Weeds: Jesus' Parable and Economic and Political Threats to the Poor in Roman Galilee

Matthew 13:36-43 offers an allegorical interpretation of Jesus’ Wheat and Weeds parable that emphasizes eschatological judgment of the wicked. An examination of the parable in light of its first-century Galilean economic and political context and in comparison with its Gospel of Thomas parallel suggests the allegory is a depoliticized reinterpretation of the parable’s original promise of insurrection on behalf of the oppressed.