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Matthew 13:31

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The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

31 He put another parable before them, saying, 1"The kingdom of heaven is like 2a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
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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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Matthew 13:31 In-Context

29 But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
31 He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
33 He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."

Cross References 2

  • 1. For ver. 31, 32, see Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18, 19
  • 2. Matthew 17:20; Luke 17:6
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.