Sign in
MARK 4:31 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Mark 4:30Mark 4:32
“It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:”
It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth — the mustard seed's size is proverbial in ancient Jewish discourse: to say something is as small as a mustard seed is to say it is as small as possible. The mustard seed is not literally the smallest seed in existence (orchid seeds are smaller), but it was the smallest seed regularly used in Palestinian agriculture. The choice of the smallest seed as the kingdom's image is deliberately counterintuitive: the kingdom does not begin as an obvious, impressive, undeniable force. It begins hidden, tiny, apparently insignificant — sown in a Galilean carpenter's ministry, in an occupied province of a vast empire.

Church Fathers on Mark 4:31

Most brief indeed is the word of faith; Believe in God, and thou shalt be saved. But the preaching of it has been spread far and wide over the earth, and increased so, that the birds of heaven, that is, contemplative men, sublime in understanding and knowledge, dwell under it. For how many wise men among the Gentiles, quitting their wisdom, have found rest in the preaching of the Gospel! Its preaching then is greater than all.

Theophylact · 11th century

Or else, that seed is very small in fear, but great when it has grown into charity, which is greater than all herbs: for 'God is love,' [1 John 4:16] whilst 'all flesh is grass.' [Isa 40:6] But the boughs which it puts forth are those of mercy and compassion, since under its shade the poor of Christ, who are meant by the living creatures of the heavens, delight to dwell.

Pseudo-Jerome · 5th century

Again, the man who sows is by many taken to mean the Saviour Himself, by others, man himself sowing in his own heart.

Bede · 8th century
Read all 6 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
Mark 4:31 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy