Luke 8:7

8. And some fell on good soil, and yield ed fruit springing up and growing, and produced some thir ty, and some sixty, and some a hun dred. 9. And he LUKE. VIII. 1. And it hap pened afterwards, and he was travelling through each city and village,3 preaching and proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom of God ; and the twelve were with him, 2. And likewise some women, who had been cured of evil spirits and dis eases, Mary, who is called Magdalene, out of whom had gone seven devils, 3. And Joanna, the wife of Clmza, Herod's stew ard, and Susanna, and many others, who assisted him out of their property 4, And while a very great multitude was assembling, and while they were crowding to him out of each city, he said by a par able : 5. One who sowed went out to sow his seed, and while he was sowing, some fell near the road, and was trodden down, and the fowls of heaven ate it up. 6. And some fell on a rock, and when it was sprung up, it withered, because it had not moisture. 7. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns springing up along with it, choked it. 8. And some fell on a 1 " to know the secrets." 2 " and he shall have so much the more of it." 3 " he was going from town to town, and from village to village." COMMENTARY OX A MATTHEW. hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him. 13. For this reason I speak to them in parables, be cause seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear nor understand. 14. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, With the ears you shall hear, and shall not understand,

8:4-21 There are many very needful and excellent rules and cautions for hearing the word, in the parable of the sower, and the application of it. Happy are we, and for ever indebted to free grace, if the same thing that is a parable to others, with which they are only amused, is a plain truth to us, by which we are taught and governed. We ought to take heed of the things that will hinder our profiting by the word we hear; to take heed lest we hear carelessly and slightly, lest we entertain prejudices against the word we hear; and to take heed to our spirits after we have heard the word, lest we lose what we have gained. The gifts we have, will be continued to us or not, as we use them for the glory of God, and the good of our brethren. Nor is it enough not to hold the truth in unrighteousness; we should desire to hold forth the word of life, and to shine, giving light to all around. Great encouragement is given to those who prove themselves faithful hearers of the word, by being doers of the work. Christ owns them as his relations.

And some fell among thorns,.... On ground which had within it the roots of thorns and briars; and design such hearers who have their hearts filled with worldly cares, and sensual lusts and pleasures: and the thorns sprang up with it; and grew faster than that: and choked it; as the above things do the word, and make it useless and unprofitable; so that though it took place for a while, and was professed, yet process of time was neglected and dropped; and, as Mark says, "it yielded no fruit"; at least that came to perfection.

Among (ἐν μέσῳ) In the midst. Stronger than the simple ἐν, in, as giving more prominence to the danger. Sprung up with it (συμφυεῖσαι) Only here in New Testament. See on Luke 8:6, and Matthew 13:7. The technical word among physicians for closing of wounds or ulcers, and the uniting of nerves or bones. Dioscorides uses it, as here, of plants growing in the same place: "The hellebore grows together with the vines." Choked (ἀπέπνιξαν) Lit., choked off. Matthew has the simple ἔπνιξαν, choked; and Mark συνέπνιξαν; the σύν, together, emphasizing the idea of compression. Luke is very fond of compounds and sonorous words. See on Luke 23:51.

Verse 7. - And some fell among thorns. "Every one who has been in Palestine must have been struck with the number of thorny shrubs and plants that abound there. The traveller finds them in his path, go where he may. Many of them are small, but some grow as high as a man's head. The rabbinical writers say that there are no less than twenty-two words in the Hebrew Bible denoting thorny and prickly plants" (Professor Hacker). Luke 8:7

7 . thorns ] In rich soils and hot valleys like Gennesareth the growth of weeds and thorns is as rapid and luxuriant as that of good seed. In summer and autumn there are parts of the plain which are quite impervious from the forest of gigantic thistles which covers them—“so tall and so dense that no horse can break through” (Porter, Palestine , II. 403). It was natural that this circumstance should suggest several of Christ’s illustrations.