The Sower, Seed, and Soil

The farmer in this parable (God) planted seeds in four different types of soil. Only one of the soil types produced a plentiful crop. So, what's its meaning?

Jesus explained that the four soil types represented the heart of each person onto whom seeds were sown. When the word of God (the seed) is planted in a receptive heart, good things will be produced in that person’s life.

Opening page of Warren Camp's 'Parables of Jesus' Bible-study website

par•a•ble [noun] a simple story used to illustrate the meaning of or a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the gospels
synonyms: allegory, moral story/tale, fable

The Sower, the Seed, and Soil

Matthew 13:1–23

In this parable, Jesus tells us that there are two reasons he uses parables when he teaches: to reveal and conceal. That is, to reveal truth to those who have accepted him and to conceal truth from those who have rejected him.

The principle applies to us today: If you respond positively to what enlightenment and teaching God has given you, then God will give you more enlightenment. But if you reject his teaching, you won’t get any more of it from him. And if you fail to step into his light, which he’s shone before you, no more will be offered. But if you follow his light and obey the truth that you’ve been shown, God will share more truth with you. After all, if you don’t follow and obey, why should God give you more?

This video comes compliments of The JESUS Film.


Parable of the Sower? The Seed? The Soil?
Parable of the Sower and Seed? The Seed and Soil?


Matthew 13:1–23

[Luke’s account of this parable can be found in Luke 8:1–15.]

Because this parable includes three essential elements, it should be titled appropriately using all three elements: “The Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil.”

The word “parable” comes from the Greek parabole, meaning “a side-by-side comparison” of two concepts or meanings. Sometimes a parable’s second meaning isn’t explained. In such cases, we should be careful about interpreting parables when their meaning isn’t given. In today’s parable, Jesus explains its meaning.

In effect, Jesus explains that those seeds that God sows represent his teachings about the kingdom of God. The four soil types represent four different ways that Scripture — his Word — can be received in the hearts of different types of people. Undoubtedly, most people who’d listened to Jesus’ parable would have been familiar with the theme of planting seeds. A field would be plowed before seeds would be sown onto a variety of four soil types.


Soil Type I  When farmers and workers walked often in the same place, hardened paths were formed, preventing seeds that fell on paths from penetrating the soil and germinating. Seed-eating birds would jump on the opportunity to dine on freshly scattered, fully exposed seed, which they quickly consumed.

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up (Matthew 13:4).

This hardened soil type represents those people who see and hear God’s Word but don’t understand it or allow it to penetrate their hearts. The message of what God says can’t take root before Satan swoops down as a bird would and snatches it away.


Soil Type II  Apparently, Palestine had soil that farmers relished as being “fertile.” However, in many areas, such rich soil often wasn’t very deep. As a result, when farmers dug through their topsoil, they quickly hit hardpan and rock. Freshly sown seeds of grain and plants quickly sprouted but soon died because their roots had no opportunity to flourish.

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root (v. 5–6).

This soil type represents people who readily and genuinely accept the Word of God but accept it on a shallow level only, causing it to quickly wilt and expire. For these people, seed falls on their shallow soil covering. They immediately make an emotional decision to embrace God’s Word but their commitment level has no depth or substance capable of permitting spiritual growth and development.


Soil Type III  The third type of soil is one that is already filled with thorns and weeds, thereby compromising full growth. The grain and plants grew but the thorns and weeds robbed the seeds of essential nourishment. The thorns and weeds would challenge the young growth, preventing it from blossoming and bearing fruit.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants (v. 7).

This soil type represents a person who becomes a Christian but soon yields to worldly temptations and distractions, such as worry, wealth, and personal gain. The prioritizing of such distractions prevents spiritual nutrition, cultivation, and life. Sadly, soil-type-III people bear no fruit at all.


Soil Type IV But this fertile soil type on which the seeds were sown represents the person who hears the good news about Jesus Christ and fully comprehends its implications, value, and meaning. It’s this type of person who, after hearing the good news about who Jesus Christ is, spiritually produces a good crop that’s blessed with a fruitful abundance of varying yields.

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (v. 8).

Do you represent this fertile, fruit-bearing soil type?

Thirty-fold was a good crop yield in Palestine, but it it’s been asserted that a hundred-fold yield has been reaped in the Plain of Esdraelon in recent years. It’s also been shown that all four several conditions can be readily found lying close to each other in the Plain of Gennesaret.

“Whoever has ears, let them hear” (v. 9).

Jesus expressed his “Whoever has ears, let them hear” saying often. His intent was to prevent his listeners from regarding what he told them in his parables as merely an attention-getting story that people might remember. It warned them of a parable’s meaning beneath the surface; it incited them to explore such significance on their own.

“Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13This is why I speak to them in parables (v. 12–13).

To understand this saying, we must remember that it was the teaching of Jesus that was under discussion at this point. In the beginning of his ministry, he taught plainly; all his hearers had equal opportunity to know his doctrine and believe in him. But subsequently, his teaching would be largely veiled in parables designed to enrich the knowledge and understanding of believers while adding no such comprehension for the multitude of unbelievers; their efforts to understand the parables would withdraw their minds from the truths that they’d already learned, so that they’d either forget them or fail to gain from them. For us today, if we attend to the meaning and purpose of each parable, we’re bound to gain from making such efforts; but if we fail to see their value and relevance in our discipleship, our loss becomes immeasurable.

In addition to the four types of soil or ground, Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil highlights four different responses to the gospel. The seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The hard ground represents someone who’s hardened by sin, who hears but doesn’t understand the Word; Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart unresponsive and preventing the Word from making an impression. The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word, however, his heart isn’t changed and, when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, causing him to end up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word, and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life. The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit.

A Hearty Way to Apply This Parable Today

Jesus used this parable to explain why some people show the results of a healthy, balanced spiritual life and some don’t. In today’s review of the Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil, you have the chance to think about your spiritual growth going forward.

  • As you read Jesus’ description of the four soil types in this Scripture, which of the four best describes your response when you first heard the gospel message? Hard, rocky, thorny, fertile?
  • How about your spiritual life today? Is your soil hard, rock, thorny, or fertile?
  • Is there a step(s) you should take to improve the fertility of the soil that represents your spiritual life?

May your faith and your life exemplify the “good soil” in the Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil.

“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown”
(Matthew 13:23).