Mark 4 · Verse 26

Mark 4:26

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
Mark 4:26, King James Version

Mark 4:26 in other translations

BSBJesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
WEBHe said, “God’s Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the earth,
ASVAnd he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth;
YLTAnd he said, ‘Thus is the reign of God: as if a man may cast the seed on the earth,
DARBYAnd he said, Thus is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast the seed upon the earth,
BBEAnd he said, Such is the kingdom of God, as if a man put seed in the earth,
WebsterAnd he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

What does Mark 4:26 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Mark 4:26-27
26-27. So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day--go about his other ordinary occupations, leaving it to the well-known laws of vegetation under the genial influences of heaven. This is the sense of "the earth bringing forth fruit of herself," in Mr 4:27.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 26. So is the kingdom of God. The gospel, or religion in the soul, may be compared to this. See Mt 3:2.

(c) "So" Mt 13:24

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 26 So is the kingdom of God - This parable is mentioned only by Mark, a proof that Mark did not abridge Matthew. Whitby supposes it to refer to the good ground spoken of before, and paraphrases is thus: - "What I have said of the seed sown upon good ground, may be illustrated by this parable. The doctrine of the kingdom, received in a good and honest heart, is like seed sown by a man in his ground, properly prepared to receive it; for when he hath sown it, he sleeps and wakes day after day, and, looking on it, he sees it spring and grow up through the virtue of the earth in which it is sown, though he knows not how it doth so; and when he finds it ripe, he reaps it, and so receives the benefit of the sown seed. So is it here: the seed sown in the good and honest heart brings forth fruit with patience; and this fruit daily increaseth, though we know not how the Word and Spirit work that increase; and then Christ the husbandman, at the time of the harvest, gathers in this good seed into the kingdom of heaven." I see no necessity of inquiring how Christ may be said to sleep and rise night and day; Christ being like to this husbandman only in sowing and reaping the seed.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Mark 4:21-34

These declarations were intended to call the attention of the disciples to the word of Christ. By his thus instructing them, they were made able to instruct others; as candles are lighted, not to be covered, but to be placed on a candlestick, that they may give light to a room. This parable of the good seed, shows the manner in which the kingdom of God makes progress in the world. Let but the word of Christ have the…

Read the full comment on Mark 4:21-34 →

Mark 4:26 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
ἔλεγεν·elegenHe was saying;G3004
οὕτωςhoutōsThusG3779
ἐστὶνestinisG1510
ἡhētheG3588
βασιλείαbasileiakingdomG932
τοῦtou<the>G3588
θεοῦ,theouof God,G2316
ὡςhōsasG5613
ἄνθρωποςanthrōposa manG444
βάλῃbalēshall castG906
τὸνtontheG3588
σπόρονsporonseedG4703
ἐπὶepiuponG1909
τῆςtēstheG3588
γῆςgēsearthG1093

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Mark 4:26

  • Matthew 13:24

    Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

  • 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

    I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

  • 1 Peter 1:23-25

    Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

  • Luke 8:11

    Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

  • Luke 8:5

    A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

  • James 3:18

    And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

  • Isaiah 32:20

    Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

  • Isaiah 28:24-26

    Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

  • John 4:36-38

    And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

  • John 12:24

    Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

  • Ecclesiastes 11:6

    In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

  • Mark 4:3-4

    Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
So.
Mt 3:2; 4:17; 13:11,31,33; Lu 13:18
as.
3,4,14-20; Pr 11:18; Ec 11:4,6; Isa 28:24-26; 32:20; Mt 13:3,24
Lu 8:5,11; Joh 4:36-38; 12:24; 1Co 3:6-9; Jas 3:18; 1Pe 1:23-25

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Mark 4:25

    For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.

  • Mark 4:26

    And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

  • Mark 4:27

    And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

Read all of Mark 4

Mark 4:26 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Decía más: Así es el reino de Dios, como si un hombre echa simiente en la tierra;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Il dit aussi: Ainsi est le royaume de Dieu: c’est comme si un homme jetait de la semence sur la terre,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und er sprach: Also ist das Reich Gottes, wie wenn ein Mensch den Samen auf das Land wirft,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et dicebat: Sic est regnum Dei, quemadmodum si homo jaciat sementem in terram,