Mar 4:6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

In Christ use of symbols, the sun is always a positive one. It brings light, rising on both the beautiful and the base. Righteousness shines like the sun. The culmination of an era is marked by darkening or falling of the sun.

The root, on the other hand, is the foundation of life. Trees are cut from their root (Mat 3:10, Luk 3:9). The dead but solid rock is a good foundation for a building, for things that are made, but its roots are the foundation for living things.

Again, the "enemy" in the verse is not something evil. The sun is always something good. The problem is not the Sun nor the nature of the rocky ground. However, the end result is not what we hope. The seed might get further than that which was eaten by birds, but it fails just the same.

Is the seed any better off here than when it was eaten? It gets further, but nothing comes of it in the end.

"Sun" is from hêlios (helios), which means the "sun," "life," "day," "sunshine," "the sun's heat," "brightness," and the sun-god.

"Root" is from rhiza (rhiza), which means "root," "that from which anything springs as a root," "foundation," "the mathematical base," and the "root of the eye."

"Scorched" is from kaumatizô (kaumatizo), which means "to burn" and "to scorch." It is only used in this parable here and in Matthew.