And he began again to teach by the sea side He went out of the house where he was at Capernaum, the same day he had the above discourse with the Scribes and Pharisees, and on which his mother and: brethren came to speak with him; and from thence he went where he had been before, and taught the…

And he taught them many things by parables As he sat in the ship, and they stood on shore; and said unto them in his doctrine; as he was teaching them, and delivering unto them the doctrine he had received from his Father: though the Jews say [[2]], that “the Israelites will have no need (לתלמודו…

Hearken, behold, there went out a sower to sow. ] By whom is meant Jesus Christ, who came forth from God as a teacher, and went out into the land of Judea to preach the Gospel, which is sowing spiritual things among men; and this may be also applicable to any faithful minister of the word.

And it came to pass, as he sowed Whilst he was preaching the, Gospel, casting about the precious seed of the word, he was laden with: some fell by the way side; the common beaten path: the word was dispensed among some men comparable to it, on whom it lighted, but made no impression; there it lay,…

And some fell on stony ground The word was preached to some persons who had hearts of stone, and which remained so: where it had not much earth; and so could be received only in a notional and superficial way, but could take no place, so as to produce any good effect: and immediately it sprung up;…

But when the sun was up, it was scorched When persecution arose because of the word, and that became very hot and vehement, it tried and pierced through this thin speculative knowledge of the word, which could not stand before it, and bear the heat of it: and because it had no root, it withered…

And some fell among thorns The word was ministered to some who were eat up with the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and other lusts: and the thorns grew up, and choked it; the word did not take place so as to beat down, overcome, and root out these things, nor even to weaken,…

And other fell on good ground The word was preached to some whose hearts were disposed by the Spirit and grace of God to receive it; and their understandings were enlightened by it; and they had a savoury and comfortable experience of the truths of it, it coming with power to them; it was a good…

And he said unto them To the multitude of hearers that were on the sea shore attending to the word preached, and among whom, doubtless, there were all those sorts of hearers mentioned in this parable: he that hath ears to hear, let him hear: observe, and take notice of what has been said, as being…

And when he was alone After the multitude was dismissed, and he either remained in the ship, or left it, and retired to some private place, it may be to Simon’s house in Capernaum.

And he said unto them His disciples; unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; or the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the secrets of the Gospel dispensation, the mysterious doctrines of grace; (See Gill on Matt.

That seeing they may see Which the end and reason of his speaking to them in parables. The passage referred to is in (Isa. 6:9, Isa. 6:10) . (See Gill on Matt. 13:14). (See Gill on Matt. 13:15).

And he saith unto them, know ye not this parable? &c.] So easy to be understood, taken from things common, and which fall under every one’s observation: and how then will you know all parables? if not this single one, and which is so plain, how will ye be able to understand the numerous parables…

The sower soweth the word. ] Though our Lord thought fit to give the above gentle rebuke to his disciples for their dulness; yet he condescends to favour them with an interpretation of the above parable, which here begins: by this it appears, that the seed in the parable, before delivered, and…

And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown, &c.] Such hearers are represented by the way side, in which the seed fell; who, coming where the Gospel is preached, stop awhile and hear it, and so are only casual and accidental hearers of it: but when they have heard; and indeed whilst…

And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, &c.] Such sort of hearers of the word are signified by the stony ground, on which the seed were sown, who are constant hearers of the word, and have some understanding of it, and some sort of affection for it, and yet their hearts are not…

And have no root in themselves The word has no root in their hearts, only in their natural affections: nor is the root of grace in them; there is no heart work, only speculative notions, and flashy affections: and so endure but for a time: they continue hearers and professors of the Gospel but for…

And these are they that are sown among thorns Such hearers of the word are designed by the thorny ground, upon which other seed fell, as it was sown, who are of worldly dispositions; who are immoderately careful and anxious about the things of this life, and are bent upon acquiring earthly riches,…

And the cares of this world The perplexing and distressing cares of it to get as much of it as they can, for themselves and families, fill their minds, and possess their souls even when and while they are hearing the word: and the deceitfulness of riches; or riches which are deceitful, especially…

And these are they which are sown on good ground Such hearers who are intended by the good ground on which other seed fell, are those who are made good men by the grace of God; for there is none good naturally, nor that doeth good, no not one; these are such who hear the word, and receive it; as…

And he said unto them At the same time, after he had explained the parable of the sower; for though the following parabolical and proverbial expressions were delivered by Christ at other, and different times, and some of them twice, as related by other evangelists; yet they might be all of them…

For there is nothing hid In these parables, and figurative expressions used by Christ, which shall not be manifested, sooner or later, to his disciples: neither was any thing kept secret; any doctrine of the Gospel, or mystery of the kingdom: but that it should come abroad; it was designed to be…

If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. ] What is now delivered, being very momentous and important; see .

And he said unto them At the same time, though he had said what follows at another time, still continuing his discourse with his disciples: take heed what you hear: diligently attend to it, seek to understand it, and lay it up in your minds and memories, that it may be of use to you in time to…

For he that hath, to him shall be given He that has Gospel light and knowledge, and makes a proper use of it, he shall have more; his path shall be as the path of the just, which shines more and more to the perfect day; the means of grace and knowledge shall be blessed, to him, he attending…

And he said He went on saying the following parable, which was delivered at the same time that the parable of the sower was, though omitted by Matthew; and is here placed between that, and the other concerning the grain of mustard seed; which shows the time when it was spoken.

And should sleep That is, the man that casts in the seed, who represents the ministers of the Gospel: and, as applied to them, is not to be understood of natural sleep, and indulging themselves in that; much less of spiritual sloth and indolence, as if they cared not what became of the seed sown,…

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself Without any further help, or cultivation from the husbandman; though under the influence of the sun, dews, and showers of rain from heaven: this is said, not to denote that man of himself, upon hearing the word, can bring forth the fruit of grace in…

But when the fruit is brought forth Unto perfection, and is fully ripe; signifying that when grace is brought to maturity, and faith is performed with power, and the good work begun is perfected; then, as the husbandman, immediately he putteth the sickle; and cuts it down, and gathers it in;…

And he said Still continuing his discourse on this subject, and in order to convey to the minds of his disciples clearer ideas of the Gospel dispensation, the success of the Gospel, and the usefulness of their ministration of it, for their encouragement, how unpromising soever things might then be:…

It is like a grain of mustard seed That is, the kingdom of God spoken of in the preceding verse, is like unto a grain of mustard seed; by which is meant, either the Gospel, or the Gospel church state, or the grace of God in the hearts of his people, and it may include them all: the Gospel is so…

But when it is sown, it groweth up So the Gospel, when it was preached, it spread notwithstanding all the opposition made against it by, the Jews and Gentiles: there was no stopping it; though the Jewish sanhedrim charged the apostles to speak no more in the name of Jesus, they regarded them not;…

And with many such parables As those of the tares, of the leaven in three measures of meal, of the treasure hid in the field, the pearl of great price, the net cast into the sea, and of the Scribe instructed unto the kingdom of God; which though not related at length here, are by the Evangelist…

But without a parable spake he not unto them For the above reason, as well as for the accomplishment of Scripture; (See Gill on Matt. 13:34), (See Gill on Matt. 13:35).

And the same day, when the even was come After he had finished his parables among the multitude, and had explained them to his disciples: he saith unto them; his disciples, let us pass over unto the other side: that is, of the sea of Galilee, or lake of Gennesaret, to the country of the Gadarenes,…

And when they had sent away the multitude Who had been attending him all day on the sea shore; though they seem to have been dismissed by Christ, when he went into the house, and privately interpreted the parables to his disciples: see , wherefore it is possible, that upon Christ’s going to the sea…

And there arose a great storm of wind Called Laelaps, a wind that is suddenly whirled about upwards and downwards, and is said to be a storm, or tempest of wind with rain; it was a sort of a hurricane: and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was full; of water, and ready to sink.

And he was in the hinder part of the ship That is, Christ was in the stern of the ship: the Persic version renders it, “he was in the bottom of the ship, in a corner”, but very wrongly; here he was asleep on a pillow, which some say was a wooden one, framed at the stern: however, he was fast asleep…

And he arose and rebuked the wind He arose from off his pillow, and stood up; and in a majestic and authoritative way reproved the wind, as if it was a servant that had exceeded his commission; at which he shows some resentment: and said unto the sea, peace, be still; as if that which was very…

And he said unto them His disciples, why are ye so fearful? since he was with them in person, whose power to keep and preserve them, they had no room to question, when they reflected on the miracles they had so lately seen performed by him: how is it that ye have no faith? That is, in exercise:…

And they feared exceedingly That is, the men in the ship, the mariners to whom the ship belonged, and who had the management of it: and said to one another, as persons in the greatest amazement, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Surely this person must not be a…