“The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’
Parallel translations
- WEB The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these darnel weeds come from?’
- KJV So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
- BSB The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
- NKJV So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
- NASB And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The servants notice weeds growing among the wheat and ask the master how they got there. It raises the question of why evil persists in God's good world.
Overview
In the parable of the wheat and the tares, the servants are surprised to find weeds in a field sown with good seed. Their question reflects an honest perplexity at the presence of evil mixed in among the good. Jesus uses this to teach about the coexistence of true and false within the present age, a tension that will only be resolved at the final harvest.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Rom 16:17Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them.
- 2 Cor 6:1Working together, we entreat also that you not receive the grace of God in vain,
- 2 Cor 5:18–20But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;
- 1 Cor 12:28–29God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, and various kinds of languages.
- 2 Cor 6:4but in everything commending ourselves, as servants of God, in great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,
- 1 Cor 16:10Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do.
- 1 Cor 1:11–13For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
- Eph 4:11–12He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
- Gal 3:1–3Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified?
- Jas 4:4You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
- 1 Cor 15:12–34Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
- Jas 3:15–16This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.
- 1 Cor 3:5–9Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him?
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 13:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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