The parable of the sower and the seed, 1-17; the exposition of it, 18-23. The parable of the tares, 24-30; of the mustard seed, 31, 32; of the leaven, 33-35; exposition of the parable of the tares, 36-43. The parable of the hidden treasure, 44; of the pearl, 45, 46; of the dragnet cast into the sea, 47-52. Christ is despised by his own countrymen, 53-58.
1 The same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side. 2 And great multitudes were gathered to him so that he went into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, a sower went forth to sow. 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell upon stony places where they did not have much earth. And immediately they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth. 6 And when the sun had risen, they were scorched, and because they did not have root, they withered. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. 8 But others fell upon good ground and brought forth fruit, some one hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 And the disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11 He answered and said to them, "Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance, but whoever does not have, from him even that which he has shall be taken away. 13 Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, neither do they understand. 14 "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,
'By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand,/
and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive.
15 For this people's heart has become callous,/
and their ears are dull of hearing,/
and their eyes they have closed,/
or else perhaps they should see with their eyes,/
hear with their ears,/
and should understand with their heart/
and should be converted,/
and I should heal them.'
16 "But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which you see and have not seen them, and to hear the things which you hear and have not heard them.
18 "Hear, therefore, the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed upon stony places, the same is he who hears the word and immediately with joy receives it, 21 Yet he does not have root in himself, but endures for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he is offended. 22 He also who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who receives seed into the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who also bears fruit and brings forth, some one hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty."
24 Another parable he proposed to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and departed. 26 But when the blade had sprung up and brought forth fruit, the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you wish then that we go and gather them?' 29 But he said, 'No, lest while you gather the tares, you also root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "Gather first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
31 Another parable he proposed to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree so that the 'birds of the air come and lodge on its branches.'"
33 He spoke another parable to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened."
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, 35 So that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
"I will open my mouth in parables./
I will utter things which have been kept secret/
from the foundation of the world."
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Declare to us the parable of the tares of the field." 37 He answered and said to them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. 38 The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age. The reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be in the end of this age. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who do iniquity, 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then 'the righteous shall shine as the sun' in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hid in a field, which, when a man has found, he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to the shore, sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast away the bad. 49 That is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
51 Jesus says to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They say to him, "Yes, Lord." 52 Then he said to them, "Therefore, every scribe who is instructed to the kingdom of heaven, is like a man who is a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old."
53 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there. 54 And when he had come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, "From where does this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is his mother not called Mary? And his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Then from where does this man get all these things?" 57 And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house." 58 And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Matthew, Chapter 13[➚]
[v.1-15] - Gospel Link: Mark 4:1-12; Luke 8:4-10.
[v.10-13] - See the note for Mark 4:13.
[v.11] - Reference, Deuteronomy 29:29.
[v.14] - Quoting Isaiah 6:9 (LXX). See also, Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2.
[v.15a] - Quoting Isaiah 6:10 (LXX). See also, Psalm 119:70.
[v.15b] - Gospel Link: John 12:40.
[v.16-17] - Gospel Link: Luke 10:23-24.
[v.18-23] - Gospel Link: Mark 4:13-20; Luke 8:11-15.
[v.31-32] - Gospel Link: Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19.
[v.32] - Quoting Ezekiel 17:23. Also possibly quoting, Ezekiel 31:6; Daniel 4:12. I think that Ezekiel 17:23 fits best as the quote for this verse since the contexts of Matthew 13:32 and Ezekiel 17:23 are similar. Both contain the telling of something seemingly insignificant being exalted into something great by God's favor. I draw my conclusion from Proverbs 3:34, which says, "...he gives grace to the lowly." Both James and Peter quote this verse from the Proverbs (James 4:6; 1st Peter 5:5).
[v.33] - Gospel Link: Luke 13:20-21.
[v.34] - Gospel Link: Mark 4:33-34.
[v.35] - Quoting Psalm 78:2 (LXX).
[v.43] - Quoting Daniel 12:3. From John Calvin's Commentary: "It is no doubt true, that the future glory is promised to none but those in whom the image of God already shines, and who are transformed into it by continued advances of glory. But as the life of the godly is now hidden, and as their salvation is invisible, because it consists in hope, Christ properly directs the attention of believers to heaven, where they will find the glory that is promised to them. In order to make a deeper impression on his hearers, our Lord unquestionably refers here to a passage in Daniel..."
[v.53-58] - Gospel Link: Mark 6:1-6.
[v.55] - "James" - Properly, Jacob. Greek: Ἰάκωβος
[v.57] - Gospel Link: Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24; John 4:44.