or-
That day also

Jesus went out of the house: The phrase the house refers to the house that was implied in 12:46. It was the house where he was teaching. This house was probably in the town of Capernaum where Jesus often stayed.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus left the house ⌊where he had been teaching⌋
-or-
Jesus exited the house ⌊where he was staying⌋

13:1b

sat: In Jewish culture, a teacher sat to teach and the learners stood. In this context, Jesus did not sit because he was tired. In some languages, it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:

sat down to teach (Good News Translation)
-or-
sat down ⌊to speak⌋

If it is necessary in your language to say who Jesus taught or what he taught about, you can say:

he sat down to teach ⌊the people⌋ ⌊about the kingdom of God/heaven⌋

by the sea: The phrase the sea refers to Lake Galilee. This lake is 23 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide. It is a freshwater lake. It does not contain salt water.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

beside Lake Galilee (Contemporary English Version)

-or-

on the shore/edge of the lake

© 2023 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.