Mat 14:27 Be of good cheer; it is I; do not be afraid.

Christ said this when he walked on water and the apostles thought he was a ghost. Symbolically, walking on water demonstrates the power of the spirit over physical nature, but Christ's message is simpler. In the original Greek, Christ is telling us to have confidence. He is with us. What we fear comes from God. God is with and taking care of us so there is no reason to be afraid. What we don't understand if always frightening, but we don't understand most of the universe. We have to trust that it is from God.

Alternate version: Have confidence, I am here. Fear not.


"Be of good cheer" is from tharseô, which has both the sense of "to be of good courage" and, in a negative sense, "to be over-bold." It also have the meaning of "having confidence in," and "to fear not about."

"It is I" is from eimi (to exist, to be present) ego (I).

"Fear" is from phobeô, which means originally, "to put to flight" and means "to be seized with fear."

Mat 14:18 Bring them here to me.

Christ responds here to the apostles who tell him that there are only five loaves and two fishes to feed the multitude, but we try and look at all of Christ's words as addressed to us here and now. In that sense, Christ is talking about bringing whatever we need more of to him. He can multiply it for us. Interestingly, the word used for "bring" is the same word used to describe bearing burdens and producing things, tasks which Christ can also help us with.

In many of Christ's discussions about the kingdom of heaven, he emphasizes that idea that the kingdom of heaven grows from little to big (the mustard seed), mixes through everything (the leaven), and multiplies itself a hundred, sixty, or thirtyfold (the seeds on good earth). In Christ's view of reality, spirit is what drives production, not only of more spirit, but of everything else. Spirit is, by definition, the creative force.

"Bring" is from pherô, which means "to bear," "to carry," "to bring," "to produce," and "to fetch."

Mat 14:16 They need not depart; give them to eat.

Christ responds to the apostles statement that the people must leave to find something to eat. Christ responds by saying: No need to have them go away. Give them to eat." The miracle of the loaves and fishes follows, but, strangely enough, afterwards, Christ dismisses the crowd anyway. The only logical purpose for keeping them together was to feed them.

As we know, eating, bread, and fishes are all Christ's symbols for physical reality. The only purpose for this miracle is to demonstrate his control of physical reality with a crowd. It is not clear from the story that the crowd knew what was happening.

"They need" is actually a noun, chreia, which means "need," "want," "poverty," "business," and "purpose" in the sense of "what is the need or purpose to do something?"

Mat 13:57 A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

Christ is making a point here about familiarity and something that everyone who sees themselves as a Christian should consider. Familiarity may not always breed contempt, but it always gets taken for granted. People are more likely to believe an expert from afar, someone they don't know well. Christ makes this point at the end of a chapter of parables telling us why he uses mystery rather than saying things directly. Symbols retain their power because they must be decoded either logically, as we do in this blog or at least emotionally. Anything said directly gets discounted and changed over time.

Alternative version: One inspired by God is not without value except in his own fatherland and his own family.

"Without honor" is from atimos, which means "dishonored," "unhonored," "not deemed worthy," "deprived of civic rights," and "without value." It is the negative of time, which means having a set value.

"Country" is from patris, which means literally, "fatherland."

Mat 13:52 Therefore every scribe [who is] instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a man [that is] an householder, which brings forth out of his treasure [things] new and old.

In the previous verse, Christ suggests that understanding his analogies about the kingdom of heaven requires mastering the system that he uses in his symbols. Here, he extends that idea by saying that a person who understand these concepts about the kingdom of heaven can both understand what has been written about it in the past and generate new ways to express the power of spirit.

Alternative version: Therefore every writer who is a pupil of the kingdom of heaven is like a man, an householder, which brings out of storage both the new and the old.

"Scribe" is from grammateus, which is generally a "secretary," "recorder," and "scholar," but specifically means someone who uses gramma which is Greek for "drawings," "a letter," (as in an alphabet)"diagrams," and "letters" (as in correspondence).

"Instructed" is from mathêteuô, which means "to be a pupil."

Mat 13:51 Have you understood all these things?

Would you be surprised if the word translated as "understood" means something else much more interesting?

"Understood" is from suniêmi, which means "to set or bring together." In other words, Christ is asking if we can put together all these six analogies for the kingdom of heaven. In these analogies, the kingdom of heaven is described as "a man who sows good seed," "a mustard seed," "leaven," "a treasure hidden in a field," a trader," and "a net." How do you fit these analogies all together as the afterlife or final judgment?

These only "fit together" if they are evaluated in light of the consistent way Christ uses his metaphors. They only fit together if we understand the kingdom of heaven to mean "the supremacy of spirit" or "the universal rule," the idea that the spirit is the beginning and the end of every cycle of change from physical to intellectual to emotional, from thought, to action, to interaction.

Mat 13:50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

This verse restates the verse Mat 13:42 in the same exact words. As we pointed in our discussion of the Parable of the Good Seeds and Weeds, the "furnace" is really an oven used for baking bread and bricks. Again, fire is Christ's metaphor for the intellectual realm, which is productive and the source of wealth. When the worthless (wicked=poneros=worthless), become fuel for the fire of the intellect and property, they are bound to cry and complain about their position.

As always, I am struck by how Christ never makes it clear when he is talking about life or afterlife. My feeling is that he is always talking about both. This life is just a foreshadowing of the next. People who are useless in this life complain about what the results of their life and this doesn't change with death. For Christ, the line between this life and the next just the beginning of a new age, not a complete change.

I was once fascinated by this phrase, "weeping and gnashing of teeth," which only occurs as far as I can tell, in the Greek Gospels. I have a lot of respect for traditional Christian thought because tradition exists as the judgment of generations. However, the more I read the Gospels, the traditional view of Christ as describing anger and suffering with these terms seems to hold less and less interest for me.

This phrase is used seven times in the Gospels, six times in Matthews. In each case, it the reaction that people have when they are judged as worthless. My sense is that Christ uses this phrase in same almost humorous way that that we say in English "whining and complaining" or "bitching and moaning." It is not about suffering punishment as much as is it about how the most worthless people always blame others, complain about their situation, and so on.

Mat 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

Again, a potentially misleading translation. What is translated as "the end of the world" here just as easily could mean "at the completion of a life." "Sever" really means marking off boundaries, distringuishing one thing from another. And "the wicked" are just those things that are worthless. This could describe our spiritual feelings judging someone's life as worthless or worthwhile at their deaths just as easily as it describes angels at the last judgment.

Alternative: So shall it be at the consumation of a lifetime: the divine voice shall come forth and determine the worthless from among those observant of the rules.

"End" is from sunteleia, which means "completion" or "consumation."

"The world" is from aion, which means "life," "lifetime," "age," or "generation."

"Angels" is from aggelos, which means "messenger" and "envoy."

"Sever" is from aphorizo which means "to mark off boundaries," "to determine," and "to separate" in the sense of "distinguish" as well as "to banish."

"Wicked" is poneros which means "oppressed by toils" and "worthless."

"Just" is from dikaios, which means "observant of custom," "observant of duty," and "observing the rules."

Mat 13:48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

At first, I was a little confused about why Christ explains tha the fishermen came to shore and sat down. Christ doesn't say anything without a purpose. Then I realized he was using the shore as another symbol for earth, the element signifying relationships and the sitting down was also a part of indicating that the relationship among the men took place before the sorting.

This parable is actually a different version of the element cycle net>fish >fishermen > sorting. Net is the spirit, the power of spirit. Fish is the body, the physical that it gathers. The fishermen on the short is the emotional relationship that arises from the physical work together. The sorting or judgement is the intellectual activity that must be done to get the benefit of the cycle.

Though it goes through the whole cycle, this parable is still mostly focused on the physical sorting or judgment of things. Here, "good" is a term that means "beautiful," and "bad" is a word that really means "rotten." The previous two parables about treasures in fields and pearls were more focused on emotional and intellectual sorting.

Symbol translation: Which, when it [the spirit] was full [of the physical], they came to shore [to the nurturing earth of relationships] and sat down [joined together], and gathered [intellectually selected] the good [physically] into vessels, but cast [intellectually rejected] the bad [physically] away.

"Full" is plêroô , which mean "to fill," "to fulfill," and "to fill full."

"Gathered" here is sullego, a term meaning "gather," "collect," and "come together." It is specifically means collecting something for use. Matthew uses the word to mean a selective choosing rather than an indescriminate gathering.

"Good" here is the usual kalos, "beautiful," but "bad" is sapros, which means "rotten," "putrid," "stale," and "worn-out."

Mat 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

The water is Christ's symbol for the physical realm. Having discussed the emotional and intellectual aspects of recognizing what is valuable, he moves to a physical collection rather than an emotional discovery or an intellectual search described in the last two parables. This first verse describes the indescriminate gathering of everything together.

Symbols deciphered version: The supremacy of spirit is like a large net that is thrown into the [physical world] and brings together every type of thing.

"Net" is from sagênê , which means a "large drag-net."

"Cast" is from ballo, which means "to throw."

"Gathered" is from sunago, which Matthew uses to indicate the general bringing together of things with the sense of uniting them. This is the unselective sense of gathering as contrasted with sullego, also translated as "to gather" but which means a selective gathering, a picking particular things as opposed to bringing together everything.

"Every" is from pas, which means "all."

"Kind" is from genos, which means "race," "stock," "direct decent," "tribe," "sex," "species," and "class."

Mat 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Mat 13:46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Here, the pearl is a symbol of the intellectual realm. As in "pearls of wisdom" or "pearls before swine," it is Christs symbol for powerful intellectual ideas. The lesson here is a little different from the last because the sense of selling here is more negative.

Symbol translated version: And the power of spirit is like a traveler seeking beautiful pearls of wisdom, who, when he found one pearl of great value, left and sold out everything he had and did business for it.

"Goodly" is from kalos, which means "beautiful."

"Merchant man" is from emporos, which means "a traveler," "a merchant," and "a dealer."

"Great price" is from polutimos, which means "much revered" and "highly priced."

Interestingly, the word for "sold" is different than the last verse (pôleô , which means "to exchange" or "barter"). Here it is pipraskô, which also means "to sell." "to trade," or "to export," but which is specifically used to mean selling into slavery, to sell for a bribe, and is a metaphor for being betrayed or ruined.

Mat 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; which when a man found it, he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

In this blog, I am getting less and less new from translating the Greek but I am getting a lot of insight from applying the symbols I discovered from analyzing the Greek. I am still looking at all the Greek, and what it usually shows that my understanding of Christ's symbols works well, even when that isn't always apparent from the English.

This verse follows Christ's explanation of the Parable of the Good Seeds and Weeds and should be read as part of that explanation, clearing up some possible misconceptions of that parable (including that it is about the end of the world). This is the first of three additional explanatory parables, which follow the symbolic cycle of emotion (the ground), mind (the pearl), and the body (the fish). In this parable, Christ is making a number of points:
1. People can discover what is valuable hidden in relationships (the ground).
2. People need to invest in those relationships to get what is valuable.
3. This discover of the spirit within relationships is the greatest joy.
However, it says a lot more as well.

Symbols translated version: Again, the power of the spirit is like the value hidden in a relationsihp; which when a man discovers it, hides it, but for joy of it withdraws and exchanges all that he has and invest in that relationship.





"Treasure" is from thêsauros, which means "store," "treasure," "safe," and "strong room." It is less about the specific valuable than a place where valuables are stored.

"Finds" is from heuriskô , which means "to discover," "to find," and "to invent." It means to discover by means of inquiry or examination pr to hit upon something after a search.

"Goes" is from hupagô, which means "to go away," "withdraw," and "retire." Its primary meaning, however, "to lead" or "to bring under," in the sense of bringing under control.

"Sell" is from pôleô , which means "to exchange" or "to barter." It generally means to carry on trade, but it was also the term for selling or farming out offices or priesthoods.

Matthew 13:37-43: The Parable of the Good and Bad Sowers.

Since I have already covered these verses in this article, I will not cover them again here. However, I do want to point out that the three previous parables on the mustard seed (here and here) and leaven and dough stand in between that original telling of this parable and its explanation by Christ to the apostles. I believe that this is because all three parables so far and the three following ones are part of a complete picture.

Christ is careful in maintaining the constency of his metaphor about "seeds" only coming from the spirit. Notice that he describes hatred (the evil one in translation) as sowing weeds, not seeds. His story of the mustard seed makes the connetion between seeds and the kingdom of heaven explicit.

However, Christ also wants to make it clear that talking about the spirit as a "seed" doesn't capture every aspect of its nature. So he also likens in the leaven in dough, the treasure in a field, the pearl of great price, and a net caste into the sea.

The final parable is especially telling because it reshapes the Parable of the Good and Bad Sowers in an important way if you understand Christ's use of symbols. On the surface it seems to simple repeat the threat that the wicked will be punished. However, a closer analysis shows that it is not redundant but making a new and important point about the supremacy of the spirit.

Mat 13:33 The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Here, yeast become the symbol for the invisible spirit that spreads through everything. Yeast is invisible in bread, but it has a visible effect. It also multiplies throughout something, one part changing the whole into itself

My version: The power of the spirit is like yeasted dough, which a woman takes and enfolds into three measures of flour, until it all is yeasted dough.


"Leaven" is sometimes translated as "yeast." It is from the Greek zumê, which means any time of bread or beer "yeast." It is from a root word meaning "to mix." This was a time when yeast didn't come in little packets, but was maintained as a live culture, in this case, in the uncooked bread dough itself. Some of this dough was set aside as a "starter," kept warm in a jar to grow. Then part of that starter mixture was mixed into the fresh dough, which was left to rise and grow the yeast. Interestingly, this term is also used as a metaphor for "corruption" or "infection," which also spreads through things.

"Hid" is from enkruptô which literally means "to hide in" or "to conceal in."

"Whole" is from holos, which means "whole," "complete," and "whole in all its parts."

Mat 13:32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches of it.

The tree growing from the seed and bearing fruit is one of the key symbols Christ uses to describe the the cycle of tranformation. The focus here is that a little bit of spirit can grow something very large and valuable. The complete cycle is seed to earth to tree to fruit to seed again, It represents the pattern of spirit creating relationships shaping mind choosing action (body) contributing to spirit again. Here the cycle is mustard seed to field to tree to branches to birds of the air, but all of the elements are there with the branches taking the place of fruit as the body and the birds symbolizing the spirit.

My version: That is truly the smallest of all seeds: but when it is grows up, it is the biggest of clutivated plants, and becomes a tree, so that the heaven's winged ones arrive and settle in its branches.

"Grows" is from auxanô, which means "to gow large," "to increase in power," and "to grow up."

A new term here is lachanon, which is translated as "herbs" but which generally means "garden plants" as an opposite of wild plants.

The word translated as "lodge" is kataskênoô, which means "to camp" and "to take up quarters" but specifically means "to settle" when applied to birds.

Mat 13:31 The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

Notice that this parable and the next come between the Parable of the Good and Bad Seeds and Christ's explanation of that parable that we write about here. There is a reason for this. Both this Parable of the Mustard Seed and the following Parable of the Yeast and the Dough explain Christ's symbols in greater detail so that the explanation of the Parable of the Seeds can be understood as something much more than an "end of the world" description of judgment.

"Grain" is not from the Greek word for seed (sperma) used in the next verse, but from kokkos, which means "a grain" and "a seed," but interestingly is used as a metaphor for a "grain of sense," which fits directly into the meaning here.

"Mustard seed," though translated as seed, is sinapi, which means simply "mustard."

The other terms here, speiro for "sowed" and agros for "field," we have discussed before.

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

As I point out in this article about Christ's explanation of this parable, Christ is actually describing using these weeds as fuel for the fires that make bread. If Christ didn't see the value in the weeds as fuel, he wouldn't gather them first and bind into bundles. He would gather the wheat and burn the weeds left in the fields. Remember, the weeds and wheat hear on not people, but what they produce. Christ's use of symbols make a clear distinction between the mental realm, which includes our thoughts, what we raise, and our resulting wealth, and the physical realm, our actions and our bodies. He is talking about uprooting bad thoughts and the thought that they produce. If we look at this verse more closely, Christ seems to go even further suggesting that the weed and wheat are intentionally raised together, but that in the end, the weeds are collected, constrained, and destroyed.

My Versions: Raise both [weeds and wheat] with each other until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First get the weeds together, and bind them in bundles to burn completely: but gather the wheat into my barn.

The word translated as "grow together" is sunauxanô, which means literally "to make grow with." This term is used to describe situations where you intentionally raise two things together to get the result that you want.

Though you cannot tell from the English, two different words are used for collecting the weeds and gathering the wheat. The term used for gathering the weeds is sullegô , which literally means "speak with," but which in use means "to collect," "to bring together," "to get together," and even "to compose." The term used for gathering wheat is sunagô, which literally means "to take with," and is used to mean "to gather together," "to draw together," and "to unite."

"To burn" is from katakaiô, which literally means "burn through out" and is generally used to mean "to burn completely" or "burn out."

Mat 13:29 But he said, No; lest while you gather up the weeds, you root up also the wheat with them.

At any early stage, you cannot tell the good from the bad. For Christ, the nurturing of the good is more important than destroying the bad. This is the whole purpose of the world, giving people an arena in which they can produce something of value.

In the Greek, it is interesting to not that they word translated here as "said" is a little different from the most common word used for that in Matthew. Usually, Matthew uses legô, which means "to recount" or "to tell." Here Christ uses the term phêmi, which has the more specific meaning of "to make known," and "to explain."

Mat 13:28 He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Do you want us then to go and gather them up?

Christ's symbol for caring is the earth. The seed going into the earth is his symbol for the Spirit going first to caring. Here, Christ explains that the opposite of the caring, hatred (translated as "the enemy"), is the source of problems.

My version: He said to them, "Hatred has produced this." The slaves said to him, "Do you wish for us to go and collect them?"

The "enemy" is from the Greek echthros, which means "hated" and "hateful."

"Done" is from poieo, which means "to make," "to produce," or "to do."

No post today because I wrote this big article on this Parable of the Good and Bad Seeds.

Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? from where then has it weeds?

This is the confusion we all have about why the world isn't perfect. Where does imperfection come from?

Alterante versions: But the slaves came to the master of the house and said to him: Lord, didn't you spread good seeds in your field. From what source does it get weeds?

"Servants" is from doulos, which is really a "slave," a "born bondsman," or "one made a slave."'

"Came" is from proserchomai, which means "to go or come to."

"Householder" is from oikodespotês , which is the "master of the house."

"From where" is from pothen, which means "whence" and "from what source."

Mat 13:26 But when the blades sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the weeds also.

The words here in Greek are all about "coming to light." In terms of the processes that Christ teaches, our mental work, in this case, planning a crop, produces a physical result, the fruit. We understand the spirit (that is, the seed), that went into the work by examining that fruit.

My version: But when the pasture grew and produced fruit, then the weeds also came to light.

"Blades" is from chortos, which means "an enclosed place," "pastures," "herbage," "growing crops," and "growing grass."

"Sprung up" is from blastanô, which means "to sprout," "to bud," and "to grow." It is a metaphor for "to come to light," "to shoot forth," and "to be born."

"Brought forth" is our old friend, poieo, which means "to make," "to produce," and "to do."

"Appeared" is phaino , which means "to shine," "to give light," and "to appear." In its transative form, not used here, it means "bring to light."

Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went his way.

The whole "good" and "evil" thing in the way the Gospels are translated really gets to me. I am really fascinated by who Christ sees as "the enemy," but in the original Greek, there is no enemy. The term, echthros, means both "hated" and "hateful." I love the fact that as single term encompasses the idea that someone who is hated also become someone who is filled with hate. Being hated does fill you with hate.

I also like the idea that the term used for "slept" is katheudô , which means not just to sleep, but "to lie down in sleep." This indicates that idea that they were not watchful, that the man fell down on the job.

My version: But when the man slept, the hated one came and spread the seeds of imitation wheat went away.

The term translated as "weeds" is zizanion, which was a kind of imitiation wheat, that had black kernels instead of real wheat when it mature. It comes from a Sumerian word for "wheat."

Mat 13:24 The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field:

Notice that the previous analogy and this one compared the kingdom of heaven to sowing seeds. In Christ's use of symbols, seeds (symbols for the spirit, divine inspiration, and "the word") are the physical start for wheat, grapes (for wine) and trees, the basis for bread, wine, and fruit. For Christ, explaining how the world works is a matter of explaining its connections, that is, how one thing leads to another.

Alternative version: The universal rule is the same as a man spreading seed, sowing beautiful seed in his field.

Note: the word for "sowing," speiro, is repeated twice in the verse. Since speiro also means "spreading," we used both senses in our version.

"Likened" is from homoioo, which means "the same," "alike," and "similar."

"Good seed" is from kalos (beautiful) and sperma (seed).

"Field" is from agros, which means "field," "lands," or "country."

Mat 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands [it]; which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Most of the words in Greek here are very familiar. "Good ground" is kalos (beautiful) ge (earth). "Hears" is akouo, and is a symbol for the body. "Understands" is suniemi, a symbol for the mind. The cycle of the seed going into the ground, a symbol of the spirit going into caring, producing a tree and bearing fruit is Christ's symbolic description of his mission, where his body is the seed going into the heart of the earth producing a new faith and a new world order. However, what is most interesting here is that Christ may also be describing a field producing diminishing returns.

Alternative version: But spreading the seed on the beautiful earth is those hearing the word and understanding; those then bear fruit and produce truly a hundred then they [produce] sixty then they [produce] thirty.

"Bears fruit" is from karpophoreô, which means specifically "to bear fruit." It is also a metaphor in Greek, as in English, for virtue. It is the positive from of the term used in the previous verse, akarpos, which means barren.

"Brings forth" is from poieô , which means "to make," "to produce," "to bring into existence," and "to do." It is much more the economic sense of producing something valuable than most translations in the NT would indicates.

The last phrase following poieô is a bit vague. It is: hos (who, which, that) men (certainly) hekaton (a hundred) de (but-moreover, then-now-certainly ) hos (who, which, that) hexekonta (sixty) de (but-moreover, then-now-certainly) hos (who, which, that) triakonta (thirty). Some of the confusion here arises from the use of "de" which can be the conjunction meaning "but," "and," or "moreover." However, it could also be the particle, which means "now," "then," "certainly," and "at once." In the KJV, it is translated as the particle (as "also") and then ignored later in the verse.

Most translations interpret this last part as describing different people with different levels of productive skills. However, I think it describes how a field, if planted with the same seed, produces less and less over time. In other words, it describes the law of diminishing returns. While a new idea may be greatly productive at first, after awhile it produces less and less.