Discovery BoxPsalms 80:8-19
Context80:8 You uprooted a vine 1 from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
80:9 You cleared the ground for it; 2
it took root, 3
and filled the land.
80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars 4 by its branches.
80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, 5
and its shoots the Euphrates River. 6
80:12 Why did you break down its walls, 7
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 8
80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; 9
the insects 10 of the field feed on it.
80:14 O God, invincible warrior, 11 come back!
Look down from heaven and take notice!
Take care of this vine,
80:15 the root 12 your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow! 13
80:16 It is burned 14 and cut down.
They die because you are displeased with them. 15
80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, 16
to the one whom you raised up for yourself! 17
80:18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us and we will pray to you! 18
80:19 O Lord God, invincible warrior, 19 restore us!
Smile on us! 20 Then we will be delivered! 21
Jeremiah 2:21
Context2:21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes? 22
Matthew 21:33-46
Context21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner 23 who planted a vineyard. 24 He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then 25 he leased it to tenant farmers 26 and went on a journey. 21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves 27 to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. 28 21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, 29 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, 30 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 31 they seized him, 32 threw him out of the vineyard, 33 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. 34
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 35
21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people 36 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.” 37 21:45 When 38 the chief priests and the Pharisees 39 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 40 regarded him as a prophet.
Luke 20:9-18
Context20:9 Then 41 he began to tell the people this parable: “A man 42 planted a vineyard, 43 leased it to tenant farmers, 44 and went on a journey for a long time. 20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave 45 to the tenants so that they would give 46 him his portion of the crop. 47 However, the tenants beat his slave 48 and sent him away empty-handed. 20:11 So 49 he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. 50 20:12 So 51 he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out. 20:13 Then 52 the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; 53 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 54 they threw him out of the vineyard and killed 55 him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 20:16 He will come and destroy 56 those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” 57 When the people 58 heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” 59 20:17 But Jesus 60 looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 61 20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, 62 and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” 63
[80:8] 1 sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).
[80:9] 2 tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”
[80:9] 3 tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”
[80:10] 4 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
[80:11] 5 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
[80:11] 6 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
[80:12] 7 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
[80:13] 9 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.
[80:13] 10 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.
[80:14] 11 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.
[80:15] 12 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).
[80:15] 13 tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.
[80:16] 14 tn Heb “burned with fire.”
[80:16] 15 tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”
[80:17] 16 tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)
[80:17] 17 tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.
[80:18] 18 tn Heb “and in your name we will call.”
[80:19] 19 tn Heb “O
[80:19] 20 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[80:19] 21 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
[2:21] 22 tc Heb “I planted you as a choice vine, all of it true seed. How then have you turned into a putrid thing to me, a strange [or wild] vine.” The question expresses surprise and consternation. The translation is based on a redivision of the Hebrew words סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן (sure haggefen) into סוֹרִיָּה גֶּפֶן (soriyyah gefen) and the recognition of a hapax legomenon סוֹרִיָּה (soriyyah) meaning “putrid, stinking thing.” See HALOT 707 s.v. סוֹרִי.
[21:33] 23 tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.
[21:33] 24 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] 25 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[21:33] 26 sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.
[21:34] 27 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.
[21:34] 28 tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”
[21:35] 29 sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.
[21:37] 30 sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.
[21:39] 31 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] 32 tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.
[21:39] 33 sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.
[21:42] 34 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] 35 sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.
[21:43] 36 tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).
[21:44] 37 tc A few witnesses, especially of the Western text (D 33 it sys Or Eussyr), do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in א B C L W Z (Θ) 0102 Ë1,13 Ï lat syc,p,h co and should be included as authentic.
[21:45] 38 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
[21:45] 39 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
[21:46] 40 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.
[20:9] 41 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] 42 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] 43 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] 44 sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.
[20:10] 45 sn This slave (along with the next two) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.
[20:10] 46 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 Ë13 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] 47 tn Grk “from the fruit of the vineyard.”
[20:10] 48 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:11] 49 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.
[20:11] 50 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] 51 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] 52 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[20:13] 53 tn Grk “my beloved son.” See comment at Luke 3:22.
[20:15] 54 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son.
[20:15] 55 sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.
[20:16] 56 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.
[20:16] 57 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.
[20:16] 58 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people addressed in v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:16] 59 sn May this never happen! Jesus’ audience got the point and did not want to consider a story where the nation would suffer judgment.
[20:17] 60 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:17] 61 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.
[20:18] 62 tn On this term, see BDAG 972 s.v. συνθλάω.
[20:18] 63 tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
