Mark 4:32

But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples while teaching in parables, continuing his explanation of the mustard seed introduced in the preceding verse. He describes the plant's developmental stage immediately following sowing.

The words — ἀναβαίνει (anabainei) literally means "it grows up," and μεῖζον πάντων (meizon pantōn) translates as "greater than all." These terms explicitly track the plant's rapid vertical expansion and comparative size after planting.

The thread — The text's image of a cultivated plant producing great branches for nesting birds parallels the large trees in Daniel 4:10, Daniel 4:20, and Ezekiel 31:3. These references consistently associate expansive arboreal growth with widespread provision or territorial reach.

Why it lands — The passage states that the kingdom will visibly exceed all agricultural expectations and accommodate many. It requires the reader to accept that disproportionate, observable growth follows small, planted origins.

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

But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

Cross-references

Daniel 4:20 The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,
Daniel 4:10 In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.
Ezekiel 31:3 Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.
Psalms 80:9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
Psalms 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Song of Solomon 2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
Isaiah 11:9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.
Isaiah 32:2 Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.
Lamentations 4:20 The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
Proverbs 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.