Texts in Conversation
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower, where seed falls on soil with varied results, and 4 Ezra uses the same metaphor to describe people in relation to divine purpose. Both use seed as a symbol for the remnant of Israel, based on Isaiah 6.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 13:3
New Testament
3 He told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. 6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered. 7 Other seeds fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked them. 8 But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 The one who has ears had better listen!”
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
4 Ezra 8:41
2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
40 Therefore as I have spoken, so it will be. 41 For as the farmer sows many seeds in the ground, and plants many trees, and yet not all that is sown will come up in due season, neither will all that is planted take root, even so those who are sown in the world will not all be saved.” 42 Then I answered, “If I have found favor, let me speak before you. 43 If the farmer’s seed doesn’t come up because it hasn’t received your rain in due season, or if it is ruined by too much rain and perishes, 44 likewise man, who is formed with your hands and is called your own image, because he is made like you, for whose sake you have formed all things, even him you have made like the farmer’s seed. 45 Don’t be angry with us, but spare your people and have mercy upon your inheritance, for you have mercy upon your own creation.”
Date: 70–132 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The third indication that the parable is retelling the story of Israel—and this is also an indication of where, within the story, the teller and hearers belong—lies at the heart of the narrative, in the idea of the “seed” itself. Within second-Temple Judaism, the idea of “seed” is capable of functioning as a shorthand for the “remnant” who will return when the exile is finally over. The “seed” is a metaphor for the true Israel, who will be vindicated when her god finally acts, “sown” again in her own land. (The usage goes back at least to Isaiah 6:13c “the holy seed is its stump”, referring to the tree of Israel, felled in the exile. Behind that, of course, are the promises to Abraham and his “seed”, reflected in, e.g., Tobit 4:12 ... compare Jubilees 1:15–18; 21:24; Psalms of Solomon 14:2f; 1 Enoch 62:8; 4 Ezra 8:41) For someone announcing the kingdom to tell a story about the seed being sown, then, would be to say: the remnant is now returning. The exile is over. Your god is at last sowing the good seed, creating his true Israel. It will not do to object that, in the parable’s interpretation, the “seed” is the “word.” That is precisely what we should expect, granted one of the central and classic prophecies of return from exile ..."
N. T. Wright, “Kingdom Refined: The Announcement,” in The Historical Jesus in Recent Research, ed. James D. G. Dunn and Scot McKnight, SBTS (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005), 207–224.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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