Introduction
The Gospel of Matthew is the second longest of the four canonical gospels, traditionally placed first in the NT canon and hence referred to as “the first gospel” . It highlights the Jewish origin and identity of Jesus, and his first followers more than any other piece of early Christian literature.
1. Ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐξελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῆς οἰκίας ἐκάθητο παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν:
The opening phrase on that day closely connects the chapter with Matthew 12:15-50. The naming of Jesus recalls his mission (1:21). The narrative continues without a temporal interruption. The house that Jesus leaves has not been previously mentioned; only in retrospect does the reader notice that the previous story obviously took place in a house. Jesus sits down by the lake of Gennesaret that thus far in Matthew has played a role as the place where the disciples were called(4:18) and where the community of disciples had its first experiences with Jesus.(8:24-27).
1. καὶ συνήχθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὄχλοι πολλοί, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς πλοῖον ἐμβάντακαθῆσθαι, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ἐπὶ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν εἱστήκει
Once again large crowds gather with him. In the course of the Matthean story they are, of course, Jews. here
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καὶ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς πολλὰ ἐν παραβολαῖς λέγων, Ἰδοὺ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦσπείρειν.
Avoiding mark’s verb “taught” (ἐλάλησεν), as well as the noun “teaching”, as perhaps being less appropriate for parables than for the interpretation of the law, Matthew writes that Jesus “told” many things to the crowds in parables. Matthew uses the word for the first ime here in introducing the so-called parable discourse, where the word occurs repeatedly.the deeper meaning of this parable, which initially may or may not have been clear, was explained to the disciples in vv 18-23. The full exposition of the parable will be given when we examine those verses; here we merely make clear the text as it stands.
3. καὶ ἐν τῷ σπείρειν αὐτὸν ἃ μὲν ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν, καὶ ἐλθόντα τὰ πετεινὰκατέφαγεν