Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Ver. 32. Which indeed is the least of all seeds] That is, one of the least (μικροτερον), for there is as little or less than it, as poppy seed, &c. Cypress seeds are said to be so small, that they can hardly be seen asunder; and yet of them grows so great and tall a tree, Nusquam magis tota natura quam in minimis, saith Pliny. a Tremellius testifieth, that things almost incredible are related of the wonderful growth of the Jewish mustard seed. Maldonate also telleth us, "that in Spain he had seen little woods of mustard seed trees; and that the bakers therehence fetch fuel to heat their ovens, and do other offices." The word of God (a thing worth observation, saith a modern divine) is in the gospel compared to mustard seed; which (as one gathereth out of Pythagoras) of all seeds is most in ascent, taketh deepest root, and being mixed with vinegar is sovereign against serpents. Right so the word of God worketh effectually in us, begets an ascent in our affections, lays in us a sure foundation, and though it touch us sharply as vinegar, yet is a most powerful preservative against that old serpent.
a Cupressi semina adeo sunt minuta, ut quaedam oculis cerni non possint, et tamen in iis tanta est arbor, tamque procera. Plin. xi. 2.