Spontaneous Growth Parable

Mark 4:26-29

(Huck 95; Aland 126; Crook 148)^[45]

Updated: 9 November 2022

Text

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• ^[1] See Mustard Seed and Starter Dough, under the subheading “Redaction Analysis: Luke’s Version.” ↩
• ^[2] We were likewise reluctant to suppose that the author of Mark simply made up the story about Jesus’ encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman. Despite our conclusion that this story was not taken from Anth., we did not rule out the possibility that the author of Mark had learned of this story from others, perhaps even from people who were personally acquainted with the woman in the story. See Jesus and a Canaanite Woman, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[3] See, inter alia, Swete, 83; Plummer, Mark, 130; Bundy, 231 §136; Taylor, 265; Vermes, 119. ↩
• ^[4] Darnel Among the Wheat and Spontaneous Growth share eight key lexical items: ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos, “person”), καθεύδειν (kathevdein, “to sleep”), σῖτος (sitos, “grain”), βλαστάνειν (blastanein, “to sprout”), χόρτος (chortos, “grass”), καρπός (karpos, “fruit”), θερισμός (therismos, “harvest”) and πρῶτος (prōtos, “first”). Not only are these key terms shared, but most occur in both parables in the same order. See Darnel Among the Wheat, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[5] See Darnel Among the Wheat, under the subheading “Story Placement.” ↩
• ^[6] See Darnel Among the Wheat, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[7] See Mustard Seed and Starter Dough, under the subheading “Redaction Analysis: Mark’s Version.” Cf. Bundy, 232 §138, 368 §263. ↩
• ^[8] Flusser, described Mark’s Spontaneous Growth parable as “thoroughly Greek.” See David Flusser, Die rabbinischen Gleichnisse und der Gleichniserzähler Jesus (Bern: Peter Lang, 1981), 151. Contrast Martin’s assessment that Mark’s Spontaneous Growth parable is “translation” Greek, i.e., derives from a Semitic source. See Raymond A. Martin, Syntax Criticism of the Synoptic Gospels (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 1987), 42. ↩
• ^[9] On distinctive traits of Markan redaction, see LOY Excursus: Mark’s Editorial Style. ↩
• ^[10] See Robert L. Lindsey, “A New Two-source Solution to the Synoptic Problem,” under thesis 7. ↩
• ^[11] See Hawkins, 12, 52; LOY Excursus: Catalog of Markan Stereotypes and Possible Markan Pick-ups, under the entry for Mark 2:16. ↩
• ^[12] See Mustard Seed and Starter Dough, L3. ↩
• ^[13] On the homogenization of vocabulary in the Markan parables excursus (Mark 4:1-34), see Mustard Seed and Starter Dough, Comment to L11. ↩
• ^[14] See Plummer, Mark, 130-131. ↩
• ^[15] See Darnel Among the Wheat, Comment to L2. ↩
• ^[16] Gould (79) noted that Mark’s comparison formula is awkward Greek. One would have expected the text to read either ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὃς βάλῃ (“as a man who might throw”) or ὡς ἐὰν ἄνθρωπος βάλῃ (“as if a man might throw”). Swete (84), citing 1 Cor. 9:26 and James 2:12, offers ὡς ἄνθρωπος βαλών (“as a man throwing”) and ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἂν βάλῃ (“as a man who when he might throw”) as viable alternatives. ↩
• ^[17] See Mustard Seed and Starter Dough, Comment to L11. ↩
• ^[18] We do encounter the limited use of the subjunctive in the Friend in Need and Lost Sheep and Lost Coin similes, but these, it should be noted, are constructed differently than the narrative parables, taking the form of rhetorical questions. ↩
• ^[19] See LHNS, 75. ↩
• ^[20] The following table shows the instances of ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς and ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν in the Markan parables excursus and their parallels in Luke and Matthew (if any):

  Mark 4:1 Four Soils parable (cf. Matt. 13:2 [ἐπὶ τὸν αἰγιαλόν]; Luke 8:4 [--]) Mark 4:20 Four Soils interpretation = Matt. 13:23 (cf. Luke 8:15 [ἐν τῃ...γῇ]) Mark 4:26 Spontaneous Growth Mark 4:31 Mustard Seed (cf. Matt. 13:31 [ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ]; Luke 13:19 [εἰς κῆπον ἑαυτοῦ]) Mark 4:31 Mustard Seed (cf. Matt. 13:32 [--]; Luke 13:19 [--])

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• ^[21] See Mustard Seed and Starter Dough, Comment to L11. ↩
• ^[22] See Persistent Widow, Comment to L23. ↩
• ^[23] We encounter the phrase לַיְלָה וְיוֹמָם in Deut. 28:66; Isa. 34:10; Jer. 14:17. ↩
• ^[24] We encounter the phrase לַיְלָה וָיוֹם in 1 Kgs. 8:29; Isa. 27:3; Esth. 4:16. ↩
• ^[25] Lindsey (LHNS, 75) noted that νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν occurs in Luke 2:37 (describing the widow Anna’s continuous worship in the Temple), and suggested that the author of Mark picked up this phrase from there. We also encounter νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν in Acts 20:31; 26:7. ↩
• ^[26] Luke’s treatment of the Four Soils parable (Luke 8:4-18) is followed by Yeshua, His Mother and Brothers (Luke 8:19-21) and then by Quieting a Storm (Luke 8:22-25). The author of Mark based his parables excursus (Mark 4:1-34) on Luke 8:4-18, and sandwiched this excursus between Yeshua, His Mother and Brothers (Mark 3:31-35) and Quieting a Storm (Mark 4:35-41). ↩
• ^[27] We encounter the phrase τὰ αὐτόματα ἀναβαίνοντα also in Lev. 25:11, again as the translation of סָפִיחַ, and cf. 4 Kgdms. 19:29. There are also instances of αὐτόματος in LXX where it lacks a counterpart in the underlying Hebrew text (Josh. 6:25; Job 24:24). ↩
• ^[28] See Bernard Brandon Scott, Hear Then the Parable: A Commentary on the Parables of Jesus (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989), 369, 370. ↩
• ^[29] See Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus (3 vols.; Anchor Yale Bible; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991-2001), 3:2160. ↩
• ^[30] Cf. Snodgrass, 185. ↩
• ^[31] In LXX books corresponding to MT εἶτα is restricted to Proverbs (Prov. 6:11, 7:13) and Job (Job 5:24; 11:6; 12:2; 13:22; 14:15; 16:4; 21:3; 22:21, 26; 23:6; 24:20; 33:27). Only in Job 22:26 does εἶτα represent a term in the underlying Hebrew text. There it is the translation of אָז (’āz, “then”). ↩
• ^[32] Examples of πρῶτος...εἶτα are found in 1 Tim. 2:13; 3:10. ↩
• ^[33] Flusser (Die rabbinischen Gleichnisse und der Gleichniserzähler Jesus, 150-151) noted the similarity of Mark’s Spontaneous Growth parable to Epictetus’ analogy. ↩
• ^[34] Apart from the Four Soils interpretation and Spontaneous Growth, the only other instance of εἶτα in the Synoptic Gospels is found in the Blind Man of Bethsaida narrative (Mark 8:25), a pericope unique to Mark’s Gospel. ↩
• ^[35] See Dos Santos, 5. ↩
• ^[36] Additional examples of אָז...אָז occur in Lev. 26:41; Josh. 1:8; 2 Sam. 5:24; Ps. 51:21; 126:2; 1 Chr. 11:16. In each case אָז...אָז expresses simultaneity. ↩
• ^[37] See Segal, 134 §294. ↩
• ^[38] See Darnel Among the Wheat, Comment to L10. ↩
• ^[39] In the Markan parables excursus we find the conjunction ὅταν in Mark 4:15, 16, 29, 31, 32. ↩
• ^[40] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1058-1059. ↩
• ^[41] See BDB, 679. ↩
• ^[42] See T. W. Manson, “A Note On Mark iv. 28 f.,” Journal of Theological Studies 38 (1937): 399-400; G. D. Kilpatrick, “Mark IV. 29,” Journal of Theological Studies 46 (1945): 191. ↩
• ^[43] See Robert L. Lindsey, “Introduction to A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark,” under the subheading “The Markan Stereotypes.” ↩
• ^[44] On reasons for supposing that an allusion to Joel 4:13 was indeed intended, see Snodgrass, 186. While we concur with the conclusion of Vermes (178) that the allusion to Joel 4:13 is due to Markan redaction, we do not accept the reasoning that led him to this conclusion, namely, that the author of Mark was more likely than Jesus to be familiar with the Scriptures. ↩
• ^[45] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩