Luke 8:9

Listen to Luke 8:9

The Purpose of the Parables

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,

Luke 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 8:9

And his disciples asked him
That is, as Mark says, "when he was alone"; after the multitude were departed, and they were by themselves, it may be in some house with other disciples:

saying, what might this parable be?
what is the sense and meaning of it? According to Matthew, they asked why he spake in parables to the people; and to such a question the following words are a proper answer.

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Luke 8:9 In-Context

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.
8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. ā€As he said these things, he called out, ā€œHe who has ears to hear, let him hear. ā€
9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,
10 he said, ā€œTo you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ā€˜seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. ’
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
The Holy Bible, English Standard VersionĀ® (ESVĀ®) Ā© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025