fall by the wayside

From the Parable of the Sower told by Jesus and recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, the term appearing in Matthew 13:4, Mark 4:4, and Luke 8:5. The parable is the story of a farmer who sows seed, and “some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it” (Luke 8:5). Jesus then explains: “The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside, are they that hear: then cometh the Devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved.” (Luke 8:11–12, King James Version, spelling modernized.)

The English term is derived from Ancient Greek ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν (épesen parà tḕn hodón, literally “fell beside the path”).