Bible Dictionaries
Sower

Holman Bible Dictionary

A person who held a vessel filled with seed in the left hand and scattered the seed with a practiced motion with the right hand. The seed was usually scattered on untilled ground. Then with a plow or harrow, the ground would be scratched or turned to cover the seed. It seems that any seed to be sowed had to be ceremonially clean (Leviticus 11:37 ). Mixed seed could not be sowed together (Leviticus 19:19 ). Purity reached into the far corners of Hebrew life. Jesus used the sower for a parable about life and illustrated the everyday hardships farmers faced (Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:3-9; Luke 8:4-8 ). See Agriculture; Plow .