Matthew 21:33

The Parable of the Tenants

21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner ¹  who 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.

Mark 13:34

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ⁵  in charge, assigning ⁶  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

Luke 19:12-13

19:12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman ⁷  went to a distant country to receive ⁸  for himself a kingdom and then return. ⁹  19:13 And he summoned ten of his slaves, ¹⁰  gave them ten minas, ¹¹  and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’

Luke 20:9

The Parable of the Tenants

20:9 Then ¹²  he began to tell the people this parable: “A man ¹³  planted a vineyard, ¹⁴  leased it to tenant farmers, ¹⁵  and went on a journey for a long time.

[21:33]  ¹ tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[21:33]  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.

[21:33]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:33]  ⁴ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[13:34]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ⁶ tn Grk “giving.”

[19:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “a man of noble birth” or “a man of noble status” (L&N 87.27).

[19:12]  ⁸ sn Note that the receiving of the kingdom takes place in the far country. This suggests that those in the far country recognize and acknowledge the king when his own citizens did not want him as king (v. 14; cf. John 1:11-12).

[19:12]  ⁹ sn The background to this story about the nobleman who went…to receive for himself a kingdom had some parallels in the area’s recent history: Archelaus was appointed ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea in 4 b.c., but the people did not like him. Herod the Great also made a similar journey to Rome where he was crowned King of Judea in 40 b.c., although he was not able to claim his kingdom until 37 b.c.

[19:13]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[19:13]  ¹¹ sn That is, one for each. A mina was a Greek monetary unit worth one hundred denarii or about four months’ wages for an average worker based on a six-day work week.

[20:9]  ¹² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. The parable Jesus tells here actually addresses the question put to him by the leaders.

[20:9]  ¹³ tc ‡ There are several variants here, most of which involve variations in word order that do not affect translation. However, the presence or absence of τις (ti") after ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), which would be translated “a certain man,” does affect translation. The witnesses that have τις include A W Θ Ë¹³ 1241 2542 al sy. Those that lack it include א B C D L Ψ Ë¹ 33 Ï it. Externally, the evidence is significantly stronger for the omission. Internally, however, there is some pause. A feature unique to Luke-Acts in the NT is to use the construction ἄνθρωπος τις (cf. 10:30; 12:16; 14:2, 16; 15:11; 16:1; 19:12; Acts 9:33). However, scribes who were familiar with this idiom may have inserted it here. In light of the overwhelming external support for the omission of τις, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ places τις in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[20:9]  ¹⁴ 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.

[20:9]  ¹⁵ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.