Weed (tare, darnel)
Plants and Trees in the Bible
Darnel grass grows annually throughout Palestine and reaches 30–60 centimeters (1–2 feet) high.
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In the Bible
The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used
בָּאְשָׁה ba’ashah · 1 verse
ζιζάνιον zizanion · 8 verses
What it stands for
In the Bible darnel grass is only cited as a noxious plant. However, the Assyrians used it for medicine.
More about it
speaks of enemies sowing weeds (or tares) in with the wheat seed. Although the land of the Bible does not lack noxious weeds in the fields, the best candidate for the Greek word zizanion is Darnel Grass Lolium temulentum. Evidence from Egyptian tombs and from excavations at Lachish tells us that darnel grass has been a pest for at least three millennia. It looks so much like emmer wheat that it is very difficult to distinguish the two.
The Hebrew noun ba’ashah occurs only in , but its verbal form occurs many times in the Old Testament with the meaning “to stink” like that of a rotting sore or a corpse. This noun does not actually refer to a plant; it literally means “stinking thing.” However, in it is parallel with the Hebrew word choach (“thistle”; see 6.2.1 Thistles), so it has the sense of “stinking/unpleasant weed” in this context. One lexicon takes it to refer to a particular plant called “stinkweed,” but it has a more generic sense here, referring to any stinking weeds.
Sources
Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema