Ezekiel 15:2-8

15:2 “Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? ¹  15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? 15:4 No! ²  It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything? 15:5 Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

15:6 “Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest which I have provided as fuel for the fire – so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem ³  as fuel. ⁴  15:7 I will set ⁵  my face against them – although they have escaped from the fire, ⁶  the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 15:8 I will make ⁷  the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 17:6

17:6 It sprouted and became a vine,

spreading low to the ground; ⁸ 

its branches turning toward him, ⁹  its roots were under itself. ¹⁰ 

So it became a vine; it produced shoots and sent out branches.

Isaiah 5:1-4

A Love Song Gone Sour

5:1 I ¹¹  will sing to my love –

a song to my lover about his vineyard. ¹² 

My love had a vineyard

on a fertile hill. ¹³ 

5:2 He built a hedge around it, ¹⁴  removed its stones,

and planted a vine.

He built a tower in the middle of it,

and constructed a winepress.

He waited for it to produce edible grapes,

but it produced sour ones instead. ¹⁵ 

5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, ¹⁶ 

people ¹⁷  of Judah,

you decide between me and my vineyard!

5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard

beyond what I have already done?

When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,

why did it produce sour ones instead?

Matthew 21:33-41

The Parable of the Tenants

21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner ¹⁸  who planted a vineyard. ¹⁹  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ²⁰  he leased it to tenant farmers ²¹  and went on a journey. 21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ²²  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ²³  21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ²⁴  killed another, and stoned another. 21:36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. 21:37 Finally he sent his son to them, ²⁵  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 ²⁶  they seized him, ²⁷  threw him out of the vineyard, ²⁸  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.”

[15:2]  ¹ tn Most modern translations take the statement as a comparison (“how is vine wood better than any forest wood?”) based on the preposition מִן (min). But a comparison should have a word as an adjective or stative verb designating a quality, i.e., a word for “good/better” is lacking. The preposition is translated above in its partitive sense.

[15:4]  ² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws one’s attention to something. Sometimes it may be translated as a verb of perception; here it is treated as a particle that fits the context (so also in v. 5, but with a different English word).

[15:6]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:6]  ⁴ tn The words “as fuel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[15:7]  ⁵ tn The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.

[15:7]  ⁶ sn This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597 b.c. (Ezek 1:2; 2 Kgs 24:10-16).

[15:8]  ⁷ tn The word translated “make” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in v. 6.

[17:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “short of stature.”

[17:6]  ⁹ tn That is, the eagle.

[17:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “him,” i.e., the eagle.

[5:1]  ¹¹ tn It is uncertain who is speaking here. Possibly the prophet, taking the role of best man, composes a love song for his friend on the occasion of his wedding. If so, יָדִיד (yadid) should be translated “my friend.” The present translation assumes that Israel is singing to the Lord. The word דוֹד (dod, “lover”) used in the second line is frequently used by the woman in the Song of Solomon to describe her lover.

[5:1]  ¹² sn Israel, viewing herself as the Lord’s lover, refers to herself as his vineyard. The metaphor has sexual connotations, for it pictures her capacity to satisfy his appetite and to produce children. See Song 8:12.

[5:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “on a horn, a son of oil.” Apparently קֶרֶן (qeren, “horn”) here refers to the horn-shaped peak of a hill (BDB 902 s.v.) or to a mountain spur, i.e., a ridge that extends laterally from a mountain (HALOT 1145 s.v. קֶרֶן; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:180). The expression “son of oil” pictures this hill as one capable of producing olive trees. Isaiah’s choice of קֶרֶן, a rare word for hill, may have been driven by paronomastic concerns, i.e., because קֶרֶן sounds like כֶּרֶם (kerem, “vineyard”).

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).

[5:3]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[21:33]  ¹⁸ tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[21:33]  ¹⁹ sn The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT (Isa 5:1-7). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24.

[21:33]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:33]  ²¹ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[21:34]  ²² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[21:34]  ²³ tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”

[21:35]  ²⁴ sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[21:37]  ²⁵ sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.

[21:39]  ²⁶ 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.

[21:39]  ²⁷ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

[21:39]  ²⁸ sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.