Text -- Matthew 21:37-46 (NET)

21:37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 21:39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.” 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 21:44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” 21:45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 21:46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds regarded him as a prophet.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mat 21:37

¹ sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.

NET Notes: Mat 21:39

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son in v. 38.

² tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

³ sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.

NET Notes: Mat 21:42

¹ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.

² sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

NET Notes: Mat 21:43

¹ tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).

NET Notes: Mat 21:44

¹ tc A few witnesses, especially of the Western text (D 33 it sy^s Or Eus^syr), do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in א B C L W Z (Θ) 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy^c,p,h co and should be included as authentic.

tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

sn This proverb basically means that the stone crushes, without regard to whether it falls on someone or someone falls on it. On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.

NET Notes: Mat 21:45

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

² sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

NET Notes: Mat 21:46

¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowds) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Both previous occurrences of “they” in this verse refer to the chief priests and the Pharisees.