Mar 4:13 Don't you know this parable? and how then will you know all parables?
Alternative: Don't you see the analogy? and is there any way you will learn to know all these analogies.

The translation into English loses some of this verse's connection with previous verses. The two words "know" here are actually different words in Greek. The first means "to see" and the second, "to learn to know." Again, the idea is that you must see, before you can hear, and then you can understand. The physical leads to the mental and finally to the relationship.

These two words connects Mar 4:12 where the term for "perceiving" was eido and Mar 4:11, where Christ promises that the keys of the kingdom will allow us "to know" from the term gignôskô, the mysteries of the universal rule.

Of course, we could assume that the evangelists used these terms randomly, without seeing (perceiving, understanding) and difference. I don't assume this. I believe that different words are used for a reason.

Christ is specifically making the point that there are layers of meaning in his words. There is the obvious surface. Below that, there is the meaning that you can know by thinking about it, but beneath that there is another layer that you can learn by contemplation. There may even be more layers of meaning, one more relevant to every generation and every group of people.

The purpose of this site, of course, is to help get to these layers of meaning.


The first "know" is from eido (eido), which is another word that means "to see," "to examine," and "to know." It has more the sense of understanding.

"Parable" and "parables" is from parabolê (parabole), which means "comparison," "illustration," and "analogy."

"How" is from pôs (pos) which means "in any way," "at all," "by any means," and "I suppose."

"To know," is from gignôskô (ginosko) which means "to learn to know," "to know by reflection or observation," and "to perceive."


"All" is from pas (pas), which means "all," "the whole," "every," "anyone," "all kinds," and "anything."

Mar 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.

Alternate version: That their seeing sees, but doesn't perceive and their hearing hears, but doesn't listen so they cannot turn themselves around and let go of their failures.

Here, Christ is making a reference to Isa 6:9 and Isa 6:10. The first few phrases reverses the pattern of hearing and seeing used in Isaiah. Why? Because Christ uses sight as the sense of the body and hearing as the sense of the mind. The whole point here is that you can physically see and hear but not comprehend with your mind. Christ was simply putting the words in an order that is more consistent with his use of symbols. We know this reversal in intentional because Christ does it elsewhere quoting this section of Isaiah.

Strangely enough, the contrasting wordplay here works better in the Greek (and in English) than it does in the original Hebrew. The Greek words for seeing and perceiving, blepô and eido, both primarily mean "seeing" but the first is more physical and the second with the sense of understanding. In the original Hebrew, the words , ra'ah meaning primarily "to see" and yada` meaning primarily "to know," the pun connecting them to sight is not as clear. In Greek, the word for hearing and understanding, akouô and suniêmi , also are both connected to hearing and have more of a connection the the original Hebrew shama` and biyn.

Though the second part of this verse seems to reference the next verse in Isaiah, it does not do so as closely as Mat 13:15, which quotes Isa 6:10 almost directly except, again, reversing the order of eyes and ears. Here, instead of speaking of being healed, Christ speaks of letting go of mistakes rather than of being healed.

This verse is interesting when thinking about questions about original sources for the Gospels, which Gospel came first, and whether or not Christ taught originally in Greek as well as Aramaic. Here, both Matthew and Mark capture the change of word order from Isaiah, but Matthew quotes Isa 6:10 almost directly, while Mark mixes elements of Isa 6:9 and Isa 6:10 and brings in new elements. Did one get it right and the other wrong? Or did Christ himself use the quote a little differently at different times, creating more than one version? However, in both versions we see the same word play that works better in Greek. Did two different translators working with two different original versions come up with the same word choices? Or was the original from the Greek with Christ making the puns?

"Seeing" and "see" are from blepô (blepo), which means "to look" and "to see." It is the more tangible sense of seeing, such as seeing what is right in front of you rather than understanding.

"Perceive" is from eido (eido), which is another word that means "to see," "to examine," and "to know." It has more the sense of understanding.

"Hear" and "hearing" are from akouô (akouo), which means "hear of," "hear tell of," "what one actually hears," "know by hearsay," "listen to," "give ear to," "hear and understand," and "understand."

"Understand" is from suniêmi (suniemi), which means "bring together," "come together in agreement," and, metaphorically, "to perceive" "to hear," "to take notice of" and "to understand."

"Lest" is from mêpote, which as a conjunction means "lest ever" and "that at no time."

"Converted" is from epistrephô, which means "to turn around," "to turn towads," "to cause to repent," and "to be converted."

"Sins" is from hamartêma (hamartema), which means "failure," "fault," and a "sinful deed." It is midway in meaning between adikêma, which means a "wrong done" or a "wrong" and atuchêma, which means a "misfortune" or "mishap."

"Forgiven" is from aphiêmi (aphiemi), which means "to let fall," "to send away," "to let loose," "to get rid of," "to leave alone," "to pass by," "to permit," and "to send forth from oneself." This is the same word that is translated as "leave" and "forgive" in the New Testament.

Mar 4:11 Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables:
Alternative: You are granted to know the secrets of the rule of God by reflection, but for those on the outside, everything becomes illustrations.

The knowledge that is given is not obvious. It is was, the term used for "to know" would be from "to see" (eido). This is the word meaning "to know" here means knowledge that comes from reflection.

Christ's says directly that his teachings are a mystery. The only place in the Gospel that he uses this particular word is in this parable. It appears in all three Synoptic Gospels (Mat 13:11, Mar 4:11, and Luk 8:10). Historically, the Greek word for mystery is attached to hidden religious rites and the implements of those rites. It is different from the word that means simply hidden information (krupsis).

What distinguishes this verse from similar ones is the use of the term for "outside." Christ uses this term consistently to mean where things are thrown away (Mat 5:13), a place where people are excluded (Luk 13:25). These outsiders just see the surface of things, the comparisons that are made.

This idea doesn't apply to just this parable or all the parables, but to all of Christ's words.

Understanding them, to whatever degree we understand them is a gift but it is a gift that we win only upon reflection.

"Given" is from didômi (didomi), which means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," and "to describe." It is the word usually translated as "give" in the Gospels.

"To know," is from gignôskô (ginosko) which means "to learn to know," "to know by reflection or observation," and "to perceive."

"Mystery" is from mustêrion (musterion), which means "mystery," "secret doctrine," "secret rite," "mystical implements," "talisman," "magical item," and "secrets revealed by God."

"Kingdom" is from basileia (basileia), which means "kingdom," "dominion," "rule," "hereditary monarchy," "kingly office," (passive) "being ruled by a king," and "reign."

"Without" is from exô (exo), which means "out of a place," "outside," "external things," and "beyond a time."


"All" is from pas (pas), which means "all," "the whole," "every," "anyone," "all kinds," and "anything."

"Done" is from gignomai (ginomai), which means "to become," "to come into being," "to be produced," and "to be."

"Parables" is from parabolê (parabole), which means "comparison," "illustration," and "analogy."

Mar 4:9 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Christ repeats this phrase about eight times in Gospels. In Christ's use of symbols, people see with their eyes (physical), hear with their ears (mental), and understand with the hearts (emotional). This is a cycle that begins with seeing and hearing, the physical and mental. If we do not see or hear, we cannot understand (Mat 13:15). Christ originally introduced this parable saying that you must both see and hear (discussed here).

Christ uses this phrase to tell people that they must think about the true meaning of what he is saying. In other words, isn't obvious. He uses the phrase specifically when he talks about John being the second coming of Elijah, a very interesting idea and when he discusses his use of parables, and in general to refer to his use of parables or analogies.

There are several ideas that come together in this one phrase. First, that Christ's words require thought and analysis. When Christ wants to indicate that an idea is obvious, he uses the sense of sight to describe it. Things you see are obvious. When Christ talks about hearing, he is saying that it requires thought. Words are always symbols, but he uses symbols purposefully to force us to think, rather than jump to the conclusion that we understand what he is saying. Next, that everyone is capable of grasping it (everyone that can physically hear, that is), but at the same time suggesting that everyone doesn't always use what the ears and mental abilities that they have.

Interestingly, this was a common enough saying in Greek to appear under the definition of "ears" in the Perseus dictionary of ancient Greek and its use in Greek literature, that I primarily use for my research.

"Ears" is from ous (ous), which means "ear" and things that resemble an ear, such as a handle on pitchers, cups, etc.

"Hear" is from akouô (akouo), which means "hear of," "hear tell of," "what one actually hears," "know by hearsay," "listen to," "give ear to," "hear and understand," and "understand."

Mar 4:8 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

There four key symbols as work in this parable: the ground, the birds, the sun, and the weeds. The ground and the sun represent the two opposites of the earth and heaven. Both are required for the plant to survive. The birds are adversity. The weeds are delusion and desire.

The ground is a key element in all four sections of this parable. The ground of the wayside is too bare and hard, allowing the birds to see the seeds and eat them. The rocky ground doesn't have enough depth, so the spouts don't have enough root to prevent them from being dried up. The ground with thorns is too crowded, too much competition with the thorns prevent the plants from bearing fruit. The "beautiful" ground in this verse is free of any of these defects. (Note: in The Art of War, Sun Tzu also defined four types of ground, mountains, river, marshes, and plateaus, where the first three all have defects and the last is the one without these defects.)

Though I have described the ground elsewhere as symbolic of the emotional realm, a more accurate description for this particular Greek word (gê), would be for the whole temporal world, the dominant feature of which is society, our social relationships.

As a symbol of heaven, the sun represents not the spirit, but the universe, here, specifically, the power of the universe. Light is always symbolic of knowledge, but the focus is heat, which is physical.


"Good" is from kalos (kalos), which means "beautiful," "good," "of fine quality," "noble," and "honorable." It is most often translated as "good" juxtaposed with "evil" in the New Testament, but the two ideas are closer to "wonderful" and "worthless," "noble" and "base."


"Earth" (in both cases) is from gê (ge), which means "the element of earth," "land (country)," "arable land," "the ground," and "the world" as the opposite of the sky.

"Fruit" is from karpos (karpos), which means "fruit," "the fruits of the earth," "seed," "offspring," "returns for profit," and "reward."