Tares (Weeds)
Plants & TreesThe weed that mimics wheat until harvest — Jesus’ picture of good and evil growing together until the end.
Tares were almost certainly darnel, a weed that looks nearly identical to young wheat and only reveals itself at harvest, when its dark, worthless (and even poisonous) grain can be told apart. Pulling it early risked uprooting the wheat along with it, since their roots intertwined.
Jesus made this the heart of a parable: a man sowed good seed, “but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.” The servants wanted to root the weeds out at once, but the owner said to let both grow together until the harvest, lest the wheat be lost.
He explained that the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom, the tares the children of the wicked one, and the harvest the end of the age, when the reapers — the angels — will separate them at last. The tares teach patience: God permits good and evil to grow side by side for now, but a final, perfect sorting is certain.