Parable of the Tares
The parable of the weeds among the wheat is a parable of Jesus, which belongs to the special property of Matthew.
Wording
" And Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a man sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away again. As the seed came up and formed the ears, the weeds also appeared. So the servants went to the landowner, saying, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from? He replied, 'An enemy has done by me. The servants said unto him, Shall we go and tear it out? He said: No, lest you tear along with the weeds and the wheat. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then, when the time of harvest is there, I will say to the workers: Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; the wheat into my barn but brings. "
Interpretation of the Gospel
"And his disciples came to him [Jesus ], saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He replied: The man who sows the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the tares are the children of the wicked; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. As will now be picked up the weeds and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world: The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all who seduces others and God have transgressed the law, and they are in the throw furnace in which the fire burns. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of their Father as the sun. He who has ears, let him hear! "
Comments
The parable is also included in the non- canonical ( apocryphal ) Gospel of Thomas (57).
For weed is in Greek ζιζάνια ( Zizania ), the plural of ζιζάνιον ( zizanion ). It is a sweet grass, namely the swash - ryegrass (Lolium temulentum ). This looks at first like wheat, but it is toxic.
The Vulgate contains Zizania as a loanword. La zizanie was then in French to the word for " discord ", " strife and contention ."
Interpretation
The kingdom of God parable ( "The kingdom of heaven is like having ...") describes the growth of God's kingdom as so that external influences can not adversely affect this powerful. Not even pests or weeds could stop his development. A " preventive " fight would rashly and not really necessary, if only to the adolescent "good " seed sake, which could take unintentionally damage. The closing formula, " then he will cry and gnash the teeth " marks a typical dish parable that aims at a situation in which the early Christian community had to deal with crises and hostilities. However, a decision is ultimately the sower, the Lord: " So judge not before the time; wait until the Lord comes, who will bring the hidden in the dark to light and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each his praise from God is obtained. " (1 Cor 4:5 EU). Good and evil are so convoluted as the roots of the weeds and wheat. At the end are the harvest of wheat and burning the weed.
Effect
In addition to the parable of the vine (John 15.6 EU), the parable of the weeds was used among the wheat in the church history of theological justification of the Inquisition. At the same time the parable other theologians such as Sebastian Castellio served as justification for tolerance against supposed heretics.