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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_4:1-9
1He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3"Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." 9And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Mar_4:1 "He began to teach again by the sea" This was not something entirely new (cf. Mar_2:13; Mar_3:7) but now that the synagogue was becoming increasingly closed to Him, He continued these open air teaching services. Jesus wanted the common person to have access to Him and His teachings.
▣ "such a very large crowd gathered" There was a large crowd, but the parable implies that few responded. The presence of a large crowd is a recurrent theme in Mark (cf. Mar_2:13; Mar_3:9; Mar_4:1; Mar_4:36; Mar_5:31; Mar_7:33; Mar_8:1-2; Mar_9:14; Mar_9:17; Mar_14:43; Mar_15:8).
▣ "a boat" This Greek term referred to a sail boat. In Mar_3:9 Jesus asked for a waiting row boat in case the pressure of the crowd became too great. It then would became a speaking platform. Every sick person wanted to touch Him. What a press this must have caused.
▣ "sat down" One wonders if Jesus' sitting (i.e., versus standing) reflects the cultural norm of Jewish teachers (i.e., the rabbis sat to teach) or if this was caused by the instability of the boat.
▣ "on the land" Jesus may have been using the natural voice amplification of the water to speak to such a large crowd.
Mar_4:2 "He was teaching them" This is an imperfect active indicative meaning He taught again and again (i.e., "many things").
▣ "parables" See Special Issue: Interpreting Parables at introduction to Mark 4.
Mar_4:3 "'Listen to this'" This is a present active imperative. Remember, parables were given orally. The rabbis would teach, then summarize, then illustrate. Jesus follows this pattern (cf. William L. Blevins' Birth of a New Testament, pp. 1-13).
▣ "sower" This was a very common sight in Galilee. This parable makes so much sense when one realizes how these village farmers plowed all of the ground around their villages. These farrows were across paths, weeds, etc. Then they sowed the entire field by hand. Jesus used this common practice to illustrate spiritual receptivity (i.e., four kinds of soils).
Mar_4:4 "beside the road" This refers to the public footpaths through the collective fields of the villages. When these fields were plowed the trails disappeared briefly but they quickly reappeared with use.
Mar_4:5 "rocky ground" This referred to a rocky formation, under just a few inches of soil, not loose rocks in the field. The shallowness of the soil was not obvious to the viewer.
Mar_4:7 "among the thorns" This referred to the well-established thorn patches that were also not visible after plowing.
Mar_4:8 "yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold" Different types of soil and location allowed different amounts of fruit. There are several manuscript variants related to the preposition en. However, the variety of Greek manuscript variations really does not change the meaning of the text. Probably all three should be en, which would follow an Aramaic influence.
Mar_4:9; Mar_4:23 "'He who has ears to hear, let him hear'" This is a Semitic idiom. It shows the need for careful thought and personal application (cf. Mat_11:15; Mat_13:9; Mat_13:43; Luk_8:8; Luk_14:35; Rev_2:7; Rev_2:11; Rev_2:17; Rev_2:29; Rev_3:6; Rev_3:13; Rev_3:22; Rev_13:9). This probably reflects the Hebrew prayer, the Shema (cf. Deu_6:4), which meant "to hear so as to do." Hearing must result in action (cf. Jas_2:14-26).