the Second Week after Easter
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Contemporary English Version
Matthew 13:29
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“‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them.
But he said, Nay: lest while yee gather vp the tares, ye root vp also the wheat with them.
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
"But he said, 'No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.
The man answered, ‘No, because when you pull up the weeds, you might also pull up the wheat.
"But he said, 'No; because as you pull out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.
But he saide, Nay, lest while yee goe about to gather the tares, yee plucke vp also with them the wheat.
"But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.
But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.
'No,' he said, 'if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them.
But he said, ‘No, because if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot some of the wheat at the same time.
But he said, No; lest [in] gathering the darnel ye should root up the wheat with it.
"He answered, ‘No, because when you pull up the weeds, you might also pull up the wheat.
But he said to them, It might happen that while you were picking out the tares, you might uproot with them also the wheat.
‘No,' he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them.
But he said, "No, lest when you gather the darnel you uproot the wheat together with it.
But he said, No, lest gathering the darnel you should uproot the wheat with them.
But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them.
But he says, No, for fear that by chance while you take up the evil plants, you may be rooting up the grain with them.
"But he said, 'No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel, you root up the wheat with them.
He said, 'No, for if you pull out the weeds, you might pull out the wheat with them.
But he said to them, (No,) lest, when ye gather the zizania, you root out with them the wheat also.
And he said to them, [fn] lest, while ye gather out the tares, ye also eradicate the wheat with them.
But he sayde, nay: lest whyle ye gather vp the tares, ye rote vp also the wheate with them.
But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them.
But he said, 'No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel, you root up the wheat with them.
But he said, No: lest gathering up the darnel, ye root up the wheat with them.
"`No,' he replied, `for fear that while collecting the darnel you should at the same time root up the wheat with it.
And he seide, Nay, lest perauenture ye in gaderynge taris drawen vp with hem the whete bi the roote.
But he says, No; lest perhaps while you gather up the tares, you root up the wheat with them.
But he said, No; lest while ye gather the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them.
But he said, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
"‘No,' he replied, ‘you'll uproot the wheat if you do.
He said, ‘No, because if you pull out the weeds, the good grain will come up also.
But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.
And, he, saith - Nay! lest, at any time, while collecting the darnel, ye uproot, along with it, the wheat:
And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it.
But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
But he sayde nay lest whill ye go aboute to wede out ye tares ye plucke vppe also wt them ye wheate by ye rottes:
`And he said, No, lest -- gathering up the darnel -- ye root up with it the wheat,
He sayde: No, lest whyle ye wede out ye tares, ye plucke vp the wheate also wt the.
no, said he, lest in pulling up the tares, you should root
"He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'"
"He told them, 'No! You might hit one of the good calves. I've seen your shootin'.
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Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 3:2 - a time to plant Mark 9:39 - Forbid
Gill's Notes on the Bible
But he said, nay,.... The answer is in the negative; and which, if spoken to angels, is to be understood, that they should not inflict punishments, or pour out, their vials, as yet, on formal professors, lest the righteous should share in them; and if to magistrates, the sense of it is, that they should not persecute with the sword, or put men to death for heretical opinions; but if to ministers of the word, which sense I choose, the meaning is, that not everyone suspected to be a tare, or a nominal professor, is to be removed from the communion of the church, because there is often danger in so doing:
lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them: not that men of openly scandalous lives are to be tolerated in churches; they are to be withdrawn from, and put away; nor men of known, avowed, heretical principles; such, after the first and second admonition, are to be rejected: yet there may be such in churches, not altogether agreeable in principle and practice, whose character and situation may be such, that there is no removing them without offending some truly gracious, useful persons, in whose affections they stand, who may be tempted, by such a step, to leave their communion; and so cannot be done without a considerable prejudice to the church. The scope of the parable, and the design of our Lord in it, are chiefly to be attended to; which are to show, that a pure and perfect church cannot be expected in the present state of things; and that saints should not be immoderately uneasy, but patiently bear such exercises, until Christ's time is come to relieve them, when the tares and chaff shall be separated from the wheat; when sinners shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous, and there shall be no more a pricking briar, nor a grieving thorn in the house of Israel.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The kingdom of heaven is likened ... - That is, the âgospel resembles.â The kingdom of heaven (see the notes at Matthew 3:2) means here the effect of the gospel by its being preached. The meaning of this parable is plain. The field represents the âworld,â in which the gospel is preached. The âgood seed,â the truths preached by Christ and his apostles.
Matthew 13:25
While men slept, his enemy came ... - That is, âin the night,â when it could be done without being seen, an enemy came and scattered bad seed on the new-plowed field, perhaps before the good seed had been harrowed in.
Satan thus sows false doctrine in darkness. In the very place where the truth is preached, and while the hearts of people are open to receive it, by false but plausible teachers he takes care to inculcate false sentiments. Often it is one of his arts, in a revival of religion, to spread secretly dangerous notions of piety. Multitudes are persuaded that they are Christians who are deceived. They are awakened, convicted, and alarmed. They take this for conversion. Or they find their burden gone; they fancy that they hear a voice; or a text of Scripture is âbroughtâ to them, saying that their sins are forgiven; or they see Christ hanging on the cross in a vision; or they dream that their sins are pardoned, and they suppose they are Christians. But they are deceived. None of these things are any conclusive evidence of piety. All these may exist, and still there be no true love to God or Christ, and no real hatred of sin and change of heart. An enemy may do it to deceive them, and to bring dishonor on religion.
Sowed tares - By âtaresâ is probably meant a degenerate kind of wheat, or the darnel-grass growing in Palestine. In its growth and form it has a strong resemblance to genuine wheat; but it either produces no grain, or that of a very inferior and hurtful kind. Probably it comes near to what we mean by âchess.â It was extremely difficult to separate it from the genuine wheat, on account of its similarity while growing.
âThe tare abounds all over the East, and is a great nuisance to the farmer. It resembles the American âcheat (chess),â but the âheadâ does not droop like cheat, nor does it branch out like oats. The grain, also, is smaller, and is arranged along the upper part of the stalk, which stands perfectly erect. The âtasteâ is bitter, and when eaten separately, or even when diffused in ordinary bread, it causes dizziness, and often acts as a violent emetic. Barn-door fowls also become dizzy from eating it. In short, it is a strong soporific poison, and must be carefully winnowed, and picked out of the wheat grain by grain, before grinding, or the flour is not healthy. Even the farmers, who in this country generally âweedâ their fields, do not attempt to separate the one from the other. They would not only mistake good grain for them, but very commonly the roots of the two are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them without plucking up both. Both, therefore, must be left to âgrow togetherâ until the time of harvest.â - (Thomson) âThe Land and the Book,â vol. ii. pp. 111, 112. Thus, âtaresâ aptly represented hypocrites in the church. Strongly resembling Christians in their experience, and, in some respects, their lives it is impossible to distinguish them from genuine Christians, nor can they be separated until it is done by the Great Searcher of hearts at the day of judgment. An enemy the devil hath done it. And nowhere has he shown profounder cunning, or done more to adulterate the purity of the gospel.
And went his way - There is something very expressive in this. He knew the soil; he knew how the seed would take root and grow. He had only to sow the seed and let it alone. So Satan knows the soil in which he sows his doctrine. He knows that in the human heart it will take deep and rapid root. It needs but little culture. Grace needs constant attendance and care. Error, and sin, and hypocrisy are the native products of the human heart, and, when left alone, start up with deadly luxuriancy.
Matthew 13:26
Then appeared the tares also - That is, then the tares were âfirst discovered.â They had grown with the wheat, but were so much like it as not to be noticed until the wheat began to ripen.
So true piety and false hopes are not known by professions, by âblades,â and leaves, and flowers, but by the fruit.
Matthew 13:29
Ye root up also the wheat - They so much resembled the true wheat that even then it would be difficult to separate them.
By gathering them, they would tread down the wheat, loosen and disturb the earth, and greatly injure the crop. In the harvest it could be done without injury.
Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together - They would not spoil the true wheat, and in time of harvest it would be easy to separate them.
Our Saviour teaches us here:
- That hypocrites and deceived persons must be expected in the church.
- That this is the work of the enemy of man. They are not the work of Christianity any more than traitors are of patriotism, or counterfeiters are of the proper effect of legislating about money. They belong to the world, and hypocrisy is only one form of sin. The Christian religion never âmadeâ a hypocrite, nor is there a hypocrite on the earth whose principles and practice it does not condemn.
- That all hope of removing them entirely would be vain.
- That an âattemptâ to remove them altogether would injure real Christianity, by causing excitements, discord, and hard feelings even among Christians.
- That Christ will himself separate them at the proper time. There is no doubt that it is the duty of the church to keep itself pure, and to cut off gross and manifest offenders, 1 Corinthians 5:4-5; but the Saviour refers here to those who may be âsuspectedâ of hypocrisy, but against whom it cannot be proved; to those who so successfully imitate Christians as to make it difficult or impossible for man to distinguish them.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 29. But he said, Nay — God judges quite otherwise than men of this mixture of good and evil in the world; he knows the good which he intends to produce from it, and how far his patience towards the wicked should extend, in order to their conversion, or the farther sanctification of the righteous. Men often persecute a true Christian, while they intend only to prosecute an impious person. "A zeal for the extirpation of heretics and wicked men," said a pious Papist, "not regulated by these words of our blessed Saviour, allows no time for the one to grow strong in goodness, or to the other to forsake their evil courses. They are of a spirit very opposite to his, who care not if they root up the wheat, provided they can but gather up the tares." The zeal which leads persons to persecute others for religious opinions is not less a seed of the devil than a bad opinion itself is.
