And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Parallel translations
- WEB Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”
- BSB Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.
- 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 4:10And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
- Matt 13:18Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
- Matt 13:10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
- Hos 6:3Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
- Mark 7:17–18And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.
- Matt 13:36Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
- John 15:15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
- Matt 15:15Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
- Mark 4:34But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his 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.