13:29a

Verse 13:29 is the owner’s refusal to allow the servants to pull out the weeds. Some English versions introduce this refusal with the conjunction “But.” Other English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, do not have a conjunction here. In some languages, it will not be necessary to have a conjunction here either.

if you pull the weeds now: The Greek phrase the Berean Standard Bible translates as if you pull the weeds now is more literally “lest, gathering the weeds,….” The word “lest” expresses negative purpose: It means “in order not to.” (This same word occurs in 13:15d.) The owner told the servant not to pull out the weeds so that they would not also pull out the wheat.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

No, ⌊do not do that,⌋ so that you don’t also
-or-
No, ⌊do not pull them out,⌋ because you might also
-or-
No. If you pull out the weeds, you may (God’s Word)

13:29b

you might uproot the wheat with them: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as uproot means to pull out a plant along with its roots. The roots of the weeds and the roots of the wheat were growing together in the ground. So if the servants pulled out the weeds and their roots, they might also cause the roots of the wheat to come out, and the wheat plants would die.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

you may uproot the wheat with them (NET Bible)
-or-
you might also pull up the wheat (New Century Version)

-or-

you might ⌊accidentally⌋ uproot the wheat with them

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