Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 13:7

"And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:" — Matthew 13:7 (ASV)

Among thorns —Literally, the thorns, so familiar to the farmer. These were not visible at the time of sowing. The ground had been cleared to a degree, but the roots were left below the surface, and their growth and that of the grain went on simultaneously, ending in the survival not of the fittest, but of the strongest. The ears shot up and did not die suddenly, as in the preceding case, but were slowly strangled until they withered away.