Texts in Conversation
In Matthew's explanation of the sower, seed on rocky ground represents people who fall away under persecution. In the Shepherd of Hermas, grass withered by the sun similarly represents double-minded believers who worship idols out of fear of hardship.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 13:21
New Testament
18 “So listen to the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing. 23 But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”
Shepherd of Hermas 98:3
Early Christian
1 “And from the fourth mountain, which had abundant vegetation—its top part green and the part near the roots withered, and some of it dried up by the sun—those who believed are like this: the double-minded, and those who have the Lord on their lips but not in their heart. 2 That is why their foundations are dry and without power, while only their words seem alive, but their works are dead. People like these are neither alive nor dead. So they are like the double-minded; for the double-minded are not green or withered; they are neither alive nor dead. 3 For just as their grass was withered when the sun’s heat struck it, so the double-minded, when they hear of hardship, serve idols out of cowardice and are ashamed of the Lord’s name. 4 Such people are neither alive nor dead. Yet these too, if they repent quickly, can live; but if they do not repent, they are already handed over to the women who will take away their life.
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Notes and References
“... Familiar images also appear in vv. 20-21. While in Jewish wisdom texts the wise person is likened to a tree that stands at the stream and has solid roots, the godless and the doubter are like a tree without roots that quickly withers. The text here uses this image and fills it out of the church’s experiences. [...] In Christian literature Herm. Sim. 9 is quite close: 9.1.6 = 78.6; 9.21 = 98 (doubters are like plants that wither in the sun [...]). ...”
* 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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