And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
Parallel translations
- WEB Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
- BSB Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.
- NKJV Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.
- NASB Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture.
- NLT Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Seed on rocky ground sprouts quickly but withers for lack of moisture. It pictures shallow, short-lived response to the word.
Overview
The seed on thin soil over rock springs up fast but cannot endure because it has no depth. This stands for hearers who receive the word with initial joy but have no root. Their faith, lacking a settled foundation, fails when trial comes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Luke 8:13They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
- Heb 3:7–8Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
- Mark 4:5–6And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
- Rom 2:4–5Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
- Ezek 36:26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
- Matt 13:20–21But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
- Jer 5:3O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
- Amos 6:12Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:
- Heb 3:15While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
- Mark 4:16–17And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
- Matt 13:5–6Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
- Ezek 11:19And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 8:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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