MARK 4:30-32 HOW SMALL IS A MUSTARD SEED?

One often-cited "error" in the Bible is the fact that Jesus called the mustard seed the smallest seed on earth in Mark 4:30-32 when in fact a particular South American orchid actually produces a smaller seed.

“With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” First, note that the black mustard seed was indeed the smallest seed that a local, Palestinian farmer might have “sowed in his field,” and the plant in Israel will typically grow to the heights of 12 feet, big enough for a bird to nest in.

1. Only Mark (not Matthew or Luke) adds the phrase “in the world” and there are textual variations in some of the manuscripts at this point.

2. The Greek word geos is used here, having the general meaning of “land” (especially tillable land), not kosmos meaning the whole world. Geos actually appears twice in this passage, and the other time it is translated as “ground.” So you could read the phrase this way: “the mustard seed which when sown upon the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground.” This understanding clearly excludes the particular orchid seed mentioned since that seed takes root in treetops, not on the ground at all.

3. The use of mustard seed in proverbs in the Middle East was common and would have been immediately understood by his audience to whom a reference to the orchid plant would have meant nothing at all.

4. There is a qualifying phrase in this verse translated more accurately elsewhere:

    “smaller than any seed in the ground at its sowing.” (NEB)

    “the smallest seed you plant in the ground (NIV)

By contrast, the orchid seed isn't sowed but is naturally distributed by the wind.