The Mustard Seed

 

In the preceding chapter of  Yeshua’s Kin-dom of Heaven, Chapter 8, the Mustard Seed parable was presented.  Above are pictured some seven foot tall mustard plants, which can grow up to nine feet tall in Palestine.  But as you can see it is a very spindly plant, doesn’t have great branches, is without much foliage for shade and isn’t anything close to a tree.  As an annual it doesn’t reach a size even small birds could attempt to use for nesting until after the bird nesting season is over.  And yet the parable of the Mustard Seed in all three synoptic gospels describe it as having those features.  I modified the parable because I think the synoptic versions are not true to the one Yeshua originally told.  Here is why.  The  mustard plant species are all annual weeds.  Every Galilean peasant would have known that the mustard plant was an invasive, noxious weed and would have been either amused or disturbed by the idea of sowing mustard seed in their field.  It was such a danger to cropland that there were Roman laws restricting its planting to small gardens for medicinal purposes. So, in general, no one would have been sowing mustard seeds. The parable that Yeshua told probably resembled a shorter form of Mark’s parable without any mention of the seed being sown, great branches or birds lodging under its shadow.   So originally the saying was probably describing the weed as greater in the sense of larger but also in the sense of stronger in its ability to out compete the other herbs, and his rural audience would have implicitly understood that without further explanation.  With that in mind, here is what the original saying probably was like: 

Yeshua said, “How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it?  It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it falls in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it grows up, it becomes greater than all the herbs.” 

The original message Yeshua was teaching was that the Kin-dom is like an invasive weed. It starts from small unnoticed beginnings but it grows rapidly, being stronger than the kingdoms of this world in a subversive weedy way and spreads unstoppably. It is NOT to be a Kingdom or Church of Grandeur or Greatness in the world's eyes.   Therefore, in my version I add the description of the weedy behavior to make it explicit:

[Mk4:30-32xCS] 30 He said, “How will we liken Heaven’s Kin-dom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? 31 It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, 32 yet when it falls in the soil, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and spreads throughout the field, so that it becomes impossible to rid the field of it.”

The synoptic gospel writers were obviously unfamiliar with the true nature of the mustard plant.  So they didn’t realize their embellishments to the original parable made no sense. The parable's basic form is the same in all three synoptic gospels because Matthew and Luke both use Mark as a source, but it becomes embellished a little differently as you go from Mark to Matthew and Mark to Luke. Mark adds the bits about the mustard weed having “branches” and birds lodging in its shade. Then in Matthew’s version a man is actually sowing the seed in his field and the plant becomes a tree and the birds lodge in its branches, not under it! Lastly, in Luke’s version the man doesn’t plant the seed in a field he plants it in his garden and it becomes a large tree! Here are Mark, Matthew and Luke’s versions of the parable for comparison with one another.

[Mark4:30-32] 30 He said, “How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? 31 It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, 32 yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow.” 

[Mt13:31-31] 31 He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; 32 which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.” 

[Lk13:18-19] 18 He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and put in his own garden. It grew, and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.”