He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?
Parallel translations
- KJV And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
- BSB Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?
- NKJV And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
- NASB And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?
- NLT Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables?
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
Jesus tells the disciples that grasping this parable is key to understanding all the others. It matters because the sower reveals the pattern of how God's word is received.
Overview
Jesus mildly rebukes their slowness, stressing the foundational importance of this parable. If they cannot understand the sower, the rest will remain closed to them. The verse highlights that receptive hearing of the word is the gateway to all kingdom truth, inviting humble, attentive learning.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Rev 3:19As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Luke 24:25He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
- Mark 7:17–18When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable.
- Matt 13:51–52Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They answered him, “Yes, Lord.”
- Heb 5:11–14About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.
- Matt 15:15–17Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.”
- Matt 13:18–23“Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.
- 1 Cor 3:1–2Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ.
- Matt 16:8–9Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, ‘because you have brought no bread?’
- Luke 8:11–15Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 4:13 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.