{Say not ye?} (Ouch humeis legete;). It is not possible to
tell whether Jesus is alluding to a rural proverb of which
nothing is known about there being four months from seedtime to
harvest (a longer time than four months in fact) or whether he
means that it was then actually four months to harvest. In the
latter sense, since harvest began about the middle of April, it
would be December when Jesus spoke. {There are yet four months}
(eti tetram(886e)os estin). The use of eti (yet) and the fact
that the space between seedtime and harvest is longer than four
months (	etra, Aeolic for 	essara, and m(886e), month) argue
against the proverb idea. {And then cometh the harvest} (kai ho
therismos erchetai). "And the harvest (	herismos, from
	heriz(935c), rare in Greek writers) comes." The possible Iambic
verse here is purely accidental as in  5:14 . {Lift up your eyes}
(eparate tous ophthalmous hum(936e)). First aorist active
imperative of epair(935c). Deliberate looking as in  Joh 6:5  where
	heaomai also is used as here. {Fields} (ch(9372)as). Cultivated
or ploughed ground as in  Lu 21:21 . {White} (leukai). Ripened
grain like grey hair ( Mt 5:36 ). {Already unto harvest} (pros
therismon (8864)(885c)). Probably (8864)(885c) (already) goes with verse  36 .
The Samaritans could already be seen approaching and they were
the field "white for harvest." This is the meaning of Christ's
parable. If it is the spring of the year and Christ can point to
the ripened grain, the parable is all the plainer, but it is not
dependent on this detail. Recall the parable of the sower in  Mt
13 .