Matthew 21:28--22:14

The Parable of the Two Sons

21:28 “What ¹  do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 21:29 The boy answered, ²  ‘I will not.’ But later he had a change of heart ³  and went. 21:30 The father ⁴  went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered, ⁵  ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 21:31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” ⁶  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ⁷  tax collectors ⁸  and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God! 21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although ⁹  you saw this, you did not later change your minds ¹⁰  and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner ¹¹  who planted a vineyard. ¹²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ¹³  he leased it to tenant farmers ¹⁴  and went on a journey. 21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ¹⁵  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ¹⁶  21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ¹⁷  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, ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  they seized him, ²⁰  threw him out of the vineyard, ²¹  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. ²² 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ²³ 

21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people ²⁴  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.” ²⁵  21:45 When ²⁶  the chief priests and the Pharisees ²⁷  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 ²⁸  regarded him as a prophet.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

22:1 Jesus spoke ²⁹  to them again in parables, saying: 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 22:3 He sent his slaves ³⁰  to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. 22:4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. ³¹  My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’ 22:5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 22:6 The ³²  rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. 22:7 The ³³  king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death ³⁴  and set their city ³⁵  on fire. 22:8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. 22:9 So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 22:10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 22:11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. ³⁶  22:13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

[21:28]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:29]  ² tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here the referent (“the boy”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:29]  ³ tn The Greek text reads here μεταμέλομαι (metamelomai): “to change one’s mind about something, with the probable implication of regret” (L&N 31.59); cf. also BDAG 639 s.v. The idea in this context involves more than just a change of mind, for the son regrets his initial response. The same verb is used in v. 32.

[21:30]  ⁴ tn “And he”; here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:30]  ⁵ tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated. Here the referent (“this boy”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:31]  ⁶ tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex and difficult textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will. This reading is found in the Western mss (D it). But the reading is so hard as to be nearly impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text, extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe, or possibly a recognition of the importance of not shaming one’s parent in public. (Any of these reasons is not improbable with this texttype, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses make sense (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in (א) C L W (Z) 0102 0281 ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Θ Ë¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two readings make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is this: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If one were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, the second son would be seen as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This accords well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles and tax collectors and prostitutes were not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they did repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. Thus the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32).

[21:31]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[21:31]  ⁸ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[21:32]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:32]  ¹⁰ sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.

[21:33]  ¹¹ tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[21:33]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:33]  ¹⁴ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[21:34]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[21:34]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”

[21:35]  ¹⁷ sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[21:37]  ¹⁸ sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.

[21:39]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

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

[21:42]  ²² 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.

[21:42]  ²³ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[21:43]  ²⁴ tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).

[21:44]  ²⁵ 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.

[21:45]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[21:45]  ²⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[21:46]  ²⁸ 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.

[22:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And answering again, Jesus spoke.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[22:3]  ³⁰ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[22:4]  ³¹ tn Grk “Behold, I have prepared my dinner.” In some contexts, however, to translate ἄριστον (ariston) as “dinner” somewhat misses the point. L&N 23.22 here suggests, “See now, the feast I have prepared (for you is ready).”

[22:6]  ³² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:7]  ³³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:7]  ³⁴ tn Grk “he sent his soldiers, destroyed those murderers.” The verb ἀπώλεσεν (apwlesen) is causative, indicating that the king was the one behind the execution of the murderers. In English the causative idea is not expressed naturally here; either a purpose clause (“he sent his soldiers to put those murderers to death”) or a relative clause (“he sent his soldier who put those murderers to death”) is preferred.

[22:7]  ³⁵ tn The Greek text reads here πόλις (polis), which could be translated “town” or “city.” The prophetic reference is to the city of Jerusalem, so “city” is more appropriate here.

[22:12]  ³⁶ tn Grk “he was silent.”