Passage

Luke 8.5-18

Book: Luke · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. and Joanna the wife of Chuzas Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered unto them of their substance. 4. And when a great multitude came together, and they of every city resorted unto him, he spake by a parable:"

"5. The sower went forth to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it. 6. And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7. And other fell amidst the thorns; and the thorns grew with it, and choked it. 8. And other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. As he said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9. And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. 10. And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to the rest in parables; that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. 11. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12. And those by the way side are they that have heard; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. 13. And those on the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14. And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15. And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience. 16. And no man, when he hath lighted a lamp, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but putteth it on a stand, that they that enter in may see the light. 17. For nothing is hid, that shall not be made manifest; nor anything secret, that shall not be known and come to light. 18. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he thinketh he hath."

"19. And there came to him his mother and brethren, and they could not come at him for the crowd. 20. And it was told him, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee." (Luke 8:3-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others; who served them from their possessions. 4. When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable."

"5. “The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6. Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7. Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it. 8. Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 9. Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?” 10. He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12. Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. 13. Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation. 14. That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15. That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produces fruit with patience. 16. “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light. 17. For nothing is hidden, that will not be revealed; nor anything secret, that will not be known and come to light. 18. Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.”"

"19. His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd. 20. Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.”" (Luke 8:3-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. 4. And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:"

"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. 6. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10. And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. 16. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. 17. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. 18. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. ^{seemeth: or, thinketh that he hath}"

"19. Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. 20. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee." (Luke 8:3-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. and Joanna wife of Chuza, steward of Herod, and Susanna, and many others, who were ministering to him from their substance. 4. And a great multitude having gathered, and those who from city and city were coming unto him, he spake by a simile:"

"5. 'The sower went forth to sow his seed, and in his sowing some indeed fell beside the way, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the heaven did devour it. 6. 'And other fell upon the rock, and having sprung up, it did wither, through not having moisture. 7. 'And other fell amidst the thorns, and the thorns having sprung up with it, did choke it. 8. 'And other fell upon the good ground, and having sprung up, it made fruit an hundred fold.' These things saying, he was calling, 'He having ears to hear, let him hear.' 9. And his disciples were questioning him, saying, 'What may this simile be?' 10. And he said, 'To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of God, and to the rest in similes; that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. 11. 'And this is the simile: The seed is the word of God, 12. and those beside the way are those hearing, then cometh the Devil, and taketh up the word from their heart, lest having believed, they may be saved. 13. 'And those upon the rock: They who, when they may hear, with joy do receive the word, and these have no root, who for a time believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14. 'And that which fell to the thorns: These are they who have heard, and going forth, through anxieties, and riches, and pleasures of life, are choked, and bear not to completion. 15. 'And that in the good ground: These are they, who in an upright and good heart, having heard the word, do retain [it], and bear fruit in continuance. 16. 'And no one having lighted a lamp doth cover it with a vessel, or under a couch doth put [it]; but upon a lamp-stand he doth put [it], that those coming in may see the light, 17. for nothing is secret, that shall not become manifest, nor hid, that shall not be known, and become manifest. 18. 'See, therefore, how ye hear, for whoever may have, there shall be given to him, and whoever may not have, also what he seemeth to have, shall be taken from him.'"

"19. And there came unto him his mother and brethren, and they were not able to get to him because of the multitude, 20. and it was told him, saying, 'Thy mother and thy brethren do stand without, wishing to see thee;'" (Luke 8:3-20, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Jesus Said

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.