4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:
4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable:
4 As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story:
4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:
4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him:
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 8:4
Commentary on Luke 8:4-21
(Read Luke 8:4-21)
There are many very needful and excellent rules and cautions for hearing the word, in the parable of the sower, and the application of it. Happy are we, and for ever indebted to free grace, if the same thing that is a parable to others, with which they are only amused, is a plain truth to us, by which we are taught and governed. We ought to take heed of the things that will hinder our profiting by the word we hear; to take heed lest we hear carelessly and slightly, lest we entertain prejudices against the word we hear; and to take heed to our spirits after we have heard the word, lest we lose what we have gained. The gifts we have, will be continued to us or not, as we use them for the glory of God, and the good of our brethren. Nor is it enough not to hold the truth in unrighteousness; we should desire to hold forth the word of life, and to shine, giving light to all around. Great encouragement is given to those who prove themselves faithful hearers of the word, by being doers of the work. Christ owns them as his relations.