Matthew 21:33-40

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. 21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ⁵  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ⁶  21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ⁷  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, ⁸  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 ⁹  they seized him, ¹⁰  threw him out of the vineyard, ¹¹  and killed him. 21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

Luke 20:9-15

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. 20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave ¹⁶  to the tenants so that they would give ¹⁷  him his portion of the crop. ¹⁸  However, the tenants beat his slave ¹⁹  and sent him away empty-handed. 20:11 So ²⁰  he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. ²¹  20:12 So ²²  he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out. 20:13 Then ²³  the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; ²⁴  perhaps they will respect him.’ 20:14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’ 20:15 So ²⁵  they threw him out of the vineyard and killed ²⁶  him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

[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.

[21:34]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[21:34]  ⁶ tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”

[21:35]  ⁷ sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[21:37]  ⁸ sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.

[21:39]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

[21:39]  ¹¹ sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.

[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.

[20:10]  ¹⁶ sn This slave (along with the next two) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

[20:10]  ¹⁷ tc Instead of the future indicative δώσουσιν (dwsousin, “they will give”), most witnesses (C D W Θ Ψ Ë¹ Ï) have the aorist subjunctive δῶσιν (dwsin, “they might give”). The aorist subjunctive is expected following ἵνα ({ina, “so that”), so it is almost surely a motivated reading. Further, early and excellent witnesses, as well as a few others (א A B ˹³ 33 579 1241 2542 al), have δώσουσιν. It is thus more likely that the future indicative is authentic. For a discussion of this construction, see BDF §369.2.

[20:10]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “from the fruit of the vineyard.”

[20:10]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:11]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.

[20:11]  ²¹ sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.

[20:12]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first two slaves.

[20:13]  ²³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[20:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “my beloved son.” See comment at Luke 3:22.

[20:15]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son.

[20:15]  ²⁶ sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.