**DARNEL** (τὰ ζιζάνια). — A weed very similar to wheat, which in the parable of Jesus related in Mt 13:20–30, 36–43 must be identified as darnel (lolium temulentum of Linnaeus). It is clearly distinguishable from wheat only when the ears develop (cf. Mt 13:26). It has a narcotic effect on the human organism, causing dizziness, due to a small fungus that nests beneath the seed’s husk.
When, as in the parable, darnel grows together with the good grain, it is difficult to uproot it without damaging the wheat. Normally, Eastern farmers wait until the grain is ripe; then, before harvesting the good wheat, they pull up the darnel and destroy it with fire.
Jesus Himself explained the parable of the darnel to the Apostles (Mt 13:36–43), specifying that the sower is “the Son of Man” (v.), the field “the world,” the good seed “the children of the kingdom,” that is, those who accept the evangelical word announcing the Kingdom of God, the darnel are “the children of the evil one,” whose father is the devil (Jn 8:44); the enemy who sowed it is “the devil,” the harvest is “the end of the world,” the reapers are “the angels” who will be sent by the Son of Man to punish the wicked with the fire of hell and to reward the just, who will shine in the heavenly kingdom.
God permits the mystery of iniquity to operate within the history of the Church (2 Thess 2:7) until the final parousia.