The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.
Parallel translations
- WEB What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;
- KJV But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
- BSB The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
- NKJV But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
- NASB The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
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 rocky-soil hearer receives the word at once with joy but has no depth.
Overview
This person responds with immediate enthusiasm but no genuine root. Emotional excitement is not the same as saving faith. The shallow response foreshadows a quick falling away under pressure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ezek 33:31–32They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
- Ps 106:12–13Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.
- John 5:35He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
- Isa 58:2Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God.
- Ps 78:34–37When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.
- 2 Chr 24:2Joash did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
- 2 Chr 24:6The king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, “Why haven’t you required of the Levites to bring in the tax of Moses the servant of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel, out of Judah and out of Jerusalem, for the Tent of the Testimony?”
- Acts 8:13Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed.
- 2 Chr 24:14When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, from which were made vessels for Yahweh’s house, even vessels with which to minister and to offer, including spoons and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in Yahweh’s house continually all the days of Jehoiada.
- Mark 4:16–17These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.
- 1 Sam 11:13–15Saul said, “No man shall be put to death today; for today Yahweh has rescued Israel.”
- Gal 4:14–15That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn’t despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
- Matt 13:5–6Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.
- Mark 6:20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly.
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
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 13:20 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.