The Meaning of Matthew 13:18 Explained

Matthew 13:18

KJV: Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

YLT: 'Ye, therefore, hear ye the simile of the sower:

Darby: Ye, therefore, hear the parable of the sower.

ASV: Hear then ye the parable of the sower.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Hear  ye  therefore  the parable  of the sower. 

What does Matthew 13:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Since former prophets and righteous people wanted to know this Revelation , and since the unbelieving could not understand it, the disciples needed to listen to it carefully.

Context Summary

Matthew 13:10-23 - Teaching For The Teachable
Jesus defended His use of parables. He said that He carefully avoided stating the truths of the Kingdom too plainly, so as not to increase the condemnation of those who could not or would not accept them. But where the disciples cared to penetrate below the husk of the story or parable, they would reach the kernel of heavenly significance. It is given to meek and teachable hearts to know the secrets of God. Let us draw near to the great teacher, the Holy Spirit, asking Him to make us know the kernel and heart of the Word of God. See 1 Corinthians 2:6, etc.
Note these points in our Lord's explanation of His parable: (1.) Beware of the evil one, who comes surreptitiously as soon as the sermon is over. (2.) The joy of the young convert must be distinguished from that of the superficial hearer. It is joy in Christ, rather than in the novelty and beauty of the words about Christ. (3.) Expect tribulation where the gospel is faithfully proclaimed. (4.) The cares of poverty hinder as well as the riches of wealth. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 13

1  The parable of the sower and the seed;
18  the explanation of it
24  The parable of the weeds;
31  of the mustard seed;
33  of the leaven;
36  explanation of the parable of the weeds
44  The parable of the hidden treasure;
45  of the pearl;
47  of the drag net cast into the sea
53  Jesus is a prophet without honor in his own country

Greek Commentary for Matthew 13:18

Hear then ye the parable [υμεις ουν ακουσατε την παραβολην]
Jesus has given in Matthew 13:13 one reason for his use of parables, the condemnation which the Pharisees have brought on themselves by their spiritual dulness: “Therefore I speak to them in parables” He can go on preaching the mysteries of the kingdom without their comprehending what he is saying, but he is anxious that the disciples really get personal knowledge (γνωναι — gnōnai Matthew 13:11) of these same mysteries. So he explains in detail what he means to teach by the Parable of the Sower. He appeals to them (note position of μεις — hūmeis) to listen as he explains. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 13:18

Matthew 13:3 Many things in parables [πολλα εν παραβολαις]
It was not the first time that Jesus had used parables, but the first time that he had spoken so many and some of such length. He will use a great many in the future as in Luke 12 to 18 and Matt. 24 and 25. The parables already mentioned in Matthew include the salt and the light (Matthew 5:13-16), the birds and the lilies (Matthew 6:26-30), the splinter and the beam in the eye (Matthew 7:3-5), the two gates (Matthew 7:13.), the wolves in sheep‘s clothing (Matthew 7:15), the good and bad trees (Matthew 7:17-19), the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24-27), the garment and the wineskins (Matthew 9:16.), the children in the market places (Matthew 11:16.). It is not certain how many he spoke on this occasion. Matthew mentions eight in this chapter (the Sower, the Tares, the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, the Hid Treasure, the Pearl of Great Price, the Net, the Householder). Mark adds the Parable of the Lamp (Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16), the Parable of the Seed Growing of Itself (Mark 4:26-29), making ten of which we know. But both Mark (Mark 4:33) and Matthew (Matthew 13:34) imply that there were many others. “Without a parable spake he nothing unto them” (Matthew 13:34), on this occasion, we may suppose. The word parable There are parables in the Old Testament, in the Talmud, in sermons in all ages. But no one has spoken such parables as these of Jesus. They hold the mirror up to nature and, as all illustrations should do, throw light on the truth presented. The fable puts things as they are not in nature, Aesop‘s Fables, for instance. The parable may not be actual fact, but it could be so. It is harmony with the nature of the case. The allegory John does not use the word parable, but only παροιμια — paroimia a saying by the way (John 10:6; John 16:25, John 16:29). As a rule the parables of Jesus illustrate one main point and the details are more or less incidental, though sometimes Jesus himself explains these. When he does not do so, we should be slow to interpret the minor details. Much heresy has come from fantastic interpretations of the parables. In the case of the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-8) we have also the careful exposition of the story by Jesus (Matthew 13:18-23) as well as the reason for the use of parables on this occasion by Jesus (Matthew 13:9-17). [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 13:18 mean?

You therefore hear the parable of the [one] having sown
Ὑμεῖς οὖν ἀκούσατε τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ σπείραντος

ἀκούσατε  hear 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
παραβολὴν  parable 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: παραβολή  
Sense: a placing of one thing by the side of another, juxtaposition, as of ships in battle.
τοῦ  of  the  [one] 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
σπείραντος  having  sown 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: ἐπισπείρω 
Sense: to sow, scatter, seed.

What are the major concepts related to Matthew 13:18?

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