Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Matthew 13:48 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 48. 48Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Describes shore sorting of good vessels and discarded bad catch.
Read It With
- Matthew 13:47–13:50
Read Matthew 13:48 with 13:47–13:50. In isolation, this verse's contribution—describes shore sorting of good vessels and discarded bad catch—can be detached from its speaker, audience, narrative or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus compares the kingdom to a net gathering every kind, with a later shore sorting that he explains as angelic separation at the age's end.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Describes shore sorting of good vessels and discarded bad catch. This precise contribution belongs inside “The net gathers widely before final sorting” because Jesus compares the kingdom to a net gathering every kind, with a later shore sorting that he explains as angelic separation at the age's end.
What Remains True
Jesus compares the kingdom to a net gathering every kind, with a later shore sorting that he explains as angelic separation at the age's end. Matthew 13:48's proportionate contribution is this: Describes shore sorting of good vessels and discarded bad catch.
How It Can Shape Life
- Matthew 13:48 contributes this specific claim: Describes shore sorting of good vessels and discarded bad catch. Welcome widely now and refuse premature sorting, while taking moral accountability seriously and leaving final separation beyond institutional control.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Matthew 13:47–13:50 — The net gathers widely before final sortingSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Matthew 13:47–13:50, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 13:47–13:50
Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for the expressions actually discussed in this thought unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data TAGNT rows for Matthew 13:47–13:50
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Matthew with Translators' and Textual Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, historical, Jewish-background, and Synoptic notes for this unit.
Exact location: NET Bible Matthew PDF, printed pp. 1808-1867, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 13:47–13:50
Open source ↗