Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”
- KJV And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
- NKJV Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
- NASB Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.
- NLT His disciples asked him what this parable meant.
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
The disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable's meaning. They seek understanding rather than remaining at the surface.
Overview
Unlike the wider crowd, the disciples press in for the parable's significance. Their question shows the right posture of those given to know the Kingdom's mysteries. Jesus answers, modeling how genuine seekers move from hearing to understanding.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Mark 4:10As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.
- Matt 13:18Consider, then, the parable of the sower:
- Matt 13:10Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”
- Hos 6:3So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.
- Mark 7:17–18After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.
- Matt 13:36Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
- John 15:15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.
- Matt 15:15Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
- Mark 4:34He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 8:9 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.