For the earth bears fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
Parallel Translations
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For the earth bears fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
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For the erth bringeth forthe frute of her silfe: fyrst the blade then the eares after that full corne in the eares.
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For the earth bringeth foorth fruite of it selfe, first the blade, then the eares, after that full corne in the eares.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Mark 4:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Philippians 1:9-11 This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- Hosea 6:3 Let’s acknowledge Yahweh. Let’s press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
- Mark 4:31-32 It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow.”
- Matthew 13:26 But when the blade sprang up and produced fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also.
- Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
- Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,
- 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 May the Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you, to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
- Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
- Psalms 92:13-14 They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts. They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
- Genesis 1:11-12 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
- Genesis 2:4-5 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
- Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- Genesis 4:11-12 Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.”
- Psalms 1:3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
- Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the perfect day.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain By a certain power which moveth itself.
By a certain power which moveth itself.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself;…
28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Ver. 28. First the blade, then the ear] And the husbandman looks upon it with delight, in the hope of a harvest; so doth God take in good part our weak beginnings, while we strive to be better: his blessing is upon our very buds, Isa 44:3. The first springs in the womb of grace are precious to him, Eph 2:1.
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 And with many such parables,.... As those of the…
And with many such parables,.... As those of the tares, of the leaven in three measures of meal, of the treasure hid in the field, the pearl of great price, the net cast into the sea, and of the Scribe instructed unto the kingdom of God; which though not related at length here, are by the Evangelist Matthew, in Mat 13:24 together with others elsewhere:
spake he the word unto them; preached the Gospel to the multitude,
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as they were able to hear it: meaning either that he condescended to their weakness, accommodated himself to their capacities, and made use of the plainest similes; and took his comparison from things in nature, the most known and obvious, that what he intended might more easily be understood; or rather, he spoke the word to them in parables, as they were able to hear, without understanding them; and in such a manner, on purpose that they might not understand; for had he more clearly expressed the things relating to himself, as the Messiah, and to the Gospel dispensation, so as that they could have took in his meaning, such were their pride, their wickedness, and the rancour of their minds, that they would have at once rose up, and attempted to have destroyed him.
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 28. Bringeth forth - of herself] αυτοματη. By…
Verse 28. Bringeth forth - of herself] αυτοματη. By its own energy, without either the influence or industry of man. Similar to this is the expression of the poet: -
Namque aliae, NULLIS HOMlNUM COGENTIBUS, ipsae
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SPONTE SUA veniunt. VIRG. Geor. l. ii. v. 10.
"Some (trees) grow of their own accord, without the labour of man."
All the endlessly varied herbage of the field is produced in this way.
The full corn] πληρησιτον, FULL wheat; the perfect, full-grown, or ripe corn. Lucian uses κενος καρπος, EMPTY fruit, for imperfect, or unripe fruit. See Kypke.
The kingdom of God, which is generated in the soul by the word of life, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, is first very small; there is only a blade, but this is full of promise, for a good blade shows there is a good seed at bottom, and that the soil in which it is sown is good also. Then the ear-the strong stalk grows up, and the ear is formed at the top; the faith and love of the believing soul increase abundantly; it is justified freely through the redemption that is in Christ; it has the ear which is shortly to be filled with the ripe grain, the outlines of the whole image of God. Then the full corn. The soul is purified from all unrighteousness; and, having escaped the corruption that is in the world, it is made a partaker of the Divine nature, and is filled with all the fulness of God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself -…
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself - That is, it is done without the power of man. It is done while man is engaged in other things. The scope of this passage does not require us to suppose that our Saviour meant to say that the earth had any productive power of itself, but only that it produced its fruits not by the “power of man.” God gives it its power. It has no power of its own. So religion in the heart is not by the power of man. It grows he cannot tell how, and of course he cannot without divine aid, control it. It is by the power of God. At the same time, as without industry man would have no harvest, so without active effort he would have no religion. Both are connected with his effort; both are to be measured commonly by his effort Phi 2:12; both grow he cannot tell how; both increase when the proper means are used, and both depend on God for increase.
First the blade - The green, tender shoot, that first starts out of the earth before the stalk is formed.
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Then the ear - The original means the stalk or spire of wheat or barley, as well as the ear.
The full corn - The ripe wheat. The grain swollen to its proper size. By this is denoted, undoubtedly, that grace or religion in the heart is of gradual growth. It is at first tender, feeble, perhaps almost imperceptible, like the first shootings of the grain in the earth. Perhaps also, like grain, it often lies long in the earth before there are signs of life. Like the tender grain, also, it needs care, kindness, and culture. A frost, a cold storm, or a burning sun alike injure it. So tender piety in the heart needs care, kindness, culture. It needs shelter from the frosts and storms of a cold, unfeeling world. It needs the genial dews and mild suns of heaven; in other words, it needs instruction, prayer, and friendly counsel from parents, teachers, ministers, and experienced Christians, that it may grow, and bring forth the full fruits of holiness. Like the grain, also, in due time it will grow strong; it will produce its appropriate fruit - a full and rich harvest - to the praise of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 28. of herself] = of its own accord, spontaneously.…
28. of herself] = of its own accord, spontaneously. It is used of the gate of St Peter’s prison opening of its own accord in Act_12:10.
first the blade] There is a law of orderly development in natural growth, so also is it in reference to spiritual growth; comp. 1Jn_2:12-14.
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after that the full corn] or rather, then (there is) full corn in the ear.
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 (28) The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself.—Stress is…
(28) The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself.—Stress is laid on the spontaneity of growth; and the lesson drawn from it is obviously one at once of patience and of faith. It is not well in the spiritual husbandry, either of the nations of the world or of individual souls, to be taking up the seeds to see whether they are growing. It is wiser to sow the seed, and to believe that sun and rain will quicken it. Thus, the words find an interesting parallel, like, and yet different, in the precept of Ecc_11:6, “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand.”
First the blade, then the ear.—Following the same lines as before, we have (1) three stages in the growth of the Church of Christ in the field of the world, and (2) three like stages representing the influence of the new truth on thoughts, purposes, acts, in the individual 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 28. First the blade. There is a law of…
28. First the blade. There is a law of orderly development in natural growth, so also is it in reference to spiritual growth. Compare 1 John 2:12–14. Some growths are quicker than others, but in all there is growth. And we have no right to look for the end at the beginning, the ripened Christian experience in the young convert, the full corn in the first appearance of the blade. Observe, too, that we can know that there is growth by its results, though we know not how, and that each stage of the growth is more apparent than the preceding stage.
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.