The Parable of the Weeds
Matthew 13:24-30
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
Jude
Revelation
Matt.13.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Αλλην: ADJ,acc,sg,f
- παραβολην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- παρεθηκεν: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- αυτοις: PRON,dat,pl,m
- λεγων·Ωμοιωθη: PART,prs,nom,sg,m+VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- βασιλεια: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- ουρανων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- ανθρωπω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- σπειραντι: PART,prs,dat,sg,m
- καλον: ADJ,acc,sg,n
- σπερμα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- εν: PREP
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- αγρω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,3,m
Parallels
- Matthew 13:25-30 (structural): Immediate continuation of the same parable (the wheat and the tares), giving the narrative development and early response of the servants to the mixed crop.
- Matthew 13:36-43 (verbal): Jesus' later explanation of the parable: identifies the sower as the Son of Man, explains the tares as the sons of the evil one, and interprets the harvest imagery—ties directly to the meaning of 'man sowing good seed.'
- Luke 8:4-8 (thematic): The Sower parable parallels the motif of a sower scattering seed to illustrate how the kingdom is received and grows—both use agricultural sowing imagery to describe the kingdom of God/heaven.
- Mark 4:26-29 (thematic): The Parable of the Growing Seed likewise compares the kingdom to seed sown in the ground, emphasizing hidden growth after sowing and thus resonating with the agricultural metaphor of Matthew 13:24.
Alternative generated candidates
- The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
- He put before them another parable, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.'
Matt.13.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εν: PREP
- δε: CONJ
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- καθευδειν: VERB,pres,act,inf
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- ανθρωπους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- ηλθεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,3,m
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- εχθρος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- επεσπειρεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- ζιζανια: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- ανα: PREP
- μεσον: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- σιτου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- απηλθεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- Matthew 13:36-43 (structural): Jesus' private explanation of the parable: identifies the enemy who sowed the tares (v.25) as the devil, and explains the wheat/tares imagery and final harvest (end of age). Directly parallels and interprets v.25.
- Matthew 13:28-30 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: the servants ask about the tares and the master’s pragmatic reply to let both grow until the harvest — directly connected to the action of the enemy sowing tares.
- Mark 4:1-9 (thematic): Mark’s Sower parable parallels Matthew’s agricultural imagery and teaching context (sowing, seed, soil) though Mark does not include the enemy-sowing-tares motif; similar instructive setting and use of farming metaphor.
- Luke 8:4-8 (thematic): Luke’s version of the Sower parable parallels Matthew’s use of seed-and-soil imagery and Jesus’ method of parabolic teaching; thematically related despite differences in details (Luke lacks the tares episode).
- Galatians 6:7-8 (thematic): Paul’s ‘sowing and reaping’ moral/eschatological imagery echoes the agricultural metaphor of consequences and harvest found in Matthew 13 (sowing leading to a future harvest/judgment).
Alternative generated candidates
- But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.
- But while people slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.
Matt.13.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- οτε: CONJ
- δε: CONJ
- εβλαστησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- χορτος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- καρπον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- εποιησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- τοτε: ADV
- εφανη: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- τα: ART,nom,pl,neut
- ζιζανια: NOUN,nom,pl,n
Parallels
- Matthew 13:24-30 (structural): The immediate context of the parable — the sowing of tares among the wheat — which introduces the situation of tares appearing among the growing crop.
- Matthew 13:36-43 (structural): Jesus' later explanation of the parable — identifies the wheat and tares, and describes the harvest and separation that follow the crop's maturation.
- Matthew 13:30 (verbal): Contains the instruction to 'let both grow together until the harvest,' directly linked to the timing implicit in 13:26 when both crop and tares have appeared and borne fruit.
- Galatians 6:7-9 (thematic): Uses agricultural sowing-and-reaping imagery to teach moral and eschatological consequences, echoing the broader harvest motif of growth and eventual judgment.
- John 4:35-36 (thematic): Employs harvest language (reaping where others have sown) to speak of readiness and the culminating harvest, resonating with the parable's focus on crop maturation and final gathering.
Alternative generated candidates
- When the plants sprang up and bore grain, then the tares appeared also.
- When the blade sprang up and produced grain, then the tares appeared also.
Matt.13.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- προσελθοντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- δουλοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- οικοδεσποτου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ειπον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- αυτω·Κυριε: PRON,dat,sg,m+NOUN,voc,sg,m
- ουχι: PART
- καλον: ADJ,nom,sg,n
- σπερμα: NOUN,nom,sg,n
- εσπειρας: VERB,aor,act,ind,2,sg
- εν: PREP
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- σω: ADJ,dat,sg,m
- αγρω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- ποθεν: ADV
- ουν: CONJ
- εχει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ζιζανια: NOUN,acc,pl,n
Parallels
- Matthew 13:28 (verbal): Immediate continuation of the same parable—the owner answers the servants' question, attributing the unwanted plants to an enemy.
- Matthew 13:36-39 (structural): Jesus' later explanation of the parable: identifies the field as the world, the good seed as the sons of the kingdom, the weeds as the sons of the evil one, and the sower of weeds as the devil—directly answers the servants' dilemma.
- Luke 8:11-15 (thematic): Parable of the Sower and its interpretation: uses sowing imagery and concern about the fate and quality of seed—background motif for Matthew's sowing/weeds story.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The vineyard song: God as owner who plants and expects a good crop but finds wild grapes—similar cultivated-field imagery and the theme of disappointed expectation and judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- So the owner's servants came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then do these tares come from?'
- And the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did these tares come from?'
Matt.13.28 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- εφη: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτοις·Εχθρος: PRON,dat,pl,m+NOUN,nom,sg,m
- ανθρωπος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- τουτο: PRON,acc,sg,n
- εποιησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- δουλοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- λεγουσιν·Θελεις: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl+VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- ουν: CONJ
- απελθοντες: VERB,aor,act,ptc,nom,pl,m
- συλλεξωμεν: VERB,aor,act,sub,1,pl
- αυτα: PRON,acc,pl,n
Parallels
- Matthew 13:27 (verbal): The immediate preceding verse records the servants' question about the origin of the tares—sets up their suggestion in 13:28 to gather them, showing the same exchange.
- Matthew 13:30 (structural): The owner's reply to let both grow until the harvest contrasts with the servants' proposal in 13:28; it completes the parable's resolution about timing of judgment and action.
- Matthew 13:39 (verbal): In the later explanation of the parable Jesus identifies the 'enemy' who sowed the tares as the devil, directly explicating the 'enemy' mentioned in 13:28.
- Matthew 13:36-43 (structural): The private interpretation of the parable repeats and expands key elements of 13:28—the enemy sowing, the coexistence of wheat and tares, and the final harvest/judgment—providing the parable's theological meaning.
Alternative generated candidates
- He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' And the servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'
- He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' And the servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'
Matt.13.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- φησιν·Ου: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- μηποτε: PART
- συλλεγοντες: PTCP,pres,act,nom,pl,m
- τα: ART,nom,pl,neut
- ζιζανια: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- εκριζωσητε: VERB,aor,act,subj,2,pl
- αμα: ADV
- αυτοις: PRON,dat,pl,m
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- σιτον·: NOUN,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 13:30 (structural): Immediate continuation of the parable: the servants are told to let both grow until the harvest to avoid uprooting the wheat — direct narrative parallel and resolution of verse 29.
- Matthew 13:40-43 (structural): Jesus' interpretation of the tares parable: explains that at the end of the age angels will gather the wicked and separate them from the righteous, echoing the harvest/separation imagery of 13:29.
- Matthew 13:47-50 (thematic): Parable of the net (dragnet) uses the same end‑time separation motif—sorting good from bad—paralleling the concern in 13:29 about preserving the wheat until separation at harvest.
- Matthew 25:31-46 (thematic): Parable of the sheep and goats portrays final judgment as a separation of righteous and wicked, thematically linked to the restraint in 13:29 until the appointed judgment.
- Joel 3:13 (allusion): Old Testament harvest/judgment imagery ('Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe') resonates with the harvest motif in 13:29 and the timing of decisive separation.
Alternative generated candidates
- But he said, 'No; lest while you gather up the tares you root up the wheat along with them.'
- But he said, 'No; lest while you gather up the tares you root up the wheat with them.'
Matt.13.30 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- αφετε: VERB,pres,act,imp,2,pl
- συναυξανεσθαι: VERB,pres,mid/pass,inf
- αμφοτερα: ADJ,acc,pl,n
- μεχρι: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θερισμου·και: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- καιρω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θερισμου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ερω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- τοις: ART,dat,pl,m
- θερισταις·Συλλεξατε: NOUN,dat,pl,m
- πρωτον: ADV
- τα: ART,nom,pl,neut
- ζιζανια: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- και: CONJ
- δησατε: VERB,aor,act,imp,2,pl
- αυτα: PRON,acc,pl,n
- εις: PREP
- δεσμας: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- προς: PREP
- το: ART,nom,sg,n
- κατακαυσαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- αυτα: PRON,acc,pl,n
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- σιτον: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- συναγαγετε: VERB,aor,act,imp,2,pl
- εις: PREP
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- αποθηκην: NOUN,acc,sg,fem
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
Parallels
- Matthew 13:36-43 (structural): Jesus' own explanation of the parable: the harvest is the end of the age, angels are the reapers, the weeds (tares) are bound to be burned and the righteous gathered into the kingdom (barn).
- Matthew 3:12 (verbal): John the Baptist uses nearly identical imagery—winnowing, gathering the wheat into the barn and burning the chaff—linking harvest language to final judgment and purification.
- Matthew 13:47-50 (thematic): Parable of the dragnet echoes the same theme of eschatological separation: good are kept, the wicked are gathered and thrown away into the fiery furnace.
- Revelation 20:14-15 (thematic): Final judgment imagery: death and Hades thrown into the lake of fire and the wicked judged—parallels the outcome for the tares (being bound and burned) as eschatological condemnation.
Alternative generated candidates
- Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I will tell the reapers: 'First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'
- Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "Gather first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."'
He set before them another parable, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.' But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.
When the plants sprang up and bore grain, then the tares appeared also.
The owner's servants came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did these tares come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No; lest while you gather up the tares you root up the wheat with them.'
'Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the reapers, "First collect the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'