Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Those by the wayside (oi para thn odon). As in Mark 4:15; Matthew 13:19 so here the people who hear the word = the seed are discussed by metonymy.
The devil (o diabolov). The slanderer. Here Mark 4:15 has Satan.
From their heart (apo thv kardiav autwn). Here Mark has "in them." It is the devil's business to snatch up the seed from the heart before it sprouts and takes root. Every preacher knows how successful the devil is with his auditors. Matthew 13:19 has it "sown in the heart."
That they may not believe and be saved (ina mh pisteusantev swqwsin). Peculiar to Luke. Negative purpose with aorist active participle and first aorist (ingressive) passive subjunctive. Many reasons are offered today for the failure of preachers to win souls. Here is the main one, the activity of the devil during and after the preaching of the sermon. No wonder then that the sower must have good seed and sow wisely, for even then he can only win partial success.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Luke 8:12:
Mark 4:15
Luke 8:4
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