13-5-6 “And others fell on the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun was risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.”
Other of the seed would fall on places where there was very little soil because of the rocky formations beneath the ground, formations which were impervious to the plough. Thus it remained very close to the surface and there was nowhere for it to spread its roots. It would spring up quickly and then gradually shrivel up in the sun and ‘wither away' because it had no depth of earth in which its roots could establish themselves.
Such rootless plants are in mind in Isaiah 40:24, ‘yes they have not been planted, yes they have not been sown, yes their stock has not taken root in the earth, moreover He blows on them and they wither, --', and in Hosea 9:16. ‘Ephraim (Israel) is smitten, her root is dried up, they will bear no fruit' even though it is mainly offspring that are in mind in both cases.