Luke Chapter 8 verse 9 Holy Bible
And his disciples asked him what this parable might be.
read chapter 8 in ASV
And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story.
read chapter 8 in BBE
And his disciples asked him [saying], What may this parable be?
read chapter 8 in DARBY
And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
read chapter 8 in KJV
read chapter 8 in WBT
Then his disciples asked him, "What does this parable mean?"
read chapter 8 in WEB
And his disciples were questioning him, saying, `What may this simile be?'
read chapter 8 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 9. - And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be! This is the only parable St. Luke gives as spoken by our Lord in this place. St. Matthew - who gives the additional detail that on account of the pressure of the crowd on the lake-shore it was spoken from a boat moored close to the bank - relates seven parables here in sequence. It is probable that the Master spoke some of these at least on this occasion, but St. Luke, possibly on account of its extreme solemnity, possibly because he wished to mark this parable as the first of this new kind of teaching, relates it and its interpretation only, saying nothing further respecting that day's parable-teaching. It is most probable that all these reported discourses, parables, expositions, or sermons, are simply a resume of the original words. The disciples evidently by their question - which St. Mark tells us was put to Jesus when they were alone with him - were surprised and puzzled, first at the strange change which that eventful day inaugurated in the method of their Master's teaching, and secondly, at the peculiar character of this his first great parable-lesson. It was, indeed, a sombre and depressing announcement whatever way it was looked at - sombre as a picture of the results of his own past ministry, depressing if regarded as a prophecy of their future success as teachers.