and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, though he doesn’t know how.
Parallel Translations
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and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, though he doesn’t know how.
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and shulde slepe and ryse vp night and daye: and the seede shuld springe and growe vp he not ware.
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And shoulde sleepe, and rise vp night and day, and the seede should spring and growe vp, he not knowing howe.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Mark 4:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another abounds,
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 then I saw all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
- 1 Corinthians 15:37-38 That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind. But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
- John 3:7-8 Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
- 2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain It is the part of the ministers, to labor…
It is the part of the ministers, to labor the ground with all diligence, and commend the success to God: for that mighty working whereby the seed cometh to blade and ear, is secret and only known by the fruit.
That is, when he hath done sowing, should pass the time both day and night, nothing doubting, but that the seed would spring which groweth both day and night.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day,…
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Ver. 27. And should sleep] Ministers must rest secure with the success of their endeavours, having diligently done their duties. The word may work many a year after; as they say of the elephant, that she brings not forth till thirteen years after she hath conceived.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But when it is sown, it groweth up,.... So…
But when it is sown, it groweth up,.... So the Gospel, when it was preached, it spread notwithstanding all the opposition made against it by, the Jews and Gentiles: there was no stopping it; though the Jewish sanhedrim charged the apostles to speak no more in the name of Jesus, they regarded them not; though Herod stretched forth his hands against the church, and killed one apostle, and put another in prison, yet "the word of God grew and multiplied", Act 12:1, and Gospel churches when set up, whether in Judea, or among the Gentiles, presently had additions made unto them, and "grew up", as holy temples in the Lord: and wherever the grace of God is really implanted, there is a growing in it, and in the knowledge of Christ Jesus:
and becometh greater than all herbs: the Gospel exceeds the traditions of the Jews, and the philosophy of the Gentiles, and any human scheme whatever, in its nature, usefulness, and the largeness of its spread: and the Gospel church state will ere long fill the world, and all nations shall flow unto it; when the Jews shall be converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles shall come, it will be a greater kingdom, than any of the kingdoms of the earth ever were: and the grace of God in the heart, is vastly above nature, and does that which nature can never perform; and which spreads and enlarges, and at last issues in eternal glory:
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and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it: by whom are meant, saints; such to whom the Gospel is come in power, and who have the grace of God wrought in their hearts, who are partakers of the heavenly calling: these come where the Gospel is preached, and where gracious souls are met together, even in the several Gospel churches; where they not only come and go, but where they lodge, abide, and continue, under the shadow of the Gospel, and Gospel ordinances, and that with great delight and pleasure; singing songs of praise to God, for his electing and redeeming love, and for calling grace, and for all spiritual blessings, and Gospel privileges: for a larger explanation and illustration of this parable; see Gill on Mat 13:31, Mat 13:32.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 27. And should sleep and rise night and…
Verse 27. And should sleep and rise night and day] That is, he should sleep by night, and rise by day; for so the words are obviously to be understood.
He knoweth not how.] How a plant grows is a mystery in nature, which the wisest philosopher in the universe cannot fully explain.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And should sleep, and rise night and day -…
And should sleep, and rise night and day - Should sleep in the night and rise by day, for so the expression is to be understood. That is, should live in his usual way, without exerting any influence over the growing grain. By this we are not to infer that men are to use no diligence in the obtaining and in the growth of piety; but the illustration shows only that as we cannot tell how grain grows, so we cannot tell the mode in which piety increases in the heart.
He knoweth not how - This is still true. After all the researches of philosophers, no one has been able to tell the way in which grain grows. They can observe one fact after another; they can see the changes; they can see the necessity of rains and suns, of care and shelter, but beyond this they cannot go. So in religion. We can mark the change; we can see the need of prayer, and self-examination, and searching the Scriptures, and the ordinances of religion, but we cannot tell in what way the religious principle is developed and strengthened. As God unseen, yet by the use of proper means, makes the grass to flourish, so God unseen, but by proper means, nourishes the soul, and the plants of piety spring up, and bloom, and bear fruit. Compare the notes at Joh 3:8.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 27. Should sleep, and rise night and day —…
27. Should sleep, and rise night and day — That is, who sleep, night, and rise, day. He knoweth not how — He knows what must be done by him in order that the process may take place, but the process itself is a secret to him. The plants grow while he sleeps. But if he were awake, nature nevertheless works in secret before his eyes.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 27. spring and grow up] We need not inquire…
27. spring and grow up] We need not inquire too minutely who the Sower is, though primarily it refers to the Lord Himself. It is the property of the seed which is intended to engage our attention, the secret energy of its own, the principle of life and growth within itself, whereby it springs up and grows.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (27) And should sleep, and rise.—So it was in…
(27) And should sleep, and rise.—So it was in the world’s history. Men knew not the greatness of the new force that had been brought into action. Philosophers and statesmen ignored it. Even the very preachers of the new faith, the “sowers” of the parable, were hardly conscious of the enormous revolution which they were working. So it is in the individual life. The seemingly chance word, the new truth that flashes on the soul as a revelation, the old words now for the first time apprehended in their true force, these prove to be the seeds of a new growth in the soul.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 27. Should sleep, and rise, etc. While giving the…
27. Should sleep, and rise, etc. While giving the seed sown time to germinate and come forth.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.