Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Luke 20:9-19
Luke.20.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Ηρξατο: VERB,aor,mid,ind,3,sg
- δε: CONJ
- προς: PREP
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- λαον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- λεγειν: VERB,pres,act,inf
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- παραβολην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- ταυτην·Ανθρωπος: PRON,acc,sg,f
- εφυτευσεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- αμπελωνα: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- εξεδετο: VERB,aor,mid,ind,3,sg
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- γεωργοις: NOUN,dat,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- απεδημησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- χρονους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- ικανους: ADJ,acc,pl,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:33-41 (verbal): Nearly identical parable of the wicked tenants: a landowner plants a vineyard, leases it to tenants, sends servants and finally his son, leading to the tenants' judgment.
- Mark 12:1-12 (verbal): Parallel account of the same parable with similar sequence and language; emphasizes the leaders' rejection of the son and the vineyard owner's judgment.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The 'Song of the Vineyard' portrays Israel as a vineyard planted by the owner that fails to produce good fruit, providing prophetic background for the vineyard imagery and divine judgment.
- John 15:1-8 (thematic): Uses vine/vinedresser imagery (the Father as vinedresser, Jesus as the true vine) to develop themes of fruitfulness, relationship to the owner, and judgment/abiding—related symbolically to the tenant-parable.
- Luke 13:6-9 (thematic): Parable of the barren fig tree: an owner seeks fruit and a caretaker (vinedresser) pleads for more time—shares themes of expectation, patience, and impending judgment for failure to bear fruit.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he began to tell the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants, and went away on a journey.
- And he began to tell the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants, and went into another country for a long while.
Luke.20.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- καιρω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- απεστειλεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- προς: PREP
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- γεωργους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- δουλον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ινα: CONJ
- απο: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- καρπου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αμπελωνος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- δωσουσιν: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,pl
- αυτω·οι: PRON,dat,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- γεωργοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- εξαπεστειλαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- δειραντες: VERB,part,aor,act,nom,pl,m
- κενον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:34 (verbal): Part of the Parable of the Tenants in Matthew—owner sends a servant to collect fruit and the tenants beat him; close verbal and structural parallel to Luke 20:10.
- Mark 12:5 (verbal): Mark’s version of the tenants parable likewise records a servant sent and beaten—similar wording and sequence, emphasizing mistreatment of the owner's messengers.
- Luke 20:12 (structural): Immediate parallel within Luke’s own telling of the parable: another servant is sent and also beaten, showing the repeated mistreatment of the owner’s envoys.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The prophetic ‘song of the vineyard’ provides the background imagery and theme—the vineyard as God’s people expected to yield fruit but failing—and undergirds the parable’s critique of Israel’s leaders.
- Jeremiah 12:10 (thematic): Uses vineyard imagery to describe violence and ruin visited on God’s planting; thematically parallels the tenants’ destructive treatment of the vineyard’s agents.
Alternative generated candidates
- At the harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard.
- When the season came he sent a servant to the tenants, to receive from them some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Luke.20.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- προσεθετο: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- ετερον: ADJ,nom,sg,n
- πεμψαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- δουλον·οι: NOUN,m,sg,acc
- δε: CONJ
- κακεινον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- δειραντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- ατιμασαντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- εξαπεστειλαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- κενον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:35 (verbal): Parallel wording in Matthew's version of the wicked tenants parable: the owner sends another servant who is beaten and treated shamefully; very close verbal correspondence to Luke 20:11.
- Mark 12:5 (verbal): Mark's account of the same parable uses nearly identical language about sending another servant and the servant being beaten and sent away dishonored.
- Luke 20:10 (structural): Immediate internal parallel within Luke's narrative: the preceding servant was sent, beaten, and sent away—Luke 20:11 repeats and amplifies this pattern to show repeated mistreatment of the owner's messengers.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (thematic): Isaiah's 'song of the vineyard' provides the prophetic background for the vineyard/tenant imagery and the owner's expectations versus the tenants' failure and hostility toward the owner's purposes—thematically linked to the sending of servants and their mistreatment.
Alternative generated candidates
- But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
- And he sent another servant; and they beat him and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.
Luke.20.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- προσεθετο: VERB,impf,mid,ind,3,sg
- τριτον: NUM,acc,sg,n
- πεμψαι·οι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- δε: CONJ
- και: CONJ
- τουτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- τραυματισαντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- εξεβαλον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
Parallels
- Mark 12:6-8 (verbal): Mark presents the same tenants' parable: the owners' servants are beaten and killed, and finally the owner sends his son who is also killed—close verbal parallel to Luke 20:12.
- Matthew 21:35-41 (verbal): Matthew's version recounts tenants beating and killing the servants and then killing the son; it parallels Luke's wording and supplies the ensuing interpretation and judgment.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The vineyard motif and expectation of fruit for Israel in Isaiah provides the prophetic background to the parable: God’s vineyard (Israel) fails to produce fruit, prompting judgment—thematically linked to the tenants' wickedness.
- Psalm 118:22 (quotation): Jesus concludes the parable by citing the 'stone the builders rejected' (applied to the son/Messiah); Psalm 118:22 is quoted elsewhere in the NT and structurally ties the rejected son to vindication.
Alternative generated candidates
- He sent another servant; and they beat him also and treated him disgracefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
- And he sent a third; and this one they wounded and cast out.
Luke.20.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ειπεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- δε: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- κυριος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αμπελωνος·Τι: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ποιησω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- πεμψω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- υιον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- αγαπητον·ισως: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- τουτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- εντραπησονται: VERB,fut,mid/pas,ind,3,pl
Parallels
- Matthew 21:37 (verbal): Direct parallel in Matthew's version of the Parable of the Wicked Tenants; the landowner likewise says he will send his son, language closely matching Luke 20:13.
- Mark 12:6 (verbal): Mark's account of the same parable also records the owner sending his son; verbal and structural parallels with Luke emphasize the sending of the beloved son and anticipated rejection.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The 'vineyard' motif and the owner's expectation of fruit echo Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard, which uses the vineyard as a metaphor for Israel and critiques its failure to produce what was hoped for.
- John 3:16-17 (thematic): The language of God 'sending' his beloved Son resonates with Luke's image of the owner sending his beloved son; both passages link divine sending and the possibility of human rejection of that son.
Alternative generated candidates
- He sent yet another; and them they killed, and many others—some they beat, and some they killed.
- Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.
Luke.20.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ιδοντες: VERB,aor,act,ptc,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- γεωργοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- διελογιζοντο: VERB,impf,mid,ind,3,pl
- προς: PREP
- αλληλους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- λεγοντες·Ουτος: VERB,pres,act,ptc,nom,pl,m
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- κληρονομος·αποκτεινωμεν: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- ινα: CONJ
- ημων: PRON,gen,pl,1
- γενηται: VERB,fut,mid,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- κληρονομια·: NOUN,nom,sg,f
Parallels
- Mark 12:7 (verbal): Direct parallel in Mark’s version of the tenants’ parable — the tenants recognize the heir and plot to kill him to seize the inheritance, using very similar wording.
- Matthew 21:38 (verbal): Matthew’s account of the parable contains the same line about the tenants identifying the heir and deciding to kill him so the inheritance will be theirs (close verbal parallel).
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (thematic): The prophetic ‘song of the vineyard’ provides the Old Testament backdrop — vineyard imagery, owner expectations, and judgment on those who mistreat the vineyard echo the parable’s themes.
- 1 Kings 21:1-16 (thematic): The story of Naboth’s vineyard (Ahab and Jezebel’s wrongful plot to seize a vineyard) parallels the theme of powerful or wicked actors scheming to take possession of another’s land/inheritance.
- Psalm 118:22 (allusion): The parable’s climax (rejecting the heir/stone) alludes to the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone motif (Ps 118:22), later applied to Jesus in the Gospels and Acts.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, my beloved heir; perhaps they will respect him.'
- But when the tenants saw him they said among themselves, This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.
Luke.20.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- εκβαλοντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- εξω: ADV
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αμπελωνος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- απεκτειναν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- τι: PRON,int,nom,sg,n
- ουν: CONJ
- ποιησει: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτοις: PRO,dat,pl,3
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- κυριος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αμπελωνος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:41 (verbal): Direct synoptic parallel—same parable of the wicked tenants and the identical question about what the vineyard owner will do to the tenants.
- Mark 12:9 (verbal): Another synoptic parallel that recounts the tenants killing the owner's son and poses the same question of the owner's judgment on the tenants.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The prophetic 'Song of the Vineyard' provides the Old Testament backdrop for the parable: God as vineyard owner who expects fruit but receives failure and pronounces judgment on the vineyard.
- John 15:1-8 (thematic): Uses vineyard/vine imagery to teach about the owner’s authority, fruit, and judgment—echoes themes of ownership, expected fruitfulness, and consequences for unfruitfulness found in the parable.
Alternative generated candidates
- But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.'
- So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
Luke.20.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ελευσεται: VERB,fut,mid,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- απολεσει: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,sg
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- γεωργους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- τουτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- δωσει: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- αμπελωνα: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αλλοις: PRON,dat,pl,m
- ακουσαντες: PTCP,aor,act,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- ειπαν·Μη: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- γενοιτο: VERB,aor,opt,mid,3,sg
Parallels
- Matthew 21:41 (verbal): Parallel wording in Matthew's account of the parable of the wicked tenants: the owner will come, destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others.
- Mark 12:9 (verbal): Mark's version of the same parable uses essentially the same language about coming, destroying the tenants, and giving the vineyard to others.
- Matthew 21:43 (thematic): Jesus' application in Matthew: the kingdom will be taken from the current tenants (leaders) and given to a people who will produce its fruit—a thematic continuation of the vineyard being given to others.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The parable echoes Isaiah's 'Song of the Vineyard,' where the vineyard owner (God) leases his vineyard (Israel) to vinedressers and ultimately hands it over because of their failure—background imagery and theme for the gospel parable.
Alternative generated candidates
- So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
- He will come and destroy those tenants and will give the vineyard to others. When they heard this they said, May it never be!
Luke.20.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- εμβλεψας: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,m,sg
- αυτοις: PRO,dat,pl,3
- ειπεν·Τι: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- ουν: CONJ
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- γεγραμμενον: VERB,perf,pass,part,nom,sg,n
- τουτο·Λιθον: PRON,nom,sg,n
- ον: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- απεδοκιμασαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- οικοδομουντες: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,pl,m
- ουτος: PRON,nom,sg,m
- εγενηθη: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- εις: PREP
- κεφαλην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- γωνιας: NOUN,gen,sg,f
Parallels
- Psalm 118:22 (quotation): The original OT source of Jesus' citation—'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.'
- Matthew 21:42 (verbal): Parallel Gospel account of Jesus quoting Psalm 118:22 in the context of the parable of the tenants, applying the image to himself.
- Mark 12:10-11 (verbal): Mark's near-identical report of Jesus' citation of the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone within the parable of the wicked tenants.
- Acts 4:11 (quotation): Peter cites the same Psalm in his defense, explicitly applying 'the stone...cornerstone' to Jesus as the rejected-yet-foundation stone.
- 1 Peter 2:7 (allusion): Peter uses the stone imagery (honored cornerstone / stone of stumbling) from Psalm 118 to describe Christ's exalted and divisive role for believers and unbelievers.
Alternative generated candidates
- He will come and destroy those tenants, and give the vineyard to others.' When they heard this they said, 'Far be it!' But he looked at them and said, 'What then is this that is written: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?"'
- But he looked straight at them and said, What then is this that is written: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?
Luke.20.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- πας: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- πεσων: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,sg,m
- επ᾽εκεινον: PREP+PRON,acc,sg,m
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- λιθον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- συνθλασθησεται·εφ᾽ον: VERB,fut,pass,ind,3,sg+PREP+PRON,acc,sg,m
- δ᾽αν: PART,δε+αν
- πεση: VERB,aor,act,subj,3,sg
- λικμησει: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- Psalm 118:22 (LXX/Hebrew) (quotation): The original saying: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.' Luke 20:17–18 echoes and cites this psalm as the source of the 'rejected stone' image applied to Jesus.
- Matthew 21:42 (verbal): Jesus in Matthew 21:42 repeats the same citation of Psalm 118 in the parable/teaching about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone; a close verbal parallel to Luke's wording and context.
- Mark 12:10-11 (verbal): Mark's account preserves the same citation and message (the builders' rejected stone becoming the cornerstone), a synoptic parallel with wording and application matching Luke 20:17–18.
- Acts 4:11 (quotation): Peter, speaking for the apostles, cites the same psalmic line to describe Jesus as the stone rejected by the builders but made the cornerstone, applying the Psalm to Jesus' fate and authority.
- 1 Peter 2:7-8 (allusion): 1 Peter explicitly develops the 'stone' motif: Christ is the precious cornerstone to believers yet a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to those who disobey—an interpretive echo of the rejected-stone tradition in Luke 20:18.
Alternative generated candidates
- Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whoever it falls, it will crush him.
- Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and on whomever it falls it will crush him.
Luke.20.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- εζητησαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- γραμματεις: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- αρχιερεις: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- επιβαλειν: VERB,pres,act,inf
- επ᾽αυτον: PREP+PRON,acc,sg,3,m
- τας: ART,acc,pl,f
- χειρας: NOUN,acc,pl,f
- εν: PREP
- αυτη: PRON,dat,sg,f
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- ωρα: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- εφοβηθησαν: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,pl
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- λαον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- εγνωσαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- γαρ: PART
- οτι: CONJ
- προς: PREP
- αυτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- ειπεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- παραβολην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- ταυτην: PRON,acc,sg,f
Parallels
- Mark 12:12 (verbal): Near-verbatim parallel: the scribes and chief priests seek to lay hands on Jesus but fear the multitude because they recognize the parable was spoken against them.
- Matthew 21:45-46 (verbal): Same tradition in Matthew: the chief priests and Pharisees perceive Jesus is speaking of them, and though they seek to seize him they fear the people.
- Luke 20:20 (structural): Immediate Lukan continuation: after they fear the crowd and cannot seize him, they send spies to entrap Jesus in his words—part of the same narrative sequence.
- Luke 11:53-54 (thematic): Thematic parallel in Luke: scribes and Pharisees watch and seek to entrap Jesus in his speech, reflecting the recurring conflict and attempts by leaders to silence him.
Alternative generated candidates
- The chief priests and the scribes sought at once to lay hands on him, but they feared the people, for they perceived that he had spoken the parable against them. So they watched him and sent out spies, posing as righteous men, in order to seize on his words and deliver him to the power and authority of the governor.
- Then the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people, for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
And he began to speak to the people this parable, saying,
A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge about it, dug a winepress, built a tower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went abroad.
At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants, to receive from them some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another; and they beat that one also, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
He sent yet a third; and they wounded him and threw him out.
Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him when they see him.' But when the tenants saw him, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir—come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.
When they heard this, they said, 'May it never be!' But he looked at them and said, 'What then is this that is written: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?"
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.'
Then the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him that very hour, for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them; but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, to deliver him up to the governor's authority and jurisdiction.