But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
- BSB But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
- ESV And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
- NKJV But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
- NASB And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
- NLT But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
When the sun rises the rootless plant is scorched and withers. It matters because it shows that shallow faith collapses under heat and trial.
Overview
The scorching sun represents the testing that exposes a faith without roots. What sprang up quickly dies just as quickly because it has no inner depth. Jesus teaches that perseverance, not merely a fast start, marks true reception of the word, a sober call to count the cost of following him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 17:5–8Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
- Jonah 4:8And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
- Jas 1:11For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
- Jude 1:12These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
- Col 2:7Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
- Ps 1:3–4And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
- Eph 3:17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
- 2 Th 2:10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- Isa 25:4For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
- Ps 92:13–15Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
- Rev 7:16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
- Song 1:6Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 4:6 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
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.