4:28a

All by itself the earth produces a crop: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as All by itself the earth produces a crop is literally: “The soil on its own bears fruit.” This expression indicates that the soil causes the seeds to become plants and causes them to grow. The man does not help the soil in this process.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit (Good News Bible)
-or-
The land on its own causes the seeds to become plants and mature

4:28b–c

first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within: These events describe the steps in the overall growth of the grain plant mentioned in 4:28a.

The Berean Standard Bible indicates the connection between 4:28a and 4:28b–c with the long dash (—) at the end of 4:28a. It does not make 4:28b–c a complete sentence. Other English versions begin a new sentence here. For example, the God’s Word says:

First the green blade appears, then the head, then the head full of grain.

Connect 4:28b–c to 4:28a in a way that is natural in your language.

4:28b

first the stalk: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the stalk is literally “grass.” (Since wheat plants are similar to grass, the young plants look like grass at first.) In this context, this word refers to the first thing that grows out of the ground from the seed. This is called the “shoot,” “blade,” or “stalk.”

There is no verb here in the Greek. If you translate this as a sentence, you should use a verb that refers to a young plant coming out of the ground. Here are some examples:

first it grows stalks/shoots
-or-
First the green blade appears (God’s Word)
-or-
First a leaf blade pushes through (New Living Translation)

the head: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as head refers to the beginning of the head of grain (4:28c). Use a proper expression for that meaning. Here are some examples:

the pod
-or-
the top

It may be more natural in your language to include the stalk upon which the head forms. For example:

the stalk and the head

4:28c

grain that ripens within: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as grain that ripens within refers to a fully-formed head of grain. At this point, the individual grains/kernels have grown. The wheat or grain is almost ready for harvest.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

the head full of grain (Good News Bible)
-or-
the full kernel in the head (New International Version)
-or-
mature grain in the head

There is no verb in the Greek here. If you translate this phrase as a sentence, you should include a verb similar to the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “produces” in 4:28a. For example:

and finally the grain ripens (New Living Translation)
-or-
the kernels/seeds develop/mature

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.