Sowing
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
Sowing. —For ‘sowing’ as a metaphorical expression of the activity and influence of Christ and His Apostles, see under Seed. The Gospels further contain, however, three semi-proverbial uses of the term which merit notice.
1. One is in connexion with the counsel against worldly anxiety ( Matthew 6:26 = Luke 12:24 birds neither sow nor reap), where sowing denotes one of the ordinary operations and occupations of men in order to secure a livelihood. Jesus is here quoting a familiar proverb of the ancient world, which was current in several forms ( e.g. ‘aves sine patrimonio vivunt et in diem pascuntur’).
2. In Matthew 25:24; Matthew 25:26 = Luke 19:21-22, a grasping, unscrupulous character is defined as one that reaps where it has not sown, i.e. enriches itself at the expense of other people. Several ancient parallels, both from Jewish (cf. Taylor’s Sayings of the Jewish Fathers , 1897, p. 143) and from pagan ( e.g. aelian, Var. Hist. iii. 46 and iv. 1; and Plato, Leges , xi 913 C) sources, are quoted for the second clause of the verse, which is probably to be taken as an expansion of the first.
3. Finally, two semi-proverbial (cf. e.g. Micah 6:15, Psalms 126:5-6) sayings upon sowing, in a figurative sense, are preserved in John 4:36-37. Taken as part of the story of Jesus at Sychar, the passage starts from the responsiveness of the Samaritans to the gospel (their full-grown faith being contrasted with the indifference and unbelief of Judaism upon the whole). The sight of the Samaritans streaming out of the city suggests to Jesus that a rich harvest of souls is to be reaped here, and reaped apparently without the usual delay and interval. Samaria is ripe already for the gospel. ‘Four months more, then harvest,’ may be the time in Nature; but here, in the order of the Spirit, sowing is hardly done ere reaping begins.
J. Moffatt.
Smith's Bible Dictionary [2]
Sowing. The operation of a sowing, with the hand, is one of so simple a character, as to need little description. The Egyptian paintings furnish many illustrations of the mode in which it was conducted. The sower held the vessel or basket containing the seed in his left hand, while, with his right, he scattered the seed broadcast. The "drawing out" of the seed is noticed, as the most characteristic action of the sower, in Psalms 126:6. (Authorized Version, "precious"). And Amos 9:13 in wet soils, the seed was trodden in by the feet of animals. Isaiah 32:20. The sowing season began in October and continued to the end of February, wheat being put in before, and barley after, the beginning of January. The Mosaic law prohibited the sowing of mixed seed. Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:9.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [3]
Our Lord, in his parable of the sower, says, "Some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them." Buckingham, in his Travels in Palestine, remarks, "We ascended to an elevated plain where husbandmen were sowing, and some thousands of starlings covered the ground, as the wild pigeons do in Egypt, laying a heavy contribution on the grain thrown into the furrows, which are not covered by harrowing, as in Europe." The sowing "beside all waters," mentioned by Isaiah, seems to refer to the sowing of rice, which is done on low grounds flooded, and prepared for sowing by being trodden by oxen and asses, mid-leg deep; thus, they send "forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass."
King James Dictionary [4]
Sowing, ppr. Scattering, as seed sprinkling with seed, as ground stocking with seed.
Sowing, n. The act of scattering seed for propagation.
Webster's Dictionary [5]
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Sow
