English
Jesus said, ‘Look, the sower went out. He filled his hand. He threw them. Some fell on the road. The birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on rock and did not take root in the earth or produce ears. And others fell on thorns. They choked the seed and worms ate them. And others fell on the good earth, and it produced good fruit. It brought sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure.’
Interpretation
Several teachings in Thomas fit the more rural setting of Galilee—farming, fishing, artisan labor, and even the presence of militant ideology—which strengthens the historical possibility that such sayings go back to Jesus of Nazareth. The parable in Saying 9 closely resembles one in the Gospel of Mark. The intention of this parable is to encourage listeners to be like the seeds which ‘fell on the good earth’. They are to be receptive to Jesus’ overall message and act accordingly. There is a trend among some more critical readers to interpret Mark’s narrative as extremely critical of Simon Peter, but this pulls far more from the text than was probably intended by the author. In this case, seeds falling ‘on rocky ground’ has been taken to mean that Simon—whose nickname means ‘Rock’—was ultimately not receptive to Jesus’ message and apostatized. Yet this same detail is in Thomas’ version of the parable, undermining this view. The different non-viable places are not individually symbolic. They are only a cumulative represention that most people, whatever their circumstances, will not be receptive to Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of God.
Parallels
Mark
4.2–9 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Some fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and one hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’
Matthew
13.3–9 And he told them many things in parables, saying, ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Some fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Some fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some one hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’
Luke
8.4–8 He said in a parable, ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced one hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’