and he goes to bed at night and gets up daily, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.
Parallel translations
- WEB and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he doesn’t know how.
- KJV And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
- BSB Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how.
- NKJV and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.
- NLT Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens.
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 farmer sleeps and rises while the seed grows by a process he does not understand. It matters because it shows the kingdom's growth is God's mysterious work.
Overview
Day and night the seed grows on its own, beyond the farmer's knowledge or control. This pictures the secret, divinely powered advance of God's kingdom. It comforts disciples that fruitfulness depends not on their understanding or exertion but on God who gives the growth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Eccl 11:5As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
- 2 Th 1:3We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you towards one another abounds;
- Eccl 8:17then I saw all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
- 1 Cor 15:37–38That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.
- 2 Pet 3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
- John 3:7–8Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 4:27 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.