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Luke13:18–19

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

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Luke 13:18–19 — The Parable of the Mustard Seed. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

18

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

oun Elegen Tini estin hē basileia tou Theou homoia kai tini homoiōsō autēn

Word by word13 · parsed
οὖνounThenG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
oun: therefore, accordingly Inferential: the parable grows out of the Sabbath healing and the people’s rejoicing just narrated (13:17).
ἜλεγενElegen[Jesus] askedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epō / legō: to say Imperfect: “he was saying,” presenting the parable as part of continuing synagogue teaching.
ΤίνιTiniWhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounDative Neuter Singular
ἐστὶνestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἡhētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
βασιλείαbasileiakingdomG932
√ βασιλεία — properly, royalty, iNounNominative Feminine Singular
basileia: royalty, rule, kingdom Properly royalty, the reign itself before it is a territory. In Luke the kingdom has just shown itself in act: a daughter of Abraham loosed from Satan’s bond (13:16). The question “what is it like?” therefore asks how this reign, already breaking in through Jesus, will look as it unfolds. Henry: “The kingdom of the Messiah is the kingdom of God.”
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΘεοῦTheouof GodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
theos: God Genitive of possession and source: the reign is God’s, not a human movement. Gill notes the phrase is “the same with the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 13:31.
ὁμοίαhomoialikeG3664
√ ὅμοιος — similar (in appearance or character)AdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
homoios: similar (in appearance or character) The adjective of likeness (41 vv). It governs the dative tini: “like to what?” The answer in v. 19 repeats the same word, binding question and answer.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τίνιtiniTo whatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounDative Neuter Singular
ὁμοιώσωhomoiōsōcan I compareG3666
√ ὁμοιόω — to assimilate, iVerbFuture Indicative Active1st Person Singular
homoioō: to assimilate, liken A Gospel verb of parabolic comparison (15 vv), used by Jesus also of “this generation” (Luke 7:31; Matthew 11:16). Cambridge hears in the double question the solemn cadence of Isaiah 40:18, where the prophet asks to whom God can be likened; here the Son himself searches for a likeness for God’s reign, and finds it in the smallest of things.
αὐτήνautēnitG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
19

It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

estin homoia kokkō sinapeōs hon anthrōpos labōn ebalen eis heautou kēpon kai ēuxēsen kai egeneto eis dendron kai ta peteina tou ouranou kateskēnōsen en autou tois kladois

Word by word27 · parsed
ἐστὶνestinIt isG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὁμοίαhomoialikeG3664
√ ὅμοιος — similar (in appearance or character)AdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
κόκκῳkokkōvvvG2848
√ κόκκος — a kernel of seedNounDative Masculine Singular
kokkos: a kernel of seed Rare (7 vv). Elsewhere the single grain carries Jesus’ teaching on smallness that holds power (Luke 17:6, faith) and on death that yields life (John 12:24, the grain of wheat). Pulpit records the proverb “as small as a grain of mustard seed” as current in Jesus’ day.
σινάπεωςsinapeōsa mustard seedG4615
√ σίναπι — mustard (the plant)NounGenitive Neuter Singular
sinapi: mustard (the plant) Rare (5 vv), always in Jesus’ mouth. Cambridge: the Jews spoke of it colloquially as “the smallest of all seeds”; it grew into a plant “as tall as a horse and his rider.”
ὃνhonthatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωποςanthrōposa manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounNominative Masculine Singular
anthrōpos: a human being The sower is unnamed. Gill identifies the act with the ministry of the gospel; ⚙ the parable keeps the focus on what grows, not on who sows.
λαβὼνlabōnvvvG2983
√ λαμβάνω — while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent, to seize or remove))VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
lambanō: to take Aorist participle: the deliberate taking-up that precedes the casting.
ἔβαλενebalentossedG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ballō: to throw Aorist of a common verb of casting; the planting is an ordinary, almost offhand act, which sharpens the contrast with the result.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ἑαυτοῦheautouhisG1438
√ ἑαυτοῦ — him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etcReflexive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
κῆπονkēpongardenG2779
√ κῆπος — a gardenNounAccusative Masculine Singular
kēpos: a garden Luke alone says “garden” (Matthew: field). Rare (4 vv); the other three uses are all in John’s Passion: the garden across the Kidron where Jesus was arrested (John 18:1, 26) and the garden where he was buried (John 19:41). Gill reads the garden as the church (citing Song 4:12), the field as the world.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ηὔξησενēuxēsenIt grewG837
√ αὐξάνω — to grow ("wax"), iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
auxanō: to grow Aorist: Luke compresses the whole growth into one completed act. No human agent is named for the growing; the seed grows (compare Mark 4:27, “he knows not how”).
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγένετοegenetobecameG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to become Aorist middle with eis: a Septuagint-style idiom of transformation, “became into.” The small thing does not merely enlarge; it changes category, seed to tree.
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
δένδρονdendrona treeG1186
√ δένδρον — a treeNounAccusative Neuter Singular
dendron: a tree 18 vv. Cambridge concedes the mustard is botanically “a herbaceous plant,” yet the parable calls it a tree, which (⚙) points beyond horticulture to the Old Testament image of the world-sheltering tree (Ezekiel 17:23; 31:6; Daniel 4:12). The reading “a great tree” is a later text; the critical text has simply “a tree.”
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τὰtatheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Plural
πετεινὰpeteinabirdsG4071
√ πετεινόν — a flying animal, iNounNominative Neuter Plural
peteinon: a flying creature Neuter plural with singular verb (kateskēnōsen), the classical idiom for collective neuter subjects. Gill takes the birds as “gracious men on earth” sheltering in the church, and explicitly rejects the reading of them as Satan’s powers.
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
οὐρανοῦouranouairG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounGenitive Masculine Singular
ouranos: the sky, heaven “Birds of heaven,” the Old Testament idiom for wild birds that range freely.
κατεσκήνωσενkateskēnōsennestedG2681
√ κατασκηνόω — to camp down, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
kataskēnoō: to camp down, settle, lodge Rare (4 vv): here, its Synoptic parallels (Matthew 13:32; Mark 4:32), and Acts 2:26 (“my flesh shall rest in hope,” quoting Psalm 16:9). Built on skēnē, tent, it speaks of settled dwelling, not a passing perch. Cambridge ties the cognate noun to Luke 9:58: the foxes have holes and the birds of heaven have shelters, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. ⚙ The kingdom he is planting will give lodging to others while he himself has none.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautouitsG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Neuter 3rd Person Singular
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
κλάδοιςkladoisbranchesG2798
√ κλάδος — a twig or bough (as if broken off)NounDative Masculine Plural
klados: a twig or bough Rare (11 vv). Paul uses it of the branches of Israel’s olive into which Gentiles are grafted (Romans 11:19); the shared word is real, the theological link is only thematic.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The question born from a healing — 13:18

The parable opens with οὖν, “therefore.” Pulpit takes this seriously: the shaming of the adversaries and the “honest joy of the simple folk” over the healing of the bent woman (13:10 to 17) “seem to have suggested to the Master” these two parables. Ellicott, while conceding the passage can look like a fragment lifted from Matthew 13, argues that time (the Sabbath) and place (the synagogue) called for teaching, and that once “proof had been given that the Kingdom of God had indeed come nigh unto men,” it was fitting to show its nature and extent. Benson likewise reads the parables as delivered “a second time” in this setting. The double question, “To what is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it?”, uses ὁμοία and the deliberative future ὁμοιώσω; Cambridge hears in it the solemn cadence of Isaiah 40:18.

ii. A single grain, a garden, a tree — 13:19

The likeness is one κόκκος σινάπεως, a grain of mustard, which Pulpit calls proverbially small and Cambridge says was colloquially “the smallest of all seeds.” A man takes it and throws it (ἔβαλεν) into his own κῆπος, garden. It grows and “becomes into a tree.” Geneva states the point plainly: God begins his kingdom with small beginnings so that its unexpected growth “may better set forth his power.” Pulpit applies the irony to the moment: the kingdom then was “Jesus and his few wavering followers.” Poole and Henry both read the parable as a prophecy of the gospel’s progress, and JFB suggests the mustard seed points chiefly to the kingdom’s outward growth, as the leaven (13:20 to 21) does to its inward working.

iii. Birds that pitch their tents — 13:19

The close is borrowed language. The birds of heaven κατεσκήνωσεν, “encamped,” in its branches: a rare verb (4 vv) built on skēnē, tent. Cambridge notes the cognate noun in Luke 9:58 and the naturalist’s observation that finches throng the mustard beds. Gill rejects reading the birds as Satan’s powers and takes them as “gracious men on earth, who sit under the shadow of a Gospel ministry.” ⚙ The phrasing deliberately echoes the great trees of the prophets, where the birds of heaven dwell in the branches of a cedar the LORD himself plants (Ezekiel 17:23) or of world-empires that God cuts down (Ezekiel 31; Daniel 4). Jesus’ choice of a garden herb over a cedar looks like a deliberate reversal: God’s kingdom reaches the height of the empires from the lowliest start.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read from the text alone: Jesus does not define the kingdom; he likens it. The likeness has two poles the grammar holds apart: a single grain cast by a man, and a tree that God’s growth produces, with no human agent named for the growing. The kingdom’s smallness at its planting is not a defect but the means by which its growth displays God’s power (so Geneva). Its end is hospitality: creatures that did not plant it come and pitch their tents in it. Read with Scripture as its own interpreter, the closest canonical key is Ezekiel 17:22 to 24, where the LORD plants a tender twig that becomes a cedar sheltering every bird and so “brings low the high tree and makes the low tree flourish.” This reading is fallible and offered to be tested against the text.

The kingdom is not measured by its first size, but by the God who makes the smallest grain a lodging-place for the birds of heaven.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The Synoptic mustard seed: one parable in three Gospels verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke’s parable has close parallels in Matthew 13:31 to 32 and Mark 4:30 to 32. The Verifier records shared rare vocabulary: κατασκηνόω (only 4 vv) with Mark 4:32, κλάδος (11 vv) and δένδρον (18 vv) with Matthew 13:32, and κόκκος (7 vv) with Matthew 13:31 and Mark 4:31. Luke differs in setting (synagogue, after a healing) and detail: “garden” for Matthew’s “field,” no mention of the seed being the least of seeds, and the mustard becoming simply “a tree.” Barnes, Poole and Ellicott all direct readers to Matthew 13 for the fuller exposition.

Matthew 13:31 · Matthew 13:32 · Mark 4:31 · Mark 4:32

basis: Verifier: Mark 4:32 shares G2681 κατασκηνόω (in 4 vv) and G2798 κλάδος (in 11 vv); Matthew 13:32 shares G1186 δένδρον (in 18 vv) and G2798 κλάδος (in 11 vv); Matthew 13:31 and Mark 4:31 share G2848 κόκκος (in 7 vv). Synoptic parallel of the same parable, Greek to Greek.

Faith like a grain of mustard verbal / quotation: confirmed

The exact phrase κόκκος σινάπεως reappears in Luke 17:6 and Matthew 17:20, where faith “as a grain of mustard seed” uproots a mulberry tree or moves a mountain. The Verifier records both rare lexemes, κόκκος (7 vv) and σίναπι (5 vv). ⚙ The two uses share one logic: what matters is not the size of the seed (or the faith) but the power working through it. This is a real verbal link in Jesus’ own vocabulary, though a different saying, not a quotation of this parable.

Luke 17:6 · Matthew 17:20

basis: Verifier: shared G2848 κόκκος (in 7 vv) and G4615 σίναπι (in 5 vv); same rare phrase in a distinct saying of Jesus, not a quotation

The tree where the birds of heaven dwell structural / thematic: confirmed

“Birds of heaven” lodging in a tree’s branches is a fixed prophetic image. In Ezekiel 17:23 the LORD plants a tender sprig on Israel’s high mountain; it becomes a noble cedar and birds of every kind dwell in the shade of its branches. In Ezekiel 31:6 and Daniel 4:12, 21 the same picture describes the reach of Assyria and Babylon, trees God later fells. ⚙ Jesus’ wording (tree, branches, birds of heaven, settling) evokes this cluster; the striking difference is that a garden herb, not a cedar, plays the part. This is a cross-Testament link (Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek), so it cannot rest on shared Strong’s numbers and is not claimed as a quotation.

Ezekiel 17:23 · Ezekiel 31:6 · Daniel 4:12 · Daniel 4:21

basis: Shared motif (tree, branches, birds of the heavens dwelling) across Testaments; Hebrew/Aramaic to Greek, so no shared Strong’s lexeme can be cited and no verbal or quotation claim is made

“To whom will ye liken God?”: the solemn question form structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge links Jesus’ opening question to Isaiah 40:18 (“To whom then will ye liken God?”). Within Luke the same verb ὁμοιόω (15 vv) introduces Jesus’ likeness for “this generation” in Luke 7:31 (parallel Matthew 11:16). ⚙ The Isaiah echo is one of form: in Isaiah the question exposes idols as unfit likenesses; here Jesus himself supplies a fit likeness for God’s reign. The Isaiah link is cross-Testament and rests on Cambridge’s note, not on shared lexemes.

Isaiah 40:18 · Luke 7:31 · Matthew 11:16

basis: Luke 7:31 and Matthew 11:16 share G3666 ὁμοιόω (in 15 vv) and G3664 ὅμοιος (in 41 vv) per Verifier: a recurring parabolic formula. Isaiah 40:18 rests on Cambridge’s recorded note; cross-Testament, so structural only

Lodging for birds, no lodging for the Son of Man structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge observes that the noun cognate to κατεσκήνωσεν appears in Luke 9:58: “the birds of heaven have nests (shelters), but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⚙ Read together within Luke, the one who plants the kingdom is himself homeless, and the kingdom he plants becomes shelter for others. The link rests on a cognate noun (not the identical lexeme), so it is offered as thematic.

Luke 9:58

basis: Cambridge’s recorded note: the substantive corresponding to the verb ‘lodged’ (κατασκήνωσις, cognate of G2681) occurs in Luke 9:58 with “birds of heaven”; cognate, not identical lexeme

A grain cast into a garden: the Passion garden typological

The noun κῆπος is rare (4 vv): here, and three times in John’s Passion: the garden where Jesus was arrested (John 18:1, 26) and the garden where he was laid in a new tomb (John 19:41). κόκκος appears in John 12:24, where Jesus says a grain of wheat must fall into the earth and die to bear much fruit. ⚙ A figural reading sees Christ himself as the grain cast into a garden, buried, and rising into a life that shelters the nations. The lexical links are real (Verifier), but the figural meaning is not stated in Luke and no commentator in this brief makes it. Patristic precedent for this reading is sometimes reported, but it is not verified here.

John 18:1 · John 19:41 · John 12:24

basis: Verifier: shared G2779 κῆπος (in 4 vv) with John 18:1, 18:26, 19:41 and G2848 κόκκος (in 7 vv) with John 12:24; the words are shared, the Christological figure is interpretive and novel within this brief’s sources

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The kingdom present in the King ancient/widely-held

⚙ The parable follows directly on a healing in which Jesus looses “a daughter of Abraham” whom Satan had bound (13:16). The kingdom Jesus likens to a mustard grain is not abstract: it is present in his own person and work, and at that moment it looked tiny. Pulpit says the kingdom then “was composed of Jesus and his few wavering followers”; Henry: “The kingdom of the Messiah is the kingdom of God.” Geneva, Poole and Benson all read the growth as the spread of the gospel from Christ outward through the world, the widely-held reading.

Luke 13:16 · Luke 17:21 · Acts 1:8

The twig the LORD plants: Ezekiel’s messianic cedar ancient/widely-held

⚙ In Ezekiel 17:22 to 24 the LORD himself takes a tender twig from the top of the cedar, plants it on Israel’s high mountain, and it becomes a cedar under which “birds of every sort” dwell; then all the trees will know that the LORD “brings low the high tree and makes the low tree flourish.” Messianic readings of this sprig, connected to the Branch of David (Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5), are widely held. Jesus’ parable takes up the same picture: from the house of David, cut down to a stump, God raises a King whose reign shelters the nations, the birds Gill reads as men gathered under the gospel.

Ezekiel 17:22 · Ezekiel 17:23 · Ezekiel 17:24 · Isaiah 11:1

The grain that falls into the garden novel

⚙ Jesus calls himself the grain of wheat that must fall into the earth and die to bear much fruit (John 12:24). John alone tells us that the tomb in which he was laid stood in a garden (κῆπος, John 19:41), the same rare noun Luke uses here. Read figurally, the Son is the seed the Father casts into the garden; from his burial grows the tree in which the nations lodge. This is a typological reading, not stated in Luke 13, and not made by any voice in this brief; it is marked novel here and should be tested.

John 12:24 · John 19:41

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. The Greek printed here has no adjective “great” with δένδρον; Cambridge reports that “great” (KJV “waxed a great tree”) is omitted by א, B, D, L and others. The commentators who quote the KJV wording are working from the longer text.

Sources. Barnes and Poole (13:19) give only cross-references to Matthew 13; their substantive exposition is not in this brief. Benson, Henry, and JFB comment on 13:18 to 21 as a block, so their remarks cover both parables (mustard seed and leaven). Pulpit’s and Cambridge’s botanical and proverbial remarks (horse-and-rider heights, Thomson, Tristram) are nineteenth-century travel and natural-history reports and are reproduced as their claims, not verified here. Gill’s rabbinic citations (Jerusalem Talmud, Peah) and versional notes (Ethiopic, Syriac, Persic) are his own and are not independently checked.

Uncertain. The Old Testament tree texts (Ezekiel 17, 31; Daniel 4) are linked by motif, not by a verified Septuagint wording. The Passion-garden reading is typological and novel within these sources. The meaning of the birds (positive shelter vs. evil intruders) is debated; this unit follows Gill and the Ezekiel background in reading them positively, while noting the other view.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)