Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 13:3

"And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow;" — Matthew 13:3 (ASV)

A sower—This is literally the sower, the man whose form and work were so familiar to the peasants of Galilee during the planting season.

The outward framework of the parable requires us to remember the features in which Eastern agriculture differed from our own: ground that was not perfectly cleared; a road passing across the field; rock that often cropped out or lay just under a few inches of soil; and a patch of good ground that rewarded the farmer’s labor by what seemed more like a lucky chance than skillful husbandry.