What Does Mark 4:18 Mean in the King James?
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word reaches their hearing even as thorns crowd the ground where it is sown.
THE MEANING
You can hear the word while other growth occupies the same inner ground. The verse places genuine hearing in a crowded field: the word reaches you, while the conditions around it press against its growth. Hearing is present here; fruit is not yet described.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a crowded inner life means the word never reached you: it is heard, even there.
THE ROOT
ἀκούουσιν
akouousin
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
to hear or listen; to attend to what is heard
“hear” in this verse is akouousin. The Greek hearing-family includes words for both hearing and response. Here the word has reached the hearers, while the thorn-crowded setting leaves open what that hearing will become.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: hearing; a report or message heard
ἀκοή
This branch can name both the act of hearing and what reaches the ear, underscoring that the word has genuinely come to the hearers.
hypakoē: obedience; responsive listening
ὑπακοή
This branch shows how hearing can extend into response, a further movement not stated by the verb in this verse.
parakoē: disobedience; failure to heed
παρακοή
This branch names hearing left unanswered, keeping distinct the arrival of the word and what follows from it.
THE PATTERN
A heard word meets surrounding conditions that shape whether it reaches fruit.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.THE THREAD
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.Both verses use the same Greek verb, ἀκούω (akouō), meaning “hear.” In both, the word is heard; Mark 4:20 then names receiving and fruit, opening the difference between hearing the word and what grows from it.
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