The Song of Songs 8:11

Solomon’s Vineyard and the Beloved’s Vineyard

The Beloved to Her Lover:

8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon;

he leased out ¹  the vineyard to those who maintained it.

Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.

Isaiah 62:6

62:6 I ²  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ³ 

You who pray to ⁴  the Lord, don’t be silent!

Matthew 21:33-41

The Parable of the Tenants

21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner ⁵  who planted a vineyard. ⁶  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ⁷  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁸  and went on a journey. 21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ⁹  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ¹⁰  21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ¹¹  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, ¹²  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 ¹³  they seized him, ¹⁴  threw him out of the vineyard, ¹⁵  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.”

Matthew 23:2

23:2 “The ¹⁶  experts in the law ¹⁷  and the Pharisees ¹⁸  sit on Moses’ seat.

Matthew 23:29-36

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ²⁰  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ²¹  of the righteous. 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ²²  we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ²³ 

23:34 “For this reason I ²⁴  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ²⁵  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ²⁶  and some you will flog ²⁷  in your synagogues ²⁸  and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ²⁹  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ³⁰  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ³¹ 

[8:11]  ¹ tn Heb “gave.”

[62:6]  ² sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

[62:6]  ³ tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

[62:6]  ⁴ tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”

[21:33]  ⁵ tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[21:33]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:33]  ⁸ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

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

[21:34]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”

[21:35]  ¹¹ sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[21:37]  ¹² sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.

[21:39]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

[21:39]  ¹⁵ sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.

[23:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[23:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:2]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[23:29]  ¹⁹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[23:30]  ²² tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

[23:33]  ²³ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:34]  ²⁴ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ²⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ²⁶ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ²⁸ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ²⁹ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ³¹ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”