Something More than Mustard

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is coming up as the Gospel Lesson assigned for Pentecost 4 (June 21). If you have done any research on the mustard plant and compared it to Jesus’ parable, you might be more than a little confused. Mark’s version of the parable goes like this (4:30-32):

And he was saying, “How should we compare the kingdom of God? Or in what parable should we present it? It is like a grain of mustard which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on the ground. And when it is sown, it comes up and gets larger than all the vegetables. It even produces large branches, so that the birds of the air are able to nest in its shade!”

The kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is the ruling activity that God exercises through his Word, especially through the good news about his Son Jesus. The ministry of John the Baptist (Mt 3:1-6), of Jesus himself (Mk 1:14-15), and parables like the one about the sower and the seed (Mk 4:1-20) make that clear.

Here Jesus compares this ruling activity to a grain of mustard which eventually “becomes a tree” (Mt 13:32), “produces large branches” (Mk 4:32), “turned into a tree” (Lk 13:19) – a tree so large that “the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Mt), “the birds of the air are able to nest in its shade” (Mk), “the birds of the air nested in its branches” (Lk).

Yet if you look up the Greek word σίναπι (sinapi), mustard, in a good Greek lexicon, you find it defined as mustard plant. Michael Zohary in his comprehensive Plants of the Bible gives it the probable identity of Brassica nigra, black mustard. Even though “some [mustard plants] may grow to a height of three or more meters [nearly 10 feet]” (BDAG), no single mustard plant, including black mustard, turns into a tree in which we may imagine even a little sparrow preferring to nest, not to mention more than one “bird of the air” (more on that label later).

So how are we to understand Jesus’ parable?

First of all, we need to confirm that Jesus is in fact talking about the mustard plant, because there is also a mustard tree (Salvadora persica) in the Middle East, which grows to a height and width of about 20 feet and would thus fit the tree-branches-nesting-shade description.

The Hebrew and Aramaic versions of the Greek word Jesus uses word for mustard make a number of appearances in the Jewish Talmud, Tosefta, and Midrash. (For those who are interested, the words are חַרְדָּל [khardal] and חַרְדְּלָא [khardela’] respectively.) From these sources we get a nice overview of mustard’s use by the Jews in the early centuries AD.

To summarize, mustard was (and is) similar to charlock (a wild mustard, Brassica kaber), but the two were considered heterogenous (Kil’ayim 1:5). Mustard was cultivated partly as grain-crop and partly as vegetable (Tosefta, Ma‘asroth 3:7 [84]). Mustard grains were made more palatable by pickling or sweetening (Tosefta, Shabbath 8:9 [20]; Shabbath 134a; Numbers Rabbah 13:5). Ox-tongues prepared in mustard were considered a special treat (Baba Mezi‘a 86b; Hullin 133a). Moderate enjoyment of mustard (such as once a month) was thought to prevent illness (see also the postscript below), while excessive enjoyment of mustard (such as every day) was thought to weaken the heart (Berakoth 40a). The blossom buds from the mustard shrub were prepared as food for humans (Tosefta, Ma‘asroth 3:7 [84]; Ma‘asroth 4:6), while the blossoms themselves had a reputation as an undesired food for bees (Baba Bathra 2:10; 18b).

Since God had forbidden the Israelites to plant a field with different kinds of seed (Lev 19:19) and since mustard was cultivated partly as grain-crop, which were planted in the fields, and partly as vegetable, which were planted in smaller garden beds, the rabbis had to decide which category mustard belonged to for planting purposes. They decided that it was a grain-crop for planting purposes; it could not be planted with heterogeneous species of seeds in one bed. Thus it was not planted in vegetable gardens, which were allowed to have heterogenous species of vegetable seeds sown in them (Kil’ayim 3:2; Tosefta, Kil’ayim 2:8 [75]).

Finally, mustard grain was used to designate the smallest possible quantity or size, especially when referring to the amount of blood or emission needed to make a person unclean (JT Berakoth 5, 8d, 36; Berakoth 31a; Niddah 5:2).

From Jesus’ parable itself, we are able to gather that mustard grain, from the Jewish perspective, was “smaller than all the seeds on the ground” (Mk 4:31). It was sown in a field (Mt 13:31), not in a garden, which jives with the rabbinical sources above. (In Luke 13:19, κῆπον [kepon] can be translated plantation, even though it is defined only as garden by BDAG; a κῆπος [kepos] is a plot of plantable land, without reference to size.) The final result of its planting is compared, not to other trees, but to other vegetables (Mk 4:32).

Finally, it is valuable to note that the Greek word Jesus uses has been transferred to the English language to denote a genus of mustard plants (Sinapis).

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From all of this, we can say definitively that Jesus is talking about the mustard plant, though, as BDAG says, “the precise species cannot be determined.” The mustard tree simply does not fit this description. It does not have the same cultivation. It does not have the same uses. Most importantly, it does not have the same seed size.

The one detail we omitted from Jesus’ parable was the one with which we are wrestling: Jesus also describes the mustard plant as growing into a tree with large enough branches for the birds of the air to nest in them. However, from everything that has been said, Jesus must be talking about the mustard plant in the first part of the parable. If he is still describing a plant in the second part, he must have slyly switched his simile to a different plant.

There is a better conclusion.

Remember that the primary purpose of Jesus’ parable is to illustrate the kingdom of heaven, God’s ruling activity through his Word. His primary purpose is not to give a biological lecture on the mustard plant.

Also remember that Jesus introduced this parable by addressing himself with a question. (Note [6/23/15]: What follows in the rest of this paragraph is a correction from the original post.) Jesus only does this one other time before a parable, in Matthew 11:16. There he is amazed at the unbelief and stubbornness of his generation, and asks, “To what can I compare this generation?” This question is not merely a rhetorical introduction to what follows. It makes us think of when a mother asks her son, “What am I going to do with you?” There is genuine turmoil taking place in her mind. So too here we might paraphrase Jesus’ question: “You are making it difficult for me to make sense out of your attitudes and actions.”

Here Jesus does something similar before beginning his parable: “How should we compare the kingdom of God? Or in what parable should we present it?” (Mk 4:30). “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?” (Lk 13:18). And Jesus seems to be asking the rhetorical questions for a similar reason, realizing that the aspect of the kingdom of God that he wants to teach and illustrate isn’t going to have a nice parallel in nature. We might paraphrase: “The power and growth of the kingdom of God, when compared to its seemingly insignificant origins, makes it difficult for me to find a good comparison in the physical world.”

The mustard plant serves well to illustrate the kingdom’s insignificant-looking origins and a good measure of its power and growth. But the mustard plant illustration does not go far enough. The kingdom of God defies Jesus’ own illustration, and so he has to exceed the boundaries of his illustration in order to make his point.

The kingdom of God is its own unique mustard plant.

This unique mustard plant not only becomes larger than all the vegetables – like the ordinary mustard plant – but it also produces large branches – something the ordinary plant does not do – so that the birds of the air are able to nest in its shade – something birds of the air cannot do with the ordinary plant. Jesus’ parable is graphically underscoring the tremendous power and effect of God’s ruling activity through his Word.

At this point we should also note something else. The phrase “birds of the air” (Greek: τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ [ta peteina tou ouranou]; Hebrew: עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם [‘of ha-shamayim]) is often used in Scripture for unclean birds (see e.g. Dt 28:26; 1Sa 17:44; Mt 8:20, where they are paralleled with foxes, also unclean; Ac 10:12-14). Unclean birds are not only generally larger than clean birds (unclean birds include eagles, vultures, owls, ospreys, storks, herons, etc.; see Lev 11:13-19) but are also repulsive to the Jews (because they are unclean). Think of the Jewish eyebrows this parable raised, not only at the idea of such large birds nesting in a mustard plant, but at things unclean residing in the kingdom of heaven. (Think, too, how shocking the corresponding First Lesson for Pentecost 4 from Ezekiel 17 would have sounded to Jewish ears: “On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it… Birds of every kind will nest in it” [emphasis added].)

So Jesus’ parable not only underscores how great the kingdom of heaven becomes from the most insignificant beginnings, but also how that kingdom has a place for Gentiles too. Birds of every feather may flock together here.

Considering everything we have learned, we might do well to add some translation notes.

First, the NIV 2011’s “the largest of all garden plants” is poor (cf. also Matthew 13:32). That makes it sound as though the mustard plant were located alongside vegetables in Jewish gardens. But we have seen that the mustard plant had to be planted by itself in the field. Grammatically, the translation is fine, but it is inaccurate historically. The route pursued by, for example, the HCSB (“taller than all the vegetables”) and ESV (“larger than all the garden plants”) is a better one.

Secondly, perhaps we could bring out Jesus’ transition from the realism of the ordinary mustard plant to the super-realism of the kingdom of God by punctuating the Greek differently (the Greek text originally had very little punctuation at all) and using an alternate translation for the Greek word for “and”: “And when it is sown, it comes up and gets larger than all the vegetables. It even produces large branches so that the birds of the air are able to nest in its shade!” (emphasis added).

The kingdom of God is like a mustard grain, but its similarities only go so far so that it ends up being something much more than mustard. Praise God that it is! Praise God that he who rules his Church through his Word, who rules in the midst of his enemies through his Word, through that same Word is able to do and does do far more than we can ask, perceive, or understand.

Behold the extraordinary power and growth of the kingdom of God! And don’t just behold it; trust in it! Disseminate God’s Word boldly, broadly, confidently, persistently, and tirelessly. And don’t become discouraged when his Word doesn’t seem to be yielding results. It is always effective, and its effect is always greater than what it looks like on the surface.

For further reading: Isaiah 55:6-11; Ezekiel 17:1-24; Acts 2:1-47, esp. vs. 41; Galatians 3:26-29; Hebrews 4:12; Strack and Billerbeck’s Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch, p. 668-669.

Postscript: Pliny the Elder also mentions mustard prominently in two places in his Natural History. (The Latin word is sinapi, which is simply the Greek word spelled with Latin letters.) In Book 19, Chapter 54, he says that “it grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted.” Those who cultivate it sow its seeds “at the autumn equinox,” and when the seed falls on the ground it “germinates at once.” “The best seed comes from Egypt.” “[W]ith its pungent taste and fiery effect [it] is extremely beneficial for the health. … It is also used to make a relish, by being boiled down in saucepans till its sharp flavor ceases to be noticeable; also its leaves are boiled, like those of all other vegetables.” He mentions three kinds of mustard plant – napy, thlaspi, and saurion.

In Book 20, Chapter 87, he lists the many medicinal uses for mustard. Scorpion stings, stomach troubles, dropsy, lassitude, and kidney stones are just some of the ailments that it was used to treat. The combination of mustard and vinegar appears more than once.