Matthew 13:38-43

Context
13:38 The field is the world and the good seed are the people¹ of the kingdom. The weeds are the people² of the evil one, 13:39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 13:40 As³ the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers.⁴ 13:42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace,⁵ where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.⁶ The one who has ears had better listen!⁷

[13:38] ¹tn Grk “the sons of the kingdom.” This idiom refers to people who should properly be, or were traditionally regarded as, a part of God’s kingdom. L&N 11.13 translates the phrase: “people of God’s kingdom, God’s people.”

[13:38] ²tn Grk “the sons of the evil one.” See the preceding note on the phrase “people of the kingdom” earlier in this verse, which is the opposite of this phrase. See also L&N 9.4; 11.13; 11.14.

[13:40] ³tn Grk “Therefore as.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[13:41] ⁴tn Grk “the ones who practice lawlessness.”

[13:42] ⁵sn A quotation from Dan 3:6.

[13:43] ⁶sn An allusion to Dan 12:3.

[13:43] ⁷tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:9; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).