The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Mark 12:1-12
Mark.12.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Και: CONJ
- ηρξατο: VERB,aor,mid,ind,3,sg
- αυτοις: PRO,dat,pl,3
- εν: PREP
- παραβολαις: NOUN,dat,pl,f
- λαλειν·Αμπελωνα: VERB,pres,act,inf;NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ανθρωπος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εφυτευσεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- περιεθηκεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- φραγμον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- ωρυξεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- υποληνιον: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- και: CONJ
- ωκοδομησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- πυργον: 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
Parallels
- Matthew 21:33 (quotation): Near-identical synoptic parallel: Jesus tells the same parable of a man who plants a vineyard, builds a watchtower and winepress, leases it to tenants, and goes away.
- Luke 20:9 (quotation): A parallel account in Luke that recounts the same parable of the vineyard and its wicked tenants with the same core elements.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The 'Song of the Vineyard' provides the prophetic background: God as vineyard owner who expects justice/fruit but finds wrongdoing—serves as an ideological precedent and critique of Israel.
- John 15:1-8 (thematic): Uses vine/vinedresser imagery to teach about the owner, fruitfulness, and judgment; thematically related to ownership, care, and expectation of fruit in the vineyard motif.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a winepress, built a tower, leased it to tenants, and went away.
- And he began to speak to them in parables: 'A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge about it, dug a winepress, built a tower, leased it to tenants, and went away into another country.'
Mark.12.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- απεστειλεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- προς: PREP
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- γεωργους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- καιρω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- δουλον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ινα: CONJ
- παρα: PREP
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- γεωργων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- λαβη: VERB,aor,act,sub,3,sg
- απο: PREP
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- καρπων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αμπελωνος·: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:34 (quotation): Parallel account of the Parable of the Tenants; owner sends a servant to collect fruit—close verbal and narrative correspondence.
- Luke 20:10 (quotation): Lukan parallel of the same parable, recounting the sending of a servant to the tenants for the vineyard’s fruit.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The 'Song of the Vineyard' provides the prophetic background: a vineyard/owner image where the expected fruit (justice/faithfulness) is not produced.
- John 15:1-8 (thematic): Uses vineyard/vinedresser imagery to depict God–Israel/disciples relationship and expectation of fruit-bearing—shares theological theme of responsibility and fruit.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (allusion): Speaks of a planted vine that became degenerate—echoes motif of God’s care for Israel (vineyard) and its failure to yield proper fruit.
Alternative generated candidates
- At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants, to receive from the tenants some of the fruit of the vineyard.
- 'At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to receive from the tenants some of the fruit of the vineyard.'
Mark.12.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- λαβοντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- εδειραν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- και: CONJ
- απεστειλαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- κενον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- Luke 20:11 (verbal): Near-verbatim synoptic parallel: the servant is seized, beaten, and sent away empty — same wording and sequence in Luke’s version of the vineyard parable.
- Matthew 21:35 (verbal): Synoptic parallel recounting the same episode of the parable: the owner's servants are seized and mistreated (beaten, killed), paralleling Mark’s account of violent treatment of servants.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (thematic): Prophetic 'song of the vineyard' that provides the Old Testament background for the vineyard parable—owner’s expectations, failure of the vineyard, and divine judgment, framing the theme of rejected messengers/produce.
- Acts 7:52 (thematic): Stephen accuses his audience of persecuting and killing the prophets sent by God—a thematic parallel to the vineyard tenants’ violence toward the owner’s messengers who were sent and abused.
Alternative generated candidates
- And they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
- They seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
Mark.12.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- παλιν: ADV
- απεστειλεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- προς: PREP
- αυτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- αλλον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- δουλον·κακεινον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- εκεφαλιωσαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- και: CONJ
- ητιμασαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
Parallels
- Matthew 21:35 (verbal): Direct parallel in Matthew's version of the Parable of the Tenants; same report that a servant was sent and was beaten and dishonored.
- Luke 20:10 (verbal): Luke's parallel to the parable likewise records that a servant sent to the tenants was beaten and treated shamefully.
- Isaiah 5:1-5 (thematic): The prophetic 'vineyard' song provides the Old Testament backdrop for the vineyard/owner imagery and the expectation of fruit from those entrusted with the vineyard, setting up judgment when it fails.
- John 1:11 (thematic): Summarizes the motif of rejection—'He came to his own, and his own received him not'—echoing the theme of God's messengers being rejected by their people.
- Acts 7:52 (thematic): Stephen's speech cites the recurring pattern of Israel persecuting and killing the prophets sent to them, paralleling the parable's depiction of servants maltreated by the tenants.
Alternative generated candidates
- Again he sent to them another servant; and they beat him as well and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.
- Again he sent to them another servant; and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.
Mark.12.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- αλλον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- απεστειλεν·κακεινον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- απεκτειναν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- και: CONJ
- πολλους: ADJ,acc,pl,m
- αλλους: ADJ,acc,pl,m
- ους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- μεν: PART
- δεροντες: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,pl,m
- ους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- αποκτεννοντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:35 (verbal): Synoptic parallel: Matthew's version of the vineyard parable likewise reports that the tenants seized, beat, and killed the owner's servants.
- Luke 20:13 (verbal): Near-verbatim parallel in Luke's account of the parable describing servants sent, one beaten and another killed by the tenants.
- Isaiah 5:2-5 (allusion): The prophetic 'song of the vineyard' supplies the vineyard imagery and background—God's sending and expectation from the vineyard and its failure.
- Acts 7:52 (thematic): Stephen's indictment recalls the recurring theme that Israel's leaders persecuted and killed the prophets God sent to them.
- Psalm 118:22 (allusion): Although cited later in the pericope, the motif of the rejected stone complements the theme of rejection and violence against God's appointed agents.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he sent a third; and they wounded him and threw him out.
- And he sent another; and that one they killed. He sent many others; some they beat, and some they killed.
Mark.12.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ετι: ADV
- ενα: NUM,acc,sg,m
- ειχεν: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- υιον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αγαπητον·απεστειλεν: ADJ,acc,sg,m+VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- εσχατον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- προς: PREP
- αυτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- λεγων: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,m,sg
- οτι: CONJ
- Εντραπησονται: VERB,fut,pass,ind,3,pl
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- υιον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
Parallels
- Matthew 21:37 (verbal): Direct synoptic parallel to Mark 12:6—Matthew records the owner sending his son last to the tenants with nearly identical wording, emphasizing the same narrative point.
- Luke 20:13 (verbal): Another synoptic parallel; Luke preserves the same storyline and wording about the owner sending his beloved son last, showing the shared oral/traditional source.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): Background motif of the vineyard and its unfaithful tenants/owners; Jesus’ parable draws thematically on Isaiah’s ‘song of the vineyard’ about expectation, failure, and judgment.
- Hebrews 1:2 (thematic): Portrays the Son as God’s final and supreme envoy (‘in these last days…has spoken to us by His Son’), echoing the parable’s idea of the owner sending his last and beloved representative.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect my son.'
- He had yet one other—his beloved son. He sent him last to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
Mark.12.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εκεινοι: PRO,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- γεωργοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- προς: PREP
- εαυτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- ειπαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- οτι: CONJ
- Ουτος: DEM,nom,sg,m
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- κληρονομος·δευτε: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- αποκτεινωμεν: VERB,aor,act,subj,1,pl
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- ημων: PRON,gen,pl,1
- εσται: VERB,fut,mid,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- κληρονομια: NOUN,nom,sg,f
Parallels
- Matthew 21:38 (verbal): Near-verbatim parallel in the Synoptic tradition: the tenants identify the heir and say, 'Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours,' matching Mark's wording and plot point.
- Luke 20:15 (verbal): Luke's account preserves the same line: the tenants acknowledge the heir and decide to kill him to obtain the inheritance—another direct Synoptic parallel.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (thematic): The 'Song of the Vineyard' depicts an owner planting a vineyard, sending servants, and finally his son, while the fruitless vineyard and violence by those tending it provide the prophetic background and thematic parallel to the parable's vineyard, tenants, and murderous plot.
- Genesis 37:18-20 (thematic): Joseph's brothers conspire to kill (or dispose of) the favored son to seize his position and privileges—an Old Testament instance of plotting against an heir that echoes the parable's motif of eliminating the heir to gain the inheritance.
Alternative generated candidates
- But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours.'
- But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
Mark.12.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- λαβοντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- απεκτειναν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- εξεβαλον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- εξω: ADV
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αμπελωνος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:38-41 (verbal): The Synoptic parallel in Matthew repeats the same wording: the tenants seize the son, kill him, and cast him out of the vineyard (direct verbal and narrative correspondence).
- Luke 20:15-16 (verbal): Luke’s account closely parallels Mark’s wording and sequence—the servants are sent, the tenants seize and kill the son, and cast him out—showing the same tradition of the parable.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (structural): The parable’s vineyard framework and the theme of God’s expectation frustrated by the vineyard’s owners echo Isaiah’s ‘Song of the Vineyard,’ which provides the prophetic backdrop for judgment on unfaithful tenants.
- John 1:11 (thematic): John expresses the broader theme of rejection of one sent by God—‘he came to his own and his own received him not’—which underlies the parable’s killing and expulsion of the son.
Alternative generated candidates
- So they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
- So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
Mark.12.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- τι: PRON,int,nom,sg,n
- ποιησει: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- κυριος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αμπελωνος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- 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
- και: CONJ
- δωσει: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- αμπελωνα: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αλλοις: PRON,dat,pl,m
Parallels
- Matthew 21:41 (verbal): Matthew records the same conclusion of the parable: the owner will come, destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others—an almost verbatim parallel to Mark 12:9.
- Luke 20:16 (verbal): Luke's account of the parable likewise concludes with the owner destroying the tenants and giving the vineyard to others, closely paralleling Mark's wording and intent.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (allusion): The parable echoes Isaiah's 'Song of the Vineyard,' where God's vineyard (Israel) fails to produce fruit and judgment follows; the vineyard motif and divine disappointment form the prophetic backdrop for Jesus' story.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (thematic): Jeremiah uses the vineyard/planting image to portray Israel's corruption after God planted them—sharing the theme of God as planter and Israel's failure that underlies the parable of the tenants.
- Psalm 118:22-23 (structural): Mark immediately follows the parable with Jesus' citation of this psalm about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone; the psalm is used to interpret the parable's outcome (leadership rejection and reversal).
Alternative generated candidates
- What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
- What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
Mark.12.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ουδε: CONJ,neg
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- γραφην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- ταυτην: PRON,acc,sg,f
- ανεγνωτε·Λιθον: VERB,aor,act,ind,2,pl
- 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 Old Testament source: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.' Mark 12:10 is a direct citation of this verse.
- Matthew 21:42 (verbal): Synoptic parallel in which Jesus utters the same saying about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone (nearly identical wording).
- Luke 20:17 (verbal): Luke's account of the same incident preserves the same proverb/quotation; a direct synoptic parallel to Mark 12:10.
- Acts 4:11 (quotation): Peter, defending the apostles, cites the same Psalm of the rejected stone applied to Jesus: 'This Jesus is the stone the builders rejected...' (uses the Psalm as proof-text).
- 1 Peter 2:7 (allusion): Peter reworks the rejected-stone imagery (and alludes to Psalm 118:22) to present Christ as the precious cornerstone and to describe the believers' relation to him.
Alternative generated candidates
- Have you not read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;'
- Have you not read this scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;'
Mark.12.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- παρα: PREP
- κυριου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εγενετο: VERB,aor,mid,ind,3,sg
- αυτη: PRON,dat,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- θαυμαστη: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- εν: PREP
- οφθαλμοις: NOUN,dat,pl,m
- ημων: PRON,gen,pl,1
Parallels
- Psalm 118:22-23 (quotation): The original OT source: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes,' which Mark cites verbatim.
- Matthew 21:42 (quotation): Parallel Synoptic account: Jesus cites the same Psalm in the parable of the tenants, using the 'stone...marvelous in our eyes' language.
- Luke 20:17-18 (quotation): Another Synoptic parallel where Jesus quotes the Psalm about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone and warns about judgment.
- Acts 4:11 (quotation): Peter (and John) quote the same Psalm in their defense, identifying Jesus as the rejected stone that became the cornerstone.
- 1 Peter 2:7 (allusion): Peter echoes the rejected-stone/cornerstone motif from Psalm 118 and applies it theologically to Christ (and to believers as 'living stones').
Alternative generated candidates
- this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?'
- 'This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes'?
Mark.12.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Και: CONJ
- εζητουν: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,pl
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- κρατησαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- και: CONJ
- εφοβηθησαν: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,pl
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- οχλον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- εγνωσαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- γαρ: PART
- οτι: CONJ
- προς: PREP
- αυτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- παραβολην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- ειπεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- αφεντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- απηλθον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
Parallels
- Matthew 21:45-46 (verbal): Close synoptic parallel to Mark 12:12 in the parable of the tenants: the chief priests and Pharisees perceive the parable is against them, seek to arrest Jesus, but fear the crowd and leave.
- Luke 20:19-20 (verbal): Luke's account of the same incident: the leaders fear the people after realizing the parable targets them, and they send spies to trap Jesus—reflecting the same dynamics of attempted arrest and popular fear.
- Mark 14:1-2 (verbal): Later in Mark, the chief priests and scribes plot to arrest and kill Jesus but decide not to act during the festival 'lest there be an uproar among the people,' echoing the concern about popular reaction found in 12:12.
- John 11:53 (thematic): John records the Jewish leaders' decision to plot Jesus' death (they 'took counsel' to put him to death), paralleling the theme of the authorities' intent to seize and eliminate Jesus when circumstances allow.
Alternative generated candidates
- They sought to arrest him, but feared the crowd; for they perceived that he had spoken the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
- They sought to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they perceived that he had spoken the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
And he began to speak to them in parables. He said, "A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a winepress, built a tower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went into another country."
At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenant farmers to receive from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent them another servant; and they beat him as well, insulted him, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third; and they wounded him and cast him out.
He still had one—his beloved son. Last of all he sent him to them, saying, "They will respect my son." But the tenant farmers said to one another, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." So they seized him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.
Have you not read this scripture: "The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone"?
This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
They sought to seize him, but they feared the crowd—because they knew he had spoken the parable against them—so they left him and went away.