Matthew 13:30

Matthew 13:30. Gather—the tares, and bind them in bundles— The word tares does not seem to express the meaning of the original ζιζανια : for tares, with us, are not noxious weeds, but a serviceable kind of pulse, of great use for cattle, and very easily distinguished in their growth from wheat; whereas the original expresses somewhat (and the scope of the parable demands it) which is of no service at all; fit only to be burned, and which cannot easily be distinguished from the good corn till both are grown up; and to these particulars answer either what are called the deaf ears in wheat, which cannot be discerned till the time of harvest; or rather a weed called darnel, the infelix lolium, which grows up with wheat, and unless gathered out of it before it be reaped, is very prejudicial to the corn. Dr. Johnson, indeed, in his Dictionary, says, that "tares (from teeren, Dutch, to consume) are a weed that grows among corn." The original word, as some very able Grecians tell us, is not found except in the Evangelists, and certain of the fathers; and they give it different derivations.