Charles Ellicott Commentary Mark 4:31-32

"It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof." — Mark 4:31-32 (ASV)

I. It is like a grain of mustard seed.—See Notes on Matthew 13:31-32.

Slight variations in this report are:

1. the “great branches,”
2. and the birds lodging “under the shadow” of the tree.