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The following study shows that Jesus did not put His private interpretation on the real objects He used in His parables, but rather, He searched the scriptures to determine the spiritual meaning.
KJV Luke 8:5
5. A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Applying the Bible principle of "comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (Isa 28:9,10 and 1Cor 2:13) and referring only to the old testament since they were the only scripture available to Jesus:
SEED
KJV Ecclesiastes 11:6
6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
KJV Psalms 97:11
11. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
KJV Psalms 119:105
105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
If seed is sown, and light is sown, and light is the word, then the seed is the word that is sown. Just as Jesus said.
KJV Psalms 112:1-2
1. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed
KJV Isaiah 55:10-11
10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
SOWER
The sower is described in the verse as someone who sows seed, or someone who distributes the Word or the Scriptures. So, the sower represents someone who teaches the Word to others.
KJV Luke 8:5
5. A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
WAYSIDE
KJV 1 Samuel 4:13
13. And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.
KJV Psalms 140:5
5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.
Strong's Ref. # 1870
Pronounced deh'-rek
from HSN1869; a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb:
The wayside represents a path of life, or wherever a person is in their life's journey.
TRODDEN DOWN
KJV Jeremiah 12:10
10. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
KJV Ezekiel 34:18
18. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?
19. And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
KJV Psalms 8:6
6. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
As shown in Psalms 8:6, to have something underfoot, is to have dominion over it.
When pastors and others who teach people the word, teach error or false doctrine, they are treading God's word under foot, because they are presuming to have power over it, when they think to change it. (Isa 58:3, Ps 119:101)
When the seed fell by the wayside, it was trodden down. This means that the Word of truth that was presented to the listeners was afterward changed into false teachings (trodden under foot).
KJV Luke 8:5
5. A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
FOWLS
KJV Genesis 7:14
14. They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
KJV Proverbs 6:5
5. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
KJV Proverbs 27:8
8. As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
A bird or a fowl represents a person.
DEVOURED
Strong's Ref. # 2719
Pronounced kat-es-thee'-o
from GSN2596 and GSN2068 (including its alternate); to eat down, i.e. devour (literally or figuratively):
KJV Jeremiah 15:16
16. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
To devour figuratively means to gain or accept knowledge.
KJV Luke 8:5
5. A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
TO PARAPHRASE:
A teacher of the word (sower) went out to teach (sow) the word (seed): and as he taught (sowed), some of the word (some seed) was changed by false teachers (seed trodden under foot), and some people (fowls) accepted those false teachings (devoured it) instead of the word of truth.
KJV Luke 8:6
6. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture
ROCK
KJV Jeremiah 5:1-3
1. Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
2. And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely.
3. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
KJV 1 Samuel 25:37
37. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
KJV Job 41:24
24. His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
KJV Zechariah 7:12
12. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.
The rock represents the mind or the heart of a person who refuses the truth. Their mind is as hard as a rock.
KJV Mark 4:5-6
5. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
6. But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
STONY GROUND
KJV Ezekiel 11:19-20
19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20. That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
The stony ground represents a hard heart, which is not willing to obey God. The spirit in that heart is not God's Spirit.
ROOT
KJV Job 8:11-17
11. Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
12. Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
13. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:
14. Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.
15. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
16. He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.
17. His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.
KJV Hosea 9:16
16. Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
KJV Isaiah 11:10
10. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
The seed having no root represents a person who hears the Word and because he does not have Jesus in his heart, he can not have the Holy Spirit (lacked moisture) and therefor he forgets God and the Word.
KJV Luke 8:6
6. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
WITHERED
KJV Amos 4:7
7. And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
KJV Isaiah 44:3
3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
KJV Psalms 102:4
4. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
MOISTURE
KJV Psalms 32:4
4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
KJV Nehemiah 9:20
20. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
The moisture that the seed is lacking is the Holy Spirit.
KJV Luke 8:6
6. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
TO PARAPHRASE
And the word (seed) was also heard (fell upon) by people with hard hearts (rock, stony ground) and they immediately accepted it (sprung up), but soon they forgot God (withered away), because they lacked the Holy spirit in their hearts (lacked moisture).
KJV Mark 4:5-6
5. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
6. But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
SUN WAS UP OR RISEN
KJV Genesis 19:23
23. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
(Lot fled from the city to a small town)
KJV Exodus 22:3
3. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
KJV Psalms 104:22
22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
KJV Jonah 4:8
8. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
KJV Nahum 3:17
17. Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
The sun was risen or sun was up represents a time of hardship or persecution and affliction
KJV Mark 4:5-6
5. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
6. But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
TO PARAPHRASE:
And the Word (seed) was also heard (fell upon) by people with hard hearts (stony ground), who believed for awhile (immediately sprung up):
But when a time of persecution and hardship came (sun was up), they were not able to stand (it was scorched); and because they did not have Jesus in their hearts (no root), they fell away from the word of truth (withered away).
KJV Luke 8:7
7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
KJV Matthew 13:7
7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
KJV Mark 4:7
7. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
KJV--choke, throng.
Strong's Ref. # 4846
Pronounced soom-pnee'-go
from GSN4862 and GSN4155; to strangle completely, i.e. (literally) to drown, or (figuratively) to crowd:
The growth of the seed (the Word) was stopped by something (thorns) which crowded it out, or in other words by something (thorns) that took its place (choked it).
THORNS
KJV Proverbs 22:5-6
5. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
6. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Thorns = Wickedness
KJV Isaiah 5:5-12
5. And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6. And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
8. Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
9. In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
10. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
11. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
12. And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.
Thorns = Pleasures of this world, drinking, feasting, merry making, ignoring (no time for) the Lord's work.
KJV Nahum 1:10
10. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
Thorns = wicked people.
Thorns represent wicked people and the things that they do. These are the things that crowd out the spiritual side of life.
FRUIT
KJV Galatians 5:22
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Fruit = Christian virtues.
KJV Proverbs 11:30
30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
KJV Psalms 127:3
3. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
KJV Jeremiah 17:10
10. I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
KJV 2 Kings 19:30
30. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward
Fruit = Converted people.
Fruit represents Christian virtues and converted people.
KJV Mark 4:7
7. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
KJV Luke 8:8
8. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred fold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
KJV Matthew 13:8-9
8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold.
9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
KJV Mark 4:8-9
8. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
9. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
GOOD GROUND
KJV Genesis 2:9
9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
KJV Deuteronomy 28:11
11. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
Throughout this parable the seed fell upon something that represented the condition of a persons heart.
KJV Job 41:24
24. His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
Stony ground = A hard heart.
Good ground = A soft heart.
KJV Ezekiel 36:26-27
26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
The seed only produces fruit when it falls upon good ground. Thus the Word only produces Christian virtues when it falls upon a soft heart.
KJV Mark 4:8-9
8. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
9. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
TO PARAPHRASE
And the Word was heard (fell upon) by people with soft hearts (good ground), which resulted in converted people (did yield fruit) that began to grow Christian virtues (sprang up and increased); And these people began to convert other people (brought forth fruit), some thirty people, and some sixty, and some one hundred people.