J. A. Alexander on the increase yield of the good ground seed in Mark 4:8, 20

 

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Interesting comments by J. A. Alexander in his 1864 Mark Commentary on the increase yield of the seed that falls on the good ground as “some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred” (Mark 4:8, 20).

Interestingly enough, in his comments on Mark 4:8 Alexander suggests that gains at this proportion are “moderate and modest” if not low: “The productiveness ascribed to the nutritious gains in this place is by no means unexampled either in ancient or modern times. It is indeed a moderate and modest estimate compared with some recorded by Herodotus, in which the rate of increase was double or quadruple even the highest of the three here mentioned, and the recent harvest in our western states affords examples of increase greater still.” Later in his comments on Mark 4:20 Alexander’s focus is not on the measure of the yield, but the “proportional diversity” of the rate. The notes in the MacArthur Study Bible on Mark 4:8, however, offer a different evaluation: “An average ration of harvested grain to what had been sown was 8 to 1, with a 10 to 1 ratio considered exceptional. The yield Jesus refers to are like an unbelievable harvest.” When Grok is asked if a 100 to 1 ratio is good for wheat, it says: “Yes. 1:100 is high for wheat. The standard seed-multiplication ratio used by seed-certification agencies for wheat is 1:20. That is the figure expected in ordinary commercial production. You can get ratios closer to 1:80–1:100 (occasionally even higher) only in special seed-increase plots that are planted at a much lower seeding rate than a farmer would use for grain. Those plots sacrifice yield per hectare in order to stretch a small quantity of expensive nucleus or foundation seed as far as possible. In a normal wheat field grown for grain, 1:100 would be an unusually high return.” In context with the parable of the mustard seed in Mark 4:31-32, in which the mustard seed “less than all the seeds” produces a plant “greater than all herbs,” it would seem best to think the yield of the seed on the good ground would be high rather than moderate of modest. So, was Alexander just wrong here? Can his view be justified? What was he thinking? If the harvest was "moderate and modest," what is the spiritual point about the good ground yield?

JTR