Mark 12:1-22

The Parable of the Tenants

12:1 Then ¹  he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. ²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ³  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁴  and went on a journey. 12:2 At harvest time he sent a slave ⁵  to the tenants to collect from them ⁶  his portion of the crop. ⁷  12:3 But ⁸  those tenants ⁹  seized his slave, ¹⁰  beat him, ¹¹  and sent him away empty-handed. ¹²  12:4 So ¹³  he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously. 12:5 He sent another, and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed. 12:6 He had one left, his one dear son. ¹⁴  Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 12:7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ 12:8 So ¹⁵  they seized him, ¹⁶  killed him, and threw his body ¹⁷  out of the vineyard. ¹⁸  12:9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy ¹⁹  those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ²⁰  12:10 Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ²¹ 

12:11 This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” ²² 

12:12 Now ²³  they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So ²⁴  they left him and went away. ²⁵ 

Paying Taxes to Caesar

12:13 Then ²⁶  they sent some of the Pharisees ²⁷  and Herodians ²⁸  to trap him with his own words. ²⁹  12:14 When they came they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and do not court anyone’s favor, because you show no partiality ³⁰  but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ³¹  Is it right ³²  to pay taxes ³³  to Caesar ³⁴  or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” 12:15 But he saw through their hypocrisy and said ³⁵  to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius ³⁶  and let me look at it.” 12:16 So ³⁷  they brought one, and he said to them, “Whose image ³⁸  is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, ³⁹  “Caesar’s.” 12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ⁴⁰  And they were utterly amazed at him.

Marriage and the Resurrection

12:18 Sadducees ⁴¹  (who say there is no resurrection) ⁴²  also came to him and asked him, ⁴³  12:19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us: ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man ⁴⁴  must marry ⁴⁵  the widow and father children ⁴⁶  for his brother.’ ⁴⁷  12:20 There were seven brothers. The first one married, ⁴⁸  and when he died he had no children. 12:21 The second married her and died without any children, and likewise the third. 12:22 None of the seven had children. Finally, the woman died too.

[12:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ² 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.

[12:1]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁴ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[12:2]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[12:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “from the tenants,” but this is redundant in English, so the pronoun (“them”) was used in the translation.

[12:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “from the fruits of the vineyard.”

[12:3]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[12:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “But they”; the referent (the tenants, v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “seizing him, they beat and sent away empty-handed.” The referent of the direct object of “seizing” (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The objects of the verbs “beat” and “sent away” have been supplied in the translation to conform to English style. Greek often omits direct objects when they are clear from the context.

[12:3]  ¹¹ sn The image of the tenants beating up the owner’s slave pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[12:3]  ¹² sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.

[12:4]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.

[12:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “one beloved son.” See comment at Mark 1:11.

[12:8]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[12:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

[12:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “him.”

[12:8]  ¹⁸ sn Throwing the heir’s body out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.

[12:9]  ¹⁹ sn The statement that the owner will come and destroy those tenants is a promise of judgment; see Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44.

[12:9]  ²⁰ sn The warning that the owner would give the vineyard to others suggests that the care of the promise and the nation’s hope would be passed to others. This eventually looks to Gentile inclusion; see Eph 2:11-22.

[12:10]  ²¹ 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.

[12:11]  ²² sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[12:12]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to introduce a somewhat parenthetical remark by the author.

[12:12]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[12:12]  ²⁵ sn The point of the parable in Mark 12:1-12 is that the leaders of the nation have been rejected by God and the vineyard (v. 9, referring to the nation and its privileged status) will be taken from them and given to others (an allusion to the Gentiles).

[12:13]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:13]  ²⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[12:13]  ²⁸ sn Pharisees and Herodians made a very interesting alliance. W. W. Wessel (“Mark,” EBC 8:733) comments: “The Herodians were as obnoxious to the Pharisees on political grounds as the Sadducees were on theological grounds. Yet the two groups united in their opposition to Jesus. Collaboration in wickedness, as well as goodness, has great power. Their purpose was to trip Jesus up in his words so that he would lose the support of the people, leaving the way open for them to destroy him.” See also the note on “Herodians” in Mark 3:6.

[12:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “trap him in word.”

[12:14]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and it is not a concern to you about anyone because you do not see the face of men.”

[12:14]  ³¹ sn Teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Very few comments are as deceitful as this one; they did not really believe this at all. The question of the Pharisees and Herodians was specifically designed to trap Jesus.

[12:14]  ³² tn Or “lawful,” that is, in accordance with God’s divine law. On the syntax of ἔξεστιν (exestin) with an infinitive and accusative, see BDF §409.3.

[12:14]  ³³ tn According to L&N 57.180 the term κῆνσος (khnso") was borrowed from Latin and referred to a poll tax, a tax paid by each adult male to the Roman government.

[12:14]  ³⁴ tn Or “the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[12:15]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Aware of their hypocrisy he said.”

[12:15]  ³⁶ tn Here the specific name of the coin was retained in the translation, because not all coins in circulation in Palestine at the time carried the image of Caesar. In other places δηνάριον (dhnarion) has been translated simply as “silver coin” with an explanatory note.

[12:16]  ³⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate their response to Jesus’ request for a coin.

[12:16]  ³⁸ tn Or “whose likeness.”

[12:16]  ³⁹ tn Grk “they said to him.”

[12:17]  ⁴⁰ sn Jesus’ answer to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s was a both/and, not the questioners’ either/or. So he slipped out of their trap.

[12:18]  ⁴¹ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). They also did not believe in resurrection or in angels, an important detail in v. 25. See also Matt 3:7, 16:1-12, 22:23-34; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 4:1, 5:17, 23:6-8.

[12:18]  ⁴² sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:18]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[12:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “his brother”; but this would be redundant in English with the same phrase “his brother” at the end of the verse, so most modern translations render this phrase “the man” (so NIV, NRSV).

[12:19]  ⁴⁵ tn The use of ἵνα (Jina) with imperatival force is unusual (BDF §470.1).

[12:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “raise up seed” (an idiom for fathering children).

[12:19]  ⁴⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

[12:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).