Mark 4:33

33 And with many parables such as these he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear [it].

Mark 4:33 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 4:33

And with many such parables
As those of the tares, of the leaven in three measures of meal, of the treasure hid in the field, the pearl of great price, the net cast into the sea, and of the Scribe instructed unto the kingdom of God; which though not related at length here, are by the Evangelist Matthew, in ( Matthew 13:24-30 Matthew 13:33 Matthew 13:44-50 Matthew 13:52 ) together with others elsewhere:

spake he the word unto them;
preached the Gospel to the multitude,

as they were able to hear it:
meaning either that he condescended to their weakness, accommodated himself to their capacities, and made use of the plainest similes; and took his comparison from things in nature, the most known and obvious, that what he intended might more easily be understood; or rather, he spoke the word to them in parables, as they were able to hear, without understanding them; and in such a manner, on purpose that they might not understand; for had he more clearly expressed the things relating to himself, as the Messiah, and to the Gospel dispensation, so as that they could have took in his meaning, such were their pride, their wickedness, and the rancour of their minds, that they would have at once rose up, and attempted to have destroyed him.

Mark 4:33 In-Context

31 [It is] like a mustard seed that when sown on the ground, [although it] is the smallest of all the seeds that [are] on the ground,

32 but when it is sown it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden herbs, and sends out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest in its shade."

33 And with many parables such as these he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear [it].

34 And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.

35 And on that day, [when it] was evening, he said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation