Matthew 13:8

“But others fell into good ground, etc.] Not beaten and trodden by the feet of men, nor stony, nor thorny, but well broke up, manured, and tilled; which designs good, honest hearted hearers who become so by the Spirit and grace of God; who with a spiritual understanding, experience, savour, and relish, what they hear; (see <401323>Matthew 13:23) and brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold: some seeds produced an hundred, others sixty, and others thirty. The first of these especially was a large increase, but what was sometimes had, and which Isaac received in Gerar, in the land of the Philistines, (<012612>Genesis 26:12) and is what Pliny says f780 of…”

“In parables - The word “parable” is derived from a Greek word signifying “to compare together,” and denotes a similitude taken from a natural object to illustrate a spiritual or moral subject. It is a narrative of some fictitious or real event, in order to illustrate more clearly some truth that the speaker wished to communicate. In early ages it was much used. Pagan writers, as Aesop, often employed it. In the time of Christ it was in common use. The prophets had used it, and Christ employed it often in teaching his disciples. It is not necessary to suppose that the narratives were strictly true. The main thing - “the inculcation of spiritual truth” - was gained equally, whether it was true…”

“Good ground - Soft, not like that by the highway side; deep, not like the stony ground; purged, not full of thorns. Matthew 13:11”

“good: Mat 13:23; Luk 8:15; Rom 7:18 some an: Gen 26:12; Joh 15:8; Gal 5:22, Gal 5:23; Phi 1:11 Matthew 13:9”