Bible Study series: Luke 8:4-8. Where is your heart when you hear the gospel? Soft? Ready? Hardened? Anxious? Vulnerable to Satan?
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 8:4-8
4 When a big crowd came together, and they came to him from the towns, he spoke through a parable:
5 “A sower went out to sow his seed, and while he was sowing, some fell along the path and were trampled on, and birds of the sky ate it up. 6 Another handful of seed fell on the rocky ground, and when it grew up, it withered because it had no moisture. 7 And another handful fell in the middle of thorn bushes, and when they grew up with it, the thorn bushes choked it. 8 Still another handful fell on good soil, when it grew up, it produced fruit, one hundredfold.” While he was speaking, he was shouting, “He who has ears to hear let him hear!” (Luke 8:4-8)
Comments:
This parable has been called the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Soils and even the Parable of the Seeds.
Let’s wait to interpret the parable in vv. 11-15, where Jesus explains it.
4:
“parable”: literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah and means “alongside”) and bolē (pronounced boh-lay and means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a clear truth. It is a story or narrative or short comparison that reveals the kingdom of God and the right way to live in it and the Father’s ways of dealing with humanity and his divine plan expressed in his kingdom and life generally. The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable. Here you must see yourself in the parable.
Luke is keen to show that Jesus could gather a crowd. This time he did not heal them but taught them. Teaching the kingdom of God is equal to or even better than healing through the power of the Spirit in the kingdom because eventually this physical body will wear out, but the teaching will last forever. His word will not pass away (Luke 21:33). Renewalists who like the sensational aspect of the kingdom of God, as it comes in full power and healing, need to remember the teaching part of ministry. They must reinforce their basic Bible knowledge and doctrine, so they can explain it to the people and so that the flashy ministers themselves won’t go astray.
5:
A sower had a sack strapped to his shoulder, full of seed, and reached into it, grabbed a handful, and threw it, sweeping his hand back and forth. After his hand emptied out, he reached in his bag and grabbed another handful.
Some of his seed fell on the road was trampled underfoot, and the seeds that were not pushed into the dirt by sandals and bare feet were eaten by birds.
6-8a:
“handful of seed”: this phrase was inserted because of the agricultural context, as described in v. 5. Jesus is about to explain what the parable means, so there is no need to explain it now.
In v. 6, “withered” could be translated as “dried up.”
8b:
ALTERNATIVE FREE TRANSLATION
Professional grammarians teach us that the Greek verb tenses indicate that he was speaking his parable to a large crowd, so his voice had to be raised for them to hear . So he was shouting the quoted words even louder at intervals.
The sequence may have worked out like this:
4 When a big crowd came together, and they came to him from the towns, he spoke in a parable:
5 “A sower went out to sow his seed, and while he was sowing, some fell along the path and were trampled on, and birds of the sky ate it up. He who has ears to hear let him hear! 6 Another handful of seed fell on the rocky ground, and when it grew up, it withered because it had no moisture. He who has ears to hear let him hear! 7 And another handful fell in the middle of thorn bushes, and when they grew up with it, the thorn bushes choked it. He who has ears to hear let him hear!
8 Still another handful fell on good soil, when it grew up, it produced fruit, one hundredfold.” He who has ears to hear let him hear!”
While he was speaking, he was shouting, “He who has ears to hear let him hear!”
Comments:
This repetitive shouting at intervals puts extra-drama and earnestness before the listeners. And this sequence prepares the next short pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or section of Scripture, which explains the purpose of parables.
For a deeper commentary, click on Jesus’s interpretation of the parable.
GrowApp for Luke 8:4-8
1. Do some self-reflection. Which kind of soil is your heart made of?
2. If it is the first three, how do you improve?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
For the bibliographical data, please click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
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