Matt. xiii, 25–27, 29, 30, 36, 38, 40. It is not easy to determine
what plant or weed is here intended, as the word _zizania_ is neither
mentioned in any other part of Scripture, nor in any ancient Greek
writer. Some Greek and Latin fathers have made use of it, as have also
Suidas and Phavorinus: but it is probable that they have all derived it
from this text. As this Gospel was first written in Syriac, it is
probably a word belonging to that language. Buxtorf gives several
interpretations, but at last concludes with submitting it to the
decision of others. In a treatise in the Mishna, called “Kilayim,” which
treats expressly of different kinds of seeds, a bastard or degenerate
wheat is mentioned by the name of זונים, which the very sound, in
pronouncing, proves to be the same as the _zizanion_; and which may lead
to the true derivation of the word, that is, from the Chaldee זן, “a
kind,” or “species” of grain, namely, whence the corrupt Hebrew or
Syriac זניא, which in the ancient Syriac version answers to the Greek
ζιζονια, Matt. xiii, 25, &c. In Psalm cxliv, 13, the words מזן אל־זן,
are translated, “all manner of store;” but they properly signify “from
species to species.” Might not the Chaldee word זונין, and the Greek
word ζιζάνιον, come from the psalmist’s זנ־זן, which might have
signified a “mixture” of grain of any kind, and be here used to point
out the mixing bastard or degenerate wheat among the good seed-wheat?
Mintert says, that “it is a kind of plant, not unlike corn or wheat,
having at first the same sort of stalk, and the same viridity, but
bringing forth no fruit, at least none good:” and he adds, from John
Melchior, “ζιζάνιον does not signify every weed in general which grows
among corn, but a particular seed, known in Canaan, which was not unlike
wheat, but, being put into the ground, degenerated, and assumed another
nature and form.” Parkhurst, and Dr. Campbell, render it “the darnel,”
“_lolium temulentum_.” The same plant is called “_zizana_” by the
Spaniards; as it appears to be _zuvan_, by the Turks and Arabs. “It is
well known to the people at Aleppo,” says M. Forskal; “it grows among
corn. If the seeds remain mixed with the meal, they occasion dizziness
to those who eat of the bread. The reapers do not separate the plant;
but after the threshing, they reject the seeds by means of a van or
sieve.” Other travellers mention, that in some parts of Syria, the plant
is drawn up by the hand in the time of harvest, along with the wheat,
and is then gathered out, and bound up in separate bundles. In the
parable of the tares, our Lord states the very same circumstances. They
grew among the grain; they were not separated by the tillers, but
suffered to grow up together till the harvest; they were then gathered
from among the wheat with the hand, and bound up in bundles.
what plant or weed is here intended, as the word _zizania_ is neither
mentioned in any other part of Scripture, nor in any ancient Greek
writer. Some Greek and Latin fathers have made use of it, as have also
Suidas and Phavorinus: but it is probable that they have all derived it
from this text. As this Gospel was first written in Syriac, it is
probably a word belonging to that language. Buxtorf gives several
interpretations, but at last concludes with submitting it to the
decision of others. In a treatise in the Mishna, called “Kilayim,” which
treats expressly of different kinds of seeds, a bastard or degenerate
wheat is mentioned by the name of זונים, which the very sound, in
pronouncing, proves to be the same as the _zizanion_; and which may lead
to the true derivation of the word, that is, from the Chaldee זן, “a
kind,” or “species” of grain, namely, whence the corrupt Hebrew or
Syriac זניא, which in the ancient Syriac version answers to the Greek
ζιζονια, Matt. xiii, 25, &c. In Psalm cxliv, 13, the words מזן אל־זן,
are translated, “all manner of store;” but they properly signify “from
species to species.” Might not the Chaldee word זונין, and the Greek
word ζιζάνιον, come from the psalmist’s זנ־זן, which might have
signified a “mixture” of grain of any kind, and be here used to point
out the mixing bastard or degenerate wheat among the good seed-wheat?
Mintert says, that “it is a kind of plant, not unlike corn or wheat,
having at first the same sort of stalk, and the same viridity, but
bringing forth no fruit, at least none good:” and he adds, from John
Melchior, “ζιζάνιον does not signify every weed in general which grows
among corn, but a particular seed, known in Canaan, which was not unlike
wheat, but, being put into the ground, degenerated, and assumed another
nature and form.” Parkhurst, and Dr. Campbell, render it “the darnel,”
“_lolium temulentum_.” The same plant is called “_zizana_” by the
Spaniards; as it appears to be _zuvan_, by the Turks and Arabs. “It is
well known to the people at Aleppo,” says M. Forskal; “it grows among
corn. If the seeds remain mixed with the meal, they occasion dizziness
to those who eat of the bread. The reapers do not separate the plant;
but after the threshing, they reject the seeds by means of a van or
sieve.” Other travellers mention, that in some parts of Syria, the plant
is drawn up by the hand in the time of harvest, along with the wheat,
and is then gathered out, and bound up in separate bundles. In the
parable of the tares, our Lord states the very same circumstances. They
grew among the grain; they were not separated by the tillers, but
suffered to grow up together till the harvest; they were then gathered
from among the wheat with the hand, and bound up in bundles.