Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 13:38

"and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil [one];" — Matthew 13:38 (ASV)

The tares are the children of the wicked one—It was, perhaps, natural that theologians, who saw in heresy the greatest of all evils, should identify the tares with heretics. So far as heresy rises from the spirit of self-will or antagonism to righteousness, we may admit that they are included in the class, but the true definition is that given in Matthew 13:41, all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.