page_title: The Parable of the Weeds
section_title: Depictions
hierarchical_section_title: The Parable of the Weeds / Depictions
caption_attribution_description: English: In this parable from the Gospel of Matthew, the devil, identified by his horns and tail, sows weeds (or tares) in the field where wheat has been planted, while the lazy peasants are sleeping. Christians considered sloth one of the Seven Deadly Sins to which mankind was subject as a result of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, to whom the two naked sleepers allude. The dovecote (a birdhouse to attract doves or pigeons that can be trapped for food without the bother of raising them) was associated with the morally lazy who take the easy way. The goat, known for its lust, alludes to self-indulgence, and the peacock, to pride. Bloemaert was gifted in depicting natural detail, but he never painted pure landscapes, preferring pictures with a lesson. He was one of the leading artists of Utrecht and trained many major artists of the next generation. Deutsch: Darstellung einer Parabel aus dem Matthäusevangelium von Abraham Bloemaert. Der Teufel, hier bezeichnet durch Hörner und Schwanz, bringt Unkraut auf das Feld schlafender Bauern aus. Die nackte Form der Bauern verweist auf Adam und Eva, welche der Menschheit die Ursünde der Trägheit, eine Todsünde im christlichen Glauben, vererbten. Auch der Taubenschlag (ein Vogelhaus, das der Taubenjagd zum Verzehr dient) wurde moralisch mit faulen Menschen in Verbindung gebracht. Ziegenbock und Pfau verweisen auf Genusssucht und Stolz.
context_page_description: The Parable of the Weeds is a parable of Jesus which appears in Matthew 13:24-43. The parable relates how servants eager to pull up weeds 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. Later in Matthew, the weeds are identified with "the children of the evil one", the wheat with "the children of the Kingdom", and the harvest with "the end of the age". A shorter, compressed version of the parable is found without any interpretation in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas.
context_section_description: This parable has been depicted by several artists, including William Blake, Abraham Bloemaert, Albin Egger-Lienz, Domenico Fetti, Jan Luyken, John Everett Millais, Félicien Rops, James Tissot, Roger Wagner (artist).
  Henry Alford used the parable as the primary basis for his harvest hymn "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come".
caption: Parable of the Wheat and the Tares by Abraham Bloemaert (1624)
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