Was Jesus wrong about the size of mustard seeds?

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"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds." - Matthew 13: 31-32

It is a fact that a mustard seed is NOT “smaller than all other seeds.” Orchid seeds are smaller than mustard seeds.

Here are the common rebuttals:
  1. "Jesus was speaking figuratively."
    Doesn’t this seem like a cop out? He seems to be speaking pretty plainly.
  2. Jesus was speaking in the context of what the audience he preached to considered the smallest seed.
    Wouldn’t this mean Jesus is deceiving his audience? Why wouldn’t he just say a mustard seed is the smallest seed of all around here instead of simply saying the mustard seed is the smallest seed of all?
And if Jesus’s use of all is meant to be only territorial, how can we tell the difference between using all with the mustard seed and using all in the context of salvation of souls? Could “Jesus wants all men to be saved” just mean Jesus wants all men in this area to be saved? How can we differentiate?
 
Our priest mentioned this a reminded us that this is a parable, an illustration that people of the time could understand which reflects a heavenly meaning. It is not a cop out. Perhaps it was the smallest seed they were familiar with sowing in that particular region.
 
Dlee said:
Perhaps it was the smallest seed they were familiar with sowing in that particular region.
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That’s what I came here to say. If he said “The kingdom of heaven is like an orchid seed…” and they weren’t familiar with orchid seeds, then they would not have known what in the world he was talking about. In all of his parables he used examples from the daily life of that time and that place.

He wasn’t trying to deceive them and he was there when God created the world and everything in it so of course He knew what the smallest seed in the world was. But he wasn’t teaching them a botany lesson. He was teaching them that even though there were only 12 disciples and some followers, that despite the smallness of their numbers (small seeds), through Christ they would give rise to a mighty worldwide religion.
 
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That could be just a poor translation. In many languages and cultures, the superlative is not the one that is the most, but an example of one that is among the most. “You look most beautiful today.” Not that you are the most beautiful person ever, but particularly beautiful. A particularly small seed, generally speaking. And in terms of the meaning of the figure, the Church starts in a particularly small way, with the death of one person, with his resurrection and a small set of followers.
 
resolute said:
he kingdom of heaven is like an orchid seed…” and they weren’t familiar with orchid seeds,
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Couldn’t he have just said “The kingdome of Heaven is like an orchid seed. For those of you who don’t know, it is the smallest seed on the Earth.”
 
Can you tell me what is the smallest seed?
Is the largest orchid seed smaller than the smallest of the “second smallest seed in the world”?
Could one day genetic engineering could engineer an even smaller seed than the orchid seed?
Then are you saying Jesus is wrong again and he should then add “smallest seed prior to genetic engineering”
Etc etc
I could go on.

The point is
A speaker has an audience. Unfortunately a lot of context in the bible were not meant for us as an audience.

The bible was not meant to be a botanical text.
 
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Remember, he spoke in parables to the Jews so that they could understand because they were God’s chosen people. The Lord spoke to his people in the way they could interpret, there is no reason to have changed or given a lesson on what the smallest seed actually was.
 
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BenSinner said:
It is a fact that a mustard seed is NOT “smaller than all other seeds.” Orchid seeds are smaller than mustard seeds.
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It was undoubtably the smallest that the people were familiar with and sowed in fields at that point in time.
 
Are orchid seeds native to Israel? Or were Jews even aware of them at that time? If not, Jesus went with what the people were already aware of to make His point. Saying, “There’s a seed called an orchid that is the smallest of all seeds, but if you plant it, it becomes the largest of all trees…” takes away from the message He was trying to send. Jesus only cared to endow us with spiritual truths- that’s what He concerned Himself with, not agricultural lessons.
 
Mustard seeds have evolved to be bigger than orchid seeds since then.

ETA: I was kidding when I wrote. Sometimes I have an obscure sense of humor.
 
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Jesus didn’t write the Bible.

If He’s perfect, and always spoke perfectly, then the Biblical writers (or translators even) may have to take the blame.
 
BenSinner said:
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resolute:
he kingdom of heaven is like an orchid seed…” and they weren’t familiar with orchid seeds,
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Couldn’t he have just said “The kingdome of Heaven is like an orchid seed. For those of you who don’t know, it is the smallest seed on the Earth.”
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He said it was the smallest of all the seeds that they sow. Even if the knew of smaller seeds he was speaking to a process.

Why would he need to talk about exotic plants? How bizarre.
 
I was just kidding–I didn’t think it was possible so I thought would take it seriously :o
 
I was just kidding–I didn’t think it was possible so I thought would take it seriously ⭕
(Don’t know hope to post to two people at once)
 
He could have, but then the parable would have lost it’s meaning. Have you ever seen images of a mustard plant? It is very big and bushy and grows and grows and grows. It represents the growth and expansion of Christianity. Orchids do not grow in this same way, so an orchid does not lend itself toward the comparison he was making. Again, this is a parable about the smallness of the disciples and the eventual hugeness of the worldwide church.
 
Is Jesus addressing a symposium of botanists or local people?

Are these locals farmers, fishermen, and run of the mill folks or are they skilled scientists and scholars?

Did people from Jesus time employ much time in accumulating “knowledge” about things or were they preoccupied with when and what they would eat next?

Finally, were orchids grown for food or was there a great market for them when Jesus made the comparison?

The difference between both comparison (Jesus and mustard seed and you and Salvation) is that one is local by virtue of the presentation and the other if global by the premise of God’s Salvific Plan:

‘…you are no longer to be called Abram but Abraham because I am making you the father of many nations (as the stars in the heavens)…’ and ‘for God so loved the world that He Sent His Only Son so that all who Believe in Him/His Name shall be Saved…’ (both excerpts have been paraphrased)

Maran atha!

Angel
 
I’m just curious as to what is gained by nitpicking Jesus’s parables. The point is not absolute and universal botanical accuracy. The point is to teach his listeners something about the kingdom of heaven. What’s really going on in the question being asked?

-Fr ACEGC
 
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