Mark 4:3-8

In Jerusalem exists a school of thought that believes in Lukan priority instead of Markan (they believe Luke was written first and not Mark), and they base this on several reasons. One reason they believe this is that Luke appears to be so Hebraic, and thus, closer to the original sources. I remember sitting in a class one Shabbat and the teacher used this parable as an example of Lukan priority. Luke uses different words. (For example, notice that the seed fell on a rock in Luke, not on rocky soil.)

The example I want to emphasize regards the amount the farmer reaps when the seed falls on good soil. We see in Mark that it yields 30, 60, or even a 100 times. Luke only mentions a hundred times. That's a lot of produce! In Genesis 26 we see that G-D blesses Isaac with a great crop that yields a 100-fold...in a time of drought! So when all other's are dying, Isaac's not only survives but thrives.

What is difficult about this parable is that we are provided 3 bad kinds of soil and only 1 good kind. (Dividing things in four [in regards to how people behaved] was very common in Jesus' day.) The obvious question at the end of the parable is, "What kind of soil are you?"