And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,

MARK 4:18KJV
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Mark 4:18 (KJV)

What does Mark 4:18 mean?

Mark 4:18 describes people who hear the message Jesus is teaching but are like seed scattered among thorns. Jesus uses the picture to explain one kind of response to his message. The sentence continues into verse 19, where he identifies what the thorns represent.

Jesus is explaining his story about a farmer scattering seed to those gathered around him. After describing seed on rocky ground, he turns to seed among thorns. The image places the seed where other plants compete with its growth.

The Greek behind Mark 4:18

  • “word” — λόγος (logos): This word can mean a message or something spoken. Here it points to the message being heard, rather than to a single word.
  • “hear” — ἀκούω (akouō): This word means to hear or listen. Jesus uses it to describe the people’s encounter with the message before he explains what happens afterward.

Why Mark 4:18 matters

  • Hearing is the starting point of the picture. Jesus says these people “hear the word,” then continues in verse 19 with the things that interfere with its growth.
  • The thorns stand for pressures that crowd out the message. Verse 19 names worries, the attraction of riches, and desires for other things as the thorns’ meaning.
  • The image explains why the seed produces no crop. In the story, the thorns grow up and choke the plants, leaving them without fruit (Mark 4:7).

Where else these words appear

“thorns” Greek G173 · used in 11 verses

  • Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
  • Matthew 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
  • Luke 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

“sown” Greek G4687 · used in 42 verses

  • Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
  • Matthew 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
  • Luke 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

“are” Greek G1526 · used in 146 verses

  • Matthew 2:18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
  • John 7:49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.
  • Galatians 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.