Bible Strands
Luke 8:13
The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus explains the parable of the sower to his disciples and the surrounding crowd, continuing his systematic breakdown of the seed types after describing the path and the thorny ground.
The words — πέτρας (petras) = rock and ὅταν (hotan) = when.
The thread — The text describes temporary belief that collapses under pressure, a pattern echoed in Hosea 6:4 where loyalty vanishes like morning mist, John 5:35 where crowds welcome John only for a season, and Proverbs 12:12 which contrasts this fragility with the enduring root of the righteous.
Why it lands — It demands the reader distinguish between initial emotional response and durable commitment, requiring self-examination of whether their belief survives hardship rather than remaining rooted only in favorable conditions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Cross-references
- Hosea 6:4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.
- John 5:35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.
- Proverbs 12:12 The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.
- Ezekiel 33:32 Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice.
- 2 Peter 2:22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
- Jude 1:12 These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.
- Isaiah 58:2 For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”
- John 8:30 As Jesus spoke these things, many believed in Him.
- 1 Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
- Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.