{When anyone heareth} (pantos akouontos). Genitive
absolute and present participle, "while everyone is listening and
not comprehending" (m(8820)sunientos), "not putting together" or
"not grasping." Perhaps at that very moment Jesus observed a
puzzled look on some faces.

{Cometh the evil one and snatcheth away} (erchetai ho pon(8872)os
kai harpazei). The birds pick up the seeds while the sower sows.
The devil is busy with his job of snatching or seizing like a
bandit or rogue the word of the kingdom before it has time even
to sprout. How quickly after the sermon the impression is gone.
"This is he" (houtos estin). Matthew, like Mark, speaks of the
people who hear the words as the seed itself. That creates some
confusion in this condensed form of what Jesus actually said, but
the real point is clear. {The seed sown in his heart} (	o
esparmenon en t(8869) kardi(8369) autou, perfect passive participle of
speir(935c), to sow) and "the man sown by the wayside" (ho para t(886e)
hodon spareis, aorist passive participle, along the wayside) are
identified. The seed in the heart is not of itself responsible,
but the man who lets the devil snatch it away.