Luke 8:6

And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Upon a rock.—Better, upon the rock. Note here also the use of a more accurate word than the “stony (or rocky) ground” of the other two reports, and the statement that it withered “because it lacked moisture.” This is obviously not without its force in the spiritual interpretation of the parable, the “moisture” being the dew and rain of God’s grace, without which the seed could not put forth its roots. This represents one aspect of what was lacking, as the having “no depth of earth “represents another.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the parable of the sower explained in the notes at Matthew 13:1-23.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Lu 8:4-18. Parable of the Sower.

(See on [1596]Mr 4:3-9, [1597]Mr 4:14-20.)

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 8:4"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And some fell upon a rock,.... Which the other evangelists call "stony places", and "stony ground"; by which are meant such hearers whose hearts are, hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and continue so notwithstanding the preaching of the word unto them.

And as soon as it sprung up; as it did immediately, as the other evangelists say; and that for this reason, which they give, "because it had no depth of earth"; only a small crust, or shell of earth over the rock; and signifies, that these hearers had only a superficial knowledge of the word, and hastily made a profession of it, which soon came to nothing:

it withered away, because it lacked moisture; the other evangelists say, "when the sun was up, it was scorched"; meaning tribulation and persecution, the grace of God being wanting to support under fiery trials: the reason given in Matthew and Mark why it withered, is,

because it had no root; and so read the Persic and Ethiopic versions here.

Geneva Study Bible

And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 8:6. φυὲν, 2nd aorist participle, neuter, from ἐφύην (Alex. form), the Attic 2nd aorist being ἔφυν.—ἰκμάδα (ἰκμάς), moisture, here only in N. T.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. upon a rock) St Matthew and St Mark say “upon stony places,” and add its speedy growth, and its withering after sunrise from want of root; St Luke dwells rather on the lack of moisture than on the lack of soil.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - And some fell upon a rock. The picture here is not of a soil full of stones, but of a rocky portion of the corn-land where the rock is only covered with a thin layer of earth. Luke 8:6

Vincent's Word Studies

The rock (τὴν πέτραν)

Matthew has the rocky place, and Mark the rocky ground.

Sprung up (φυὲν)

Lit., having sprung up. Rev., better, grew. Sprung up is Matthew's ὲξανέτειλεν. Only here and Hebrews 7:15, where it is a quotation from the Septuagint. See on Matthew 13:7.

Moisture (ἱκμάδα)

Only here in New Testament. Matthew and Mark have depth of earth. The word is the medical expression for juices of the body, of plants, and of the earth. Aristophanes, metaphorically, the juice of thought ("Clouds," 233). Hippocrates uses this and the preceding word together, comparing the juices of the body with those of the earth.