Matthew 13:31

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

31 He put before them another parable, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took [and] sowed in his field.

Matthew 13:31 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 13:31

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying
As the former parable sets forth the condition of the Gospel church state until the end of the world; this expresses the small beginnings of it, and the large increase and growth of it, and its great usefulness to the saints.

The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a
man took and sowed in his field:
by "the kingdom of heaven" is meant, as before, the Gospel dispensation, or the Gospel church state, and the ministry of the word, and the administration of ordinances in it: by the grain of mustard seed, either the Gospel, or the people of God, or the grace of God in them; and by the man that took and sowed it, the Lord Jesus Christ; and by his field, in which he sowed it, the world, or his church throughout the world.

Matthew 13:31 In-Context

29 But he said, "No, lest [when you] gather the darnel you uproot the wheat together with it.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the season of the harvest I will tell the reapers, "First gather the darnel and tie it into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my storehouse." '"

31 He put before them another parable, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took [and] sowed in his field.

32 {It} is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it is grown it is larger than the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches."

33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took [and] put into three measures of wheat flour until the whole [batch] was leavened."

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("took") has been translated as a finite verb