Matthew 13:15

13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull;

they are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’ ¹ 

Matthew 13:19-22

13:19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one ²  comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; ³  this is the seed sown along the path. 13:20 The ⁴  seed sown on rocky ground ⁵  is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ⁶  when ⁷  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. 13:22 The ⁸  seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth ⁹  choke the word, ¹⁰  so it produces nothing.

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¹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

² sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Mark 4:15 has “Satan,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

³ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁵ tn Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.

⁶ tn Grk “is temporary.”

⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ tn Grk “the deceitfulness of riches.” Cf. BDAG 99 s.v. ἀπάτη 1, “the seduction which comes from wealth.”

¹⁰ sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.