Mark 4:17

17 et non habent radicem in se sed temporales sunt deinde orta tribulatione et persecutione propter verbum confestim scandalizantur

Mark 4:17 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 4:17

And have no root in themselves
The word has no root in their hearts, only in their natural affections: nor is the root of grace in them; there is no heart work, only speculative notions, and flashy affections:

and so endure but for a time:
they continue hearers and professors of the Gospel but for a small season; like the Jews, who rejoiced in the ministry of John the Baptist for a while, and then left him:

afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's
sake, immediately they are offended.
As soon as any small degree of trouble comes upon them, and especially when there is a hot persecution of the professors of religion, because of the Gospel they have embraced; such hearers are stumbled at these things, and cannot bear the loss of any thing, or endure any thing severe for the sake of the word they have professed a pleasure in; and therefore, rather than suffer, they relinquish at once their profession of it.

Mark 4:17 In-Context

15 hii autem sunt qui circa viam ubi seminatur verbum et cum audierint confestim venit Satanas et aufert verbum quod seminatum est in corda eorum

16 et hii sunt similiter qui super petrosa seminantur qui cum audierint verbum statim cum gaudio accipiunt illud

17 et non habent radicem in se sed temporales sunt deinde orta tribulatione et persecutione propter verbum confestim scandalizantur

18 et alii sunt qui in spinis seminantur hii sunt qui verbum audiunt

19 et aerumnae saeculi et deceptio divitiarum et circa reliqua concupiscentiae introeuntes suffocant verbum et sine fructu efficitur