“‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.
Parallel translations
- WEB “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’
- KJV He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
- BSB ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
- NKJV He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
- NASB And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’
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 master explains that an enemy sowed the weeds, and the servants offer to pull them out. Evil has a real source, yet our impulse to root it out immediately must be tempered by God's wisdom.
Overview
The householder identifies the cause of the weeds as the deliberate work of an enemy, not a flaw in his seed. The eager servants want to remove the weeds at once. Their well-meaning zeal anticipates Jesus' caution that premature judgment can do more harm than good, since God alone rightly discerns and separates.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Cor 5:3–7For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing.
- 1 Th 5:14We exhort you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient toward all.
- Luke 9:49–54John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he doesn’t follow with us.”
- 2 Cor 2:6–11This punishment which was inflicted by the many is sufficient for such a one;
- Jude 1:22–23On some have compassion, making a distinction,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 13:28 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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