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He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Matthew 13:37 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
  • BSB He replied, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
  • NKJV He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
  • NASB And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
  • NLT Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed.

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 explains that He, the Son of Man, is the one who sows the good seed. Christ Himself is the source of the true people of God.

Overview

Beginning His interpretation, Jesus identifies the sower of good seed as the Son of Man, His favored self-designation drawn from Daniel 7. This establishes Christ as the active agent producing the genuine children of the Kingdom in the world. The parable thus centers on Jesus' authoritative work in history, planting His people amid a hostile environment.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • 1 Cor 3:5–7Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
  • Acts 1:8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
  • Luke 10:16He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
  • Matt 13:41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
  • Matt 13:27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
  • Matt 13:24Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
  • John 20:21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
  • Rom 15:18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,
  • Matt 10:40He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
  • Matt 8:20And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
  • Matt 16:13–16When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
  • John 13:20Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
  • Heb 1:1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
  • Heb 2:3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 13:37YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 13:37 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.