Mark 4 — Clausal Layout (Greek)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The parable of the sower 4:1–9

vv. 1–2 — the boat-pulpit: teaching in parables by the sea

Καὶ πάλιν ἤρξατο διδάσκειν παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν·independent — πάλιν resumes the seaside teaching (2:13; 3:7); ingressive ἤρξατο, Mark's favorite auxiliary

καὶ συνάγεται πρὸς αὐτὸν ὄχλος πλεῖστος,independent — historic present συνάγεται — the press builds before our eyes; elative πλεῖστος

ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς πλοῖον ἐμβάντα καθῆσθαι ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ,purpose — ὥστε + infinitive — actual result (typed pur; no result key): the boat becomes the pulpit

καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἦσαν.independent — plural ἦσαν with collective ὄχλος — construction according to sense; sea and land face each other

καὶ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς ἐν παραβολαῖς πολλά,independent — durative imperfect — the chapter's mode announced: ἐν παραβολαῖς

καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ·independent — the imperfect speech-frame that carries the whole parable which follows

vv. 3–9 — the sower: four soils, one seed

Ἀκούετε.content — the fronted summons — hearing, the chapter's leitmotif (vv. 9, 23, 24)

ἰδοὺ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων σπεῖραι.content — ἰδού + generic articular participle — the parable opens on the anonymous sower

καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ σπείρειν ὃ μὲν ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν,content — soil 1 — LXX καὶ ἐγένετο frame; the story runs coordinate inside the speech, each καί-event a line

καὶ ἦλθεν τὰ πετεινὰcontent — the snatchers arrive — Satan in the decoding (v. 15)

καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτό.content — κατεσθίω — eaten up entirely; singular verb with neuter plural subject

καὶ ἄλλο ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὸ πετρῶδεςcontent — soil 2 — thin earth over bedrock

ὅπου οὐκ εἶχεν γῆν πολλήν,relative — local ὅπου — the standing condition of the ground

καὶ εὐθὺς ἐξανέτειλενcontent — the first parable-εὐθύς — the ironic speed of shallow growth

διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν βάθος γῆς·cause — διά + articular infinitive — causal, split out where it follows its verb

καὶ ὅτε ἀνέτειλεν ὁ ἥλιοςconditional — temporal ὅτε (typed cnd; no temporal key) — one deeper than its apodosis, leaning on ἐκαυματίσθη

ἐκαυματίσθη,content — the sun exposes the rootlessness — the passives leave the agent implicit

καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ῥίζαν ἐξηράνθη.content — the preposed διά-phrase kept with its verb — ῥίζα, the key the decoding takes up (v. 17)

καὶ ἄλλο ἔπεσεν εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας,content — soil 3 — the competing weeds

καὶ ἀνέβησαν αἱ ἄκανθαιcontent — the thorns outgrow the grain

καὶ συνέπνιξαν αὐτό,content — συμπνίγω — throttled; the same verb returns in the decoding (v. 19)

καὶ καρπὸν οὐκ ἔδωκεν.content — καρπός fronted — the harvest denied, setting up v. 8

καὶ ἄλλα ἔπεσεν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν καλήν,content — soil 4 — the shift to plural ἄλλα anticipates the manifold yield

καὶ ἐδίδου καρπὸν ἀναβαίνοντα καὶ αὐξανόμενα,content — imperfect ἐδίδου — continuous bearing, against the aorists of failure

καὶ ἔφερεν ἓν τριάκοντα καὶ ἓν ἑξήκοντα καὶ ἓν ἑκατόν.content — distributive ἓν ... ἓν ... ἓν — the climactic triad, echoed verbatim at v. 20

καὶ ἔλεγεν·independent — the closing frame — the parable sealed with a summons

Ὃς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω.content — conditional relative + imperative, kept whole — the hearing-seal (cf. v. 23)

The purpose of parables and the sower explained 4:10–20

vv. 10–12 — insiders and outsiders: the mystery and the hard ἵνα

Καὶ ὅτε ἐγένετο κατὰ μόνας,conditional — temporal ὅτε (typed cnd; no temporal key) — forward-leaning on ἠρώτων

ἠρώτων αὐτὸν οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν σὺν τοῖς δώδεκα τὰς παραβολάς.independent — iterative imperfect — a circle wider than the twelve does the asking

καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς·independent — the answer-frame

Ὑμῖν τὸ μυστήριον δέδοται τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ·content — fronted ὑμῖν; perfect δέδοται — the gift stands granted (divine passive)

ἐκείνοις δὲ τοῖς ἔξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὰ πάντα γίνεται,content — οἱ ἔξω — the distancing demonstrative; to outsiders the whole comes as riddle

ἵνα βλέποντες βλέπωσι καὶ μὴ ἴδωσιν,purpose — Isa 6:9 — the hard ἵνα: telic (judicial hardening) or merely citing Isaiah's outcome; taken as genuinely telic, the crux named

καὶ ἀκούοντες ἀκούωσι καὶ μὴ συνιῶσιν,purpose — Isa 6:9 — participle + finite verb mirroring the Hebrew infinitive absolute

μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς.purpose — Isa 6:10 — μήποτε, with Mark's Targum-like ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς ('be forgiven them') for Isaiah's 'be healed'

vv. 13–20 — the sower decoded: the word and the four hearings

Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς·independent — historic present — the dialogue reopens at the turn to interpretation

Οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην,content — the mild rebuke — insiders too must have it unfolded

καὶ πῶς πάσας τὰς παραβολὰς γνώσεσθε;content — the sower as master-key to 'all the parables'

ὁ σπείρων τὸν λόγον σπείρει.content — the master-equation: seed = ὁ λόγος, the gospel proclamation

οὗτοι δέ εἰσιν οἱ παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸνcontent — hearing 1 — the hearers identified with their soil

ὅπου σπείρεται ὁ λόγος,relative — the sowing localized — gnomic present

καὶ ὅταν ἀκούσωσινconditional — indefinite temporal ὅταν (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on ἔρχεται

εὐθὺς ἔρχεται ὁ Σατανᾶςcontent — εὐθύς — the birds of v. 4 decoded as Satan; vivid present

καὶ αἴρει τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐσπαρμένον εἰς αὐτούς.content — perfect ἐσπαρμένον — the word already standing sown, yet snatched

καὶ οὗτοί εἰσιν ὁμοίως οἱ ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη σπειρόμενοι,content — hearing 2 — ὁμοίως marks the pattern; the hearers themselves are now the 'sown'

οἳ ὅταν ἀκούσωσιν τὸν λόγον εὐθὺς μετὰ χαρᾶς λαμβάνουσιν αὐτόν,relative — the ὅταν-clause kept inside its relative — joy at speed, without depth

καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ῥίζαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖςrelative — coordinate with λαμβάνουσιν inside the relative — ῥίζα, from v. 6

ἀλλὰ πρόσκαιροί εἰσιν,relative — πρόσκαιρος — creatures of the season

εἶτα γενομένης θλίψεως ἢ διωγμοῦ διὰ τὸν λόγονparticipial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on σκανδαλίζονται; the trial named for Mark's church

εὐθὺς σκανδαλίζονται.relative — εὐθύς again — as fast to stumble as to sprout

καὶ ἄλλοι εἰσὶν οἱ εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας σπειρόμενοι·content — hearing 3

οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ τὸν λόγον ἀκούσαντες,content — resumptive οὗτοι — a genuine hearing, soon smothered

καὶ αἱ μέριμναι τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἡ ἀπάτη τοῦ πλούτου καὶ αἱ περὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐπιθυμίαι εἰσπορευόμεναι συμπνίγουσιν τὸν λόγον,content — the thorns named in triple — συμπνίγουσιν, the verb of v. 7; one long clause kept whole

καὶ ἄκαρπος γίνεται.content — ἄκαρπος — the exact negation of v. 20's καρποφοροῦσιν

καὶ ἐκεῖνοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τὴν καλὴν σπαρέντες,content — hearing 4 — aorist σπαρέντες, the sowing done

οἵτινες ἀκούουσιν τὸν λόγονrelative — qualitative ὅστις — hearers of such a kind as to hear truly

καὶ παραδέχονταιrelative — παραδέχονται — a fuller welcome than the rocky soil's λαμβάνουσιν

καὶ καρποφοροῦσιν ἓν τριάκοντα καὶ ἓν ἑξήκοντα καὶ ἓν ἑκατόν.relative — the triad of v. 8 crowns the decoding — hearing that ends in harvest

The lamp and the measure 4:21–25

vv. 21–23 — the lamp: hidden only to be revealed

Καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς·independent — a fresh saying-frame in the same discourse

Μήτι ἔρχεται ὁ λύχνοςcontent — μήτι expects 'no' — and the lamp 'comes,' as the kingdom does

ἵνα ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον τεθῇ ἢ ὑπὸ τὴν κλίνην;purpose — the absurd purposes — the μόδιος, a grain-measure, set over the flame

οὐχ ἵνα ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν τεθῇ;purpose — οὐχ expects 'yes' — the lamp's proper end is disclosure

οὐ γάρ ἐστιν κρυπτὸνcause — the ground of the lamp-saying — concealment in the kingdom is provisional

ἐὰν μὴ ἵνα φανερωθῇ,purpose — ἐὰν μὴ ἵνα — exceptive folded onto purpose: hidden only in order to be revealed

οὐδὲ ἐγένετο ἀπόκρυφονcause — the parallel ground, now aorist — nothing was ever made secret for secrecy's sake

ἀλλ' ἵνα ἔλθῃ εἰς φανερόν.purpose — ἔλθῃ εἰς φανερόν — disclosure as the secret's destiny

εἴ τις ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούεινconditional — protasis inside quoted speech — one deeper than its apodosis, leaning on ἀκουέτω

ἀκουέτω.content — the refrain of v. 9, now conditional in form

vv. 24–25 — the measure: hearing measured back

Καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς·independent — the second saying-frame

Βλέπετεcontent — βλέπετε of hearing — watch what you hear

τί ἀκούετε.content — indirect question — the content of the vigilance

ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖνcontent — the incorporated relative kept whole; divine passive — God measures back

καὶ προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν.content — the surplus — the return outruns the measure

ὃς γὰρ ἔχει,conditional — conditional relative (typed cnd, like the temporals) — forward-leaning on δοθήσεται

δοθήσεται αὐτῷ·content — divine passive — increase to the receptive

καὶ ὃς οὐκ ἔχει,conditional — the dark counterpart — forward-leaning on ἀρθήσεται

καὶ ὃ ἔχει ἀρθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ.content — ascensive καί — even the little forfeited; the embedded ὃ ἔχει kept in line

The seed growing secretly 4:26–29

vv. 26–29 — only Mark: the seed grows while the sower sleeps

Καὶ ἔλεγεν·independent — the frame for the one parable found only in Mark

Οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦcontent — οὕτως ... ὡς — the kingdom set beside a story, not a thing

ὡς ἄνθρωπος βάλῃ τὸν σπόρον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆςcomparative — ὡς with a bare subjunctive — colloquially loose comparison syntax, unique to this parable

καὶ καθεύδῃcomparative — coordinate subjunctive in the ὡς-chain — the farmer's nights

καὶ ἐγείρηται νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν,comparative — the ordinary round — his non-involvement is the point

καὶ ὁ σπόρος βλαστᾷcomparative — the subject changes — the seed acts while the man does not

καὶ μηκύνηταιcomparative — μηκύνηται — the stalk's silent lengthening

ὡς οὐκ οἶδεν αὐτός.content — indirect question — emphatic αὐτός: the sower's ignorance of the process

αὐτομάτη ἡ γῆ καρποφορεῖ,content — αὐτομάτη fronted, asyndetic — the parable's keyword: growth given, not manufactured

πρῶτον χόρτον, εἶτα στάχυν, εἶτα πλήρη σῖτον ἐν τῷ στάχυϊ.phrase modifier — the ordered stages in verbless apposition — πρῶτον ... εἶτα ... εἶτα

ὅταν δὲ παραδοῖ ὁ καρπός,conditional — indefinite ὅταν (typed cnd) — παραδοῖ, the fruit 'yields itself' ripe, a rare intransitive sense; leans on ἀποστέλλει

εὐθὺς ἀποστέλλει τὸ δρέπανον,content — εὐθύς — the harvest not delayed; Joel 3:13, 'put in the sickle,' echoed

ὅτι παρέστηκεν ὁ θερισμός.cause — perfect παρέστηκεν — the harvest stands present; the eschatological in-gathering

The mustard seed and the use of parables 4:30–34

vv. 30–32 — the mustard seed: least to greatest

Καὶ ἔλεγεν·independent — the last parable-frame of the discourse

Πῶς ὁμοιώσωμεν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ,content — deliberative subjunctive — the teacher deliberates aloud with his hearers ('we')

ἢ ἐν τίνι αὐτὴν παραβολῇ θῶμεν;content — the doubled deliberative — Mark's only interrogative parable-frame

ὡς κόκκῳ σινάπεως,comparative — the answer, verbless — the dative construes with ὁμοιώσωμεν; hung here on θῶμεν, the nearer question

ὃς ὅταν σπαρῇ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,relative — the relative suspended (anacoluthon) — ὃς waits for ἀναβαίνει (v. 32); the ὅταν-clause folded in

μικρότερον ὂν πάντων τῶν σπερμάτων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,participial — concessive participle — elative comparative μικρότερον, 'smallest'

καὶ ὅταν σπαρῇ,conditional — the ὅταν resumed after the anacoluthon (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on ἀναβαίνει

ἀναβαίνειrelative — the suspended ὃς finds its verb at last

καὶ γίνεται μεῖζον πάντων τῶν λαχάνωνrelative — least of seeds, greatest of herbs — the kingdom's reversal

καὶ ποιεῖ κλάδους μεγάλους,relative — κλάδοι μεγάλοι — tree-language lavished on a garden shrub

ὥστε δύνασθαι ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν αὐτοῦ τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατασκηνοῦν.purpose — ὥστε + infinitive — result (typed pur; no result key): Dan 4:12 / Ezek 17:23, the nations sheltered

vv. 33–34 — the summary: parable outside, explanation inside

Καὶ τοιαύταις παραβολαῖς πολλαῖς ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον,independent — customary imperfect — the parable as standing method

καθὼς ἠδύναντο ἀκούειν·comparative — accommodation — the word measured to capacity (cf. v. 24)

χωρὶς δὲ παραβολῆς οὐκ ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς,independent — the rule stated negatively — to οἱ ἔξω, riddle only (v. 11)

κατ' ἰδίαν δὲ τοῖς ἰδίοις μαθηταῖς ἐπέλυεν πάντα.independent — ἐπέλυεν — he kept untying the knots; the insider gift of v. 11 enacted

The stilling of the storm — 'Who then is this?' 4:35–41

vv. 35–38 — the crossing and the squall

Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὀψίας γενομένης·independent — historic present + genitive absolute kept in-clause — the teaching day flows straight into the storm night

Διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πέραν.content — hortatory subjunctive — toward the Gentile shore

καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν ὄχλονparticipial — preposed aorist participle — leans on παραλαμβάνουσιν

παραλαμβάνουσιν αὐτὸνindependent — historic present — the disciples, for once, carry him

ὡς ἦν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ,comparative — ὡς ἦν — no going ashore; the teaching boat of v. 1 becomes the storm boat

καὶ ἄλλα πλοῖα ἦν μετ' αὐτοῦ.independent — the stray eyewitness detail — never mentioned again

καὶ γίνεται λαῖλαψ μεγάλη ἀνέμου,independent — historic present γίνεται — the first of the scene's three 'greats': storm, calm, fear

καὶ τὰ κύματα ἐπέβαλλεν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον,independent — durative imperfect — wave upon wave

ὥστε ἤδη γεμίζεσθαι τὸ πλοῖον.purpose — ὥστε + infinitive — actual result (typed pur; no result key): ἤδη, on the point of foundering

καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ἐν τῇ πρύμνῃ ἐπὶ τὸ προσκεφάλαιον καθεύδων·independent — emphatic αὐτός — the sleeping Lord against the raging sea (cf. Jonah 1:5; Ps 44:23)

καὶ ἐγείρουσιν αὐτὸνindependent — historic present — the panic breaks in

καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ·independent — historic present — the speech-frame

Διδάσκαλε, οὐ μέλει σοιcontent — the reproach — impersonal μέλει: 'is it no concern to you?'

ὅτι ἀπολλύμεθα;content — ὅτι-content — the present of imminent doom

vv. 39–41 — the rebuke, the calm, the question

καὶ διεγερθεὶςparticipial — preposed aorist participle — leans on ἐπετίμησεν

ἐπετίμησεν τῷ ἀνέμῳindependent — ἐπιτιμάω — the exorcism-verb of 1:25 turned on the storm

καὶ εἶπεν τῇ θαλάσσῃ·independent — the sea addressed as a person

Σιώπα,content — the hush-word

πεφίμωσο.content — perfect imperative — 'be and stay muzzled'; the muzzle-word of 1:25: the storm silenced as the demon was

καὶ ἐκόπασεν ὁ ἄνεμος,independent — instant obedience — κοπάζω, the wind 'grew weary'

καὶ ἐγένετο γαλήνη μεγάλη.independent — γαλήνη μεγάλη answers λαῖλαψ μεγάλη — the second 'great'

καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς·independent — the rebuke turns from sea to disciples

Τί δειλοί ἐστε;content — δειλοί — not reverent fear but faithless cowardice

οὔπω ἔχετε πίστιν;content — οὔπω — 'not yet,' after all they have seen; fear and faith in antithesis

καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον μέγαν,independent — cognate accusative — the third 'great': numinous awe, beyond the storm-fear

καὶ ἔλεγον πρὸς ἀλλήλους·independent — imperfect — the question keeps circling among them

Τίς ἄρα οὗτός ἐστινcontent — the unanswered Christological question — ἄρα draws the inference the reader must complete

ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἄνεμος καὶ ἡ θάλασσα ὑπακούει αὐτῷ;content — consecutive ὅτι — only God commands the sea (Ps 107:29; Job 38:11)

Analysis. Mark 4 turns the flush-left drumbeat of the opening chapters into a chapter of speech: the frames stand at depth 0 — the boat-pulpit of vv. 1–2, the imperfect ἔλεγεν repeated at vv. 9, 11, 21, 24, 26, 30, the historic presents λέγει (vv. 13, 35) flagged as they land — and nearly everything else hangs blue (cnt) beneath a verb of saying. The layout's chief convention, settled here for the parables, is that narrative inside speech keeps Mark's parataxis: the four soils of vv. 3–8 and their decoding in vv. 14–20 run as coordinate cnt lines at the speech's own depth, each καί-event its own line, so the sower reads as a column-within-a-column rather than a false chain; dependents inside the story then indent from there (the ὅπου-relatives, the διά-infinitives of vv. 5–6 — split out when they follow their verb, kept in line when they precede it). Temporal ὅτε/ὅταν clauses are typed cnd, tagged, and lean forward anchor-less one step above their apodoses (vv. 6, 10, 15, 29, 32), as do the conditional relatives ὃς γὰρ ἔχει / ὃς οὐκ ἔχει of v. 25 and the εἴ τις protasis of v. 23. The cruxes are taken openly: the ἵνα of v. 12 is laid out as a true purpose clause (typed pur) with the μήποτε clause ('lest they turn and it be forgiven them,' Isa 6:9–10 after the Targum) hanging one deeper — telic hardening rather than a softened 'with the result that,' though the tag names the dispute; παραδοῖ in v. 29 is glossed 'permits / yields itself ripe' with the Joel 3:13 sickle noted; and the mustard seed's real anacoluthon is shown, not smoothed — the ὃς of v. 31 stands suspended (dashed) through its folded-in ὅταν and the concessive μικρότερον ὄν, until the doubled ὅταν σπαρῇ of v. 32 leans forward and ἀναβαίνει at last gives the relative its verb. The storm scene of vv. 35–41 then reverts to Mark 1's grammar — preposed participles leaning on their mainline verbs (ἀφέντες, διεγερθείς), historic presents (παραλαμβάνουσιν, γίνεται, ἐγείρουσιν, λέγουσιν), speech one clause per line — and its tags track the triple μεγάλη (storm, calm, fear) and the return of the muzzle-word: πεφίμωσο, the perfect imperative of the φιμώθητι spoken to the demon at 1:25, so that the sea is silenced as an unclean spirit was, and the disciples' unanswered Τίς ἄρα οὗτός ἐστιν closes the chapter over Ps 107:29.