Parable of Tares. The Parable of the Tares is a parable of Jesus which appears in Matthew 13:24-13:30, following the Parable of the Sower, and preceding the Parable of the Mustard Seed. The parable relates how servants eager to pull up the tares were warned that in so doing they would root out the wheat as well and were told to let both grow together until the harvest. According to the interpretation supplied in Matthew 13:36-13:43, the parable's meaning is that the sons of the evil one will be separated from thesons of the kingdom at the end of the age by angels. This is usually taken to refer to the separation of the unsaved sinners from the saved believers during the Last Judgment. A shorter, greatly compressed version of the parable is found without any interpretation in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas. The parable in the Gospel of Matthew goes as follows: Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in thy field? from where did the tares come out from? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.,   Matthew 13:24-30, Holy Bible: King James Version The word translated tares in the King James Version is, plural of. This word is thought to mean darnel, a ryegrass which looks much like wheat in its early stages of growth. Roman law prohibited sowing darnel among the wheat of an enemy, suggesting that the scenario presented here is realistic. Many translations use weeds instead of tares. A similar metaphor is wheat and chaff, replacing tares by chaff, and in other places in the Bible wicked ones are likened to chaff. An eschatological interpretation is provided by Jesus in Matthew 13:36-13:43: Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.He answered them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear; Matthew 13:36-43, World English Bible Although Jesus has distinguished between people who are part of the Kingdom of Heaven and those who are not, this difference may not always be readily apparent, as the parable of the Leaven indicates. However, the final judgment will be theultimate turning-point when the period of the secret growth of God's kingdom alongside the continued activity of the evil one will be brought to an end, and the new age which was inaugurated in principle in Jesus' earthly ministry will be gloriously consummated. St. Augustine pointed out that the invisible distinction between wheat and tares also runs through the Church: O you Christians, whose lives are good, you sigh and groan as being few among many, few among very many. The winter will pass away, the summer will come; lo! The harvest will soon be here. The angels will come who can make the separation, and who cannot make mistakes. I tell you of a truth, my Beloved, even in these high seats there is both wheat, and tares, and among the laity there is wheat, and tares. Let the good tolerate the bad; let the bad change themselves, and imitate the good.