Mark 4:5

5 Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots,

Mark 4:5 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 4:5

And some fell on stony ground
The word was preached to some persons who had hearts of stone, and which remained so:

where it had not much earth;
and so could be received only in a notional and superficial way, but could take no place, so as to produce any good effect:

and immediately it sprung up;
a sudden and hasty profession of the word was made, without a powerful experience of it:

because it had no depth of earth;
if it had, it would have been longer in coming up; more work would have been done by it, which would have required more time, before a profession of it had been made.

Mark 4:5 In-Context

3 "Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed.
4 As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it.
5 Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots,
6 so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly.
7 Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.