(a) 1 On that day went Jesus out of the house [It is possible that Matthew here refers to the house mentioned at Mr 3:19. If so, the events in Sections XLVIII.-LVI. all occurred on the same day. There are several indications in the gospel narratives that this is so], and sat by the sea side.   (b) 1 And again he began again to teach by the sea side. [By the Sea of Galilee.] And there is {(a) were} (b) gathered unto him a very great multitude, {(a) great multitudes,} (b) so that he entered into a boat, and sat in the sea [that the multitudes might be better able to see and hear him]; and all the multitude (a) stood on the beach. (b) were by the sea on the land.   (c) 4 And when a great multitude came together, and they of every city resorted unto him, he spake by a parable:   (a) 3 And he spake to them many things   (b) 2 And he taught them many things in parables, and said unto them in his teaching, {(a) saying,}   (b) 3 Hearken [While Jesus had used parables [328] before, this appears to have been the first occasion when he strung them together so as to form a discourse. "Parable" comes from the Greek paraballo, which means, "I place beside" in order to compare. It is the placing of a narrative describing an ordinary event in natural life beside an implied spiritual narrative for the purpose of illustrating the spiritual.]

[TFG 328-329]