nd with a conjunction
which I remember nowhere else in Palestine, every feature of the great
parable. There was the undulating corn-field descending to the water's
edge. There was the trodden pathway running through the midst of it,
with no fence or hedge to prevent the seed falling here or there on
either side of it, or upon it--itself hard with the constant tramp of
horse and mule and human feet. There was the 'good' rich soil, which
distinguishes the whole of that plain and its neighborhood from the bare
hills elsewhere, descending into the lake, and which, where there is no
interruption, produces one vast mass of corn. There was the rocky ground
of the hillside protruding here and there through the corn-fields, as
elsewhere, through the grassy slopes. There were the large bushes of
thorn, the 'nabk' ... springing up, like the fruit-trees of the more
inland parts, in the very midst of the waving wheat."

3. Tares.--This term occurs nowhere within the Bible except in this
instance of the parable. Plainly any kind of weed, particularly a
poisonous sort, such as would seriously depreciate the garnered crop,
would serve the Master's purpose in the illustration. The traditional
belief commonly held is that the plant referred to in the parable is the
darnel weed, known to botanists as _Lolium temulenium_, a species of
bearded rye-grass. This plant closely resembles wheat in the early
period of growth, and exists as a pest to the farmers in Palestine
to-day; it is called by the Arabians "Zowan" or "Zawan" which name, says
Arnot, citing Thompson, "bears some resemblance to the original word in
the Greek text." The writer of the article "Tares" in Smith's Dictionary
says: "Critics and expositors are agreed that the Greek plural
_zizania_, A.V. 'tares,' of the parable (Matt 13:25) denotes the weed
called 'bearded darnel' (_Lolium temulentum_), a widely-distributed
grass, and the only species of the order that has deleterious
properties. The bearded darnel before it comes into ear is very similar
in appearance to wheat, and the roots of the two are often intertwined;
hence the command that the 'tares' should be left till the harvest, lest
while men plucked up the tares 'they should root up also the wheat with
them.' This darnel is easily distinguishable from the wheat and barley
when headed out, but when both are less developed, 'the closest scrutiny
will often fail to detect it. Even the farmers, who in this country
generally