But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”
They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes?’
“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv38, 41, 42, 43 Word for word, let us hold it fast.
Word for word, let us hold it fast.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv37–43 37 But last of all he sent unto them…
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Ver. 37. They will reverence my son] They will look another way for shame (so the word εντραπησονται imports): they will never be able to look him in the face, they will be so abashed of their former villanies. But it happened far otherwise, for these frontless fellows, past grace, as we say, had faces hatched all over with impudence, and that could blush no more than a sackbut. Sin had woaded shamelessness in their foreheads, and they were as good at resisting the Holy Ghost as ever their fathers were.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv37, 38, 40, 42 Mark saith he had but one son, his well…
Mark saith he had but one son, his well beloved, Mar 12:6. Luke saith, Luk 20:13, Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. God is here brought in acting after the manner of men, using all probable means to get their rent: we must not fancy that God did not know what men would do. God, after all his prophets, sent his only Son to the Jews and to their priests, his well beloved Son; he said, Perhaps they will reverence my Son. These words must be understood, not as expressing what they would do, or what appeared to God probable that they would do, but as expressive of what they ought to do, and what God might reasonably expect from them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv40, 42 Observe here, At the first mentioning of the parable,…
Observe here, At the first mentioning of the parable, the Pharisees express a bitter indignation against such wicked servants, not considering what a dreadful sentence they passed upon themselves and their own nation. Little did they think, that thereby they condemned their temple to be burnt, their city to be destroyed, their country to be ruined; but in these words they vindicate God, they condemn themselves, and own the justice of God, in inflicting the severest punishments on them.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv37–43 But last of all,.... In the last times, in…
But last of all,.... In the last times, in the last days, in the end of the world, the Jewish world, at the close of their ecclesiastic and civil state; after all the prophets had been sent, and finished their course, came the greatest prophet of all, to seal up the vision and prophecy:
he sent unto them son; not a servant as before, but a son; his own son, his only begotten son, the son of his love, his dearly beloved one; him he sent to these husbandmen the Jews. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, was sent only to the house of Israel: he was the minister of the circumcision; he was the great prophet raised up among them, and was sent to bless them, by turning them from their iniquities; he came to them, to his own, to them of his own nation, but they received him not:
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saying, they will reverence my son. The Son of God is to be reverenced equally as his Father, since he is in nature and glory equal to him; and it is the will of his Father he should be so reverenced, as he is by the angels in heaven, and by the saints, both in heaven and in earth; but did these husbandmen reverence him? no; they despised and rejected him; they reproached and traduced him, as the vilest of men, and used him in the most cruel and barbarous manner. And did not his Father know this? yes; this is certain from his omniscience, which reaches to all future events, the most minute and contingent; and from the predictions of the usage of these persons of him, delivered long before it came to pass. Luke says, "it may be they will reverence him": so that it was not a positive affirmation, that they would do it, and which also is to be understood after the manner of men: that humanly speaking, it might be expected that they would give him reverence, in consideration of the dignity of his person, his character, and relation to God, which was his due and their duty; but he had a very different treatment from them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv41–43 They say - Perhaps some of the by-standers, not…
They say - Perhaps some of the by-standers, not the chief priests or Pharisees; who, as St. Luke relates, said, God forbid, Luke xx, 16.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43 Verse 37. Last of all he sent - his…
Verse 37. Last of all he sent - his son] This requires no comment. Our Lord plainly means himself.
They will reverence] εντραπησονται, they will reflect upon their conduct and blush for shame because of it, when they see my son. So the Syric and Persic.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv40, 42 Mat 21:40-41. When the Lord cometh — Armed with…
Mat 21:40-41. When the Lord cometh — Armed with a power which they will be utterly unable to resist, What will he do unto these husbandmen — Who had been so treacherous and cruel? With a view to their stronger conviction, he refers it to themselves to judge in this case. For God’s proceedings are so unexceptionable, there needs only an appeal to sinners themselves concerning the equity of them. They say, (for how could they with any decency say otherwise?) He will miserably destroy these wicked men — Κακους κακως απολεσει αυτους, he will put those wretches to a wretched death: (So Campbell:) and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen. Thus, before they were aware, they condemned themselves, and signified that their privileges and blessings would be taken from them, the governors of their church and commonwealth destroyed, and the Gentiles taken to be God’s people in their stead: an interpretation of the parable which our Lord immediately confirmed, Luk 20:16; when they replied with apparent seriousness, God forbid.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv37, 38, 41, 42, 43 They will reverence, &c. This is not said, as…
They will reverence, &c. This is not said, as if God were ignorant what the Jews would do to his only begotten Son, since in this very place he declares that they would condemn him to death; but, to shew what they ought to have done, and what he had a right to expect from them. (Nicholas de Lyra.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv37–43 But last of all he sent unto them his…
But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son--In Mark (Mar 12:6) this is most touchingly expressed: "Having yet therefore one son, His well-beloved, He sent Him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence My Son." Luke's version of it too (Luk 20:13) is striking: "Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send My beloved Son: it may be they will reverence Him when they see Him." Who does not see that our Lord here severs Himself, by the sharpest line of demarcation, from all merely human messengers, and claims for Himself Sonship in its loftiest sense? (Compare Heb 3:3-6). The expression, "It may be they will reverence My Son," is designed to teach the almost unimaginable guilt of not reverentially welcoming God's Son.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43 37. Last of all… his son — Let it…
37. Last of all… his son — Let it be remembered that this parable is uttered on occasion of their demanding by what authority he did these things, (Mat_21:23.) Jesus first confounds them by asking a question they could not answer, (24-27.) He then propounds a parable, (28-32,) portraying their spirit in asking the question. In the present parable he is obliging them to perceive the answer he could give to their demand for his authority. The same authority that sent God’s messengers of old to your fathers, has in these last days sent to you his Son. They will reverence my son — These words represent God’s rightful expectation; that is, the expectation he has a right to have. If a human householder would have such an expectation, much more God has a reason and a right to expect reverence for his Son.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv38, 39, 41, 42 38. let us seize on his inheritance] This would…
38. let us seize on his inheritance] This would be impossible in real life, but not more impossible than the thought of the Pharisees that by the death of Jesus they would gain the spiritual supremacy.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv37, 38, 39, 41, 42 (37) Last of all.—The variations in the other Gospels…
(37) Last of all.—The variations in the other Gospels are noticeable as more vivid and dramatic. “He had yet one son, his beloved” (Mar_12:6). “He said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son, it may be they will reverence him” (Luk_20:13). The language of deliberation and doubt is evidently inapplicable, except by a bold anthropomorphism, to divine acts, but it sets forth (1) the gradually ascending scale of those who were sent, culminating in a difference not of degree only, but of kind, like the contrast between the prophets and the Son in Heb_1:1-2; and (2) the employment by God, in His long-suffering pity, of all possible means to lead His people to repentance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv37–43 Last of all; usteron : afterwards, later on. The…
Last of all; usteron : afterwards, later on. The parable now allegorizes the near present, and future, in such a way as for the moment to conceal its bearing, and to lead the hearers to pronounce their own condemnation: His son. Even Jesus Christ, who was now among them, incarnate, teaching, and demanding of them fruits of righteousness. Here was the authorization which they had required (ver. 23). God sent his Son. They will reverence my Son. God condescends to speak in human language, as hoping for a good result from this last effort for man"s salvation. He, as it were, puts aside his foreknowledge, and gives scope to man"s free will. Though the sad issue is known to him, he often acts towards men as if he had hope that they would still use the occasion profitably. In the present case, whereas the immediate result of the last measure was disastrous, the expectation was ultimately realized in the conversion of many Jews to Christianity, which led to the bringing of all nations to the obedience of the faith.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v42 The stone which the builders rejected.
Mat_21:42
The stone which the builders rejected.
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Redemption a marvellous work
I. It is Gods work.
1. Contrary to intentions or acts of the builders.
2. No one else competent to perform it.
II. It is a marvellous work.
1. From extent of agency employed.
2. Divine attributes displayed.
3. Demerit of its objects.
4. Number and extent of its benefits-
(a) wrath removed;
(b) reconciliation and peace;
(c) access to God;
(d) adoption;
(e) sanctified nature;
(f) eternal life. Learn-
(1) this work challenges our trust;
(2) requires thought;
(3) Demands unceasing praise. (Preachers Portfolio.)
It will grind him to powder:-Penalty of unbelief
I remember, away up in a lonely Highland valley, where beneath a tall black cliff, all weather-worn and cracked and seamed, there lies at the foot, resting on the green sward that creeps round its base, a huge rock that has fallen from the face of the precipice. A shepherd was passing beneath it, and suddenly, when the finger of Gods will touched it, and rent it from its bed in the everlasting rock, it came down, leaping and bounding from pinnacle to pinnacle, and it fell; and the man who was beneath it is there now! It will grind him to powder.… Therefore I say to you, since all that stand against Him shall become as the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and be swept utterly away, make Him the foundation on which you build, and when the storm sweeps away every refuge of lies you will be safe and serene, builded upon the Rock of Ages. (Dr. McLaren)
Judgment and mercy
I. The greatest judgment which can ever befall a people is taking the kingdom of God from them. The kingdom of God was taken by the Jews themselves for some peculiar and temporal blessings which those who enjoyed it had above all other people. It was taken by our Saviour for a clearer manifestation of the will of God to the world, and the consequence of that in the hearts of good men, and all the spiritual blessings which do attend it. So that the taking away the kingdom of God from them must needs be the heaviest judgment which could befall a people, since it implies in it the taking away all the greatest temporal and spiritual blessings. Jews make the kingdom of God to consist
(1) in deliverance of them from their enemies;
(2) in the flourishing of their state, or that polity which God established among them;
(3) in the solemn worship of Him at the temple.
All these were taken away. Take the kingdom of God in the sense our Saviour meant-the power of the gospel-and the judgment is yet more evident.
1. It is acknowledged by the Jews themselves that these great calamities have happened to them for some extraordinary sins.
2. The sin ought to be looked on as so much greater by how much heavier and longer this punishment hath been than any inflicted on them before.
3. The Jews have not suffered these calamities for the same sins for which they suffered before.
4. It must be some sin which their fathers committed, and which continues yet unrepented of by them to this day.
There were these remarkable forerunners of desolation in the Jewish state which I am afraid we are too much concerned in.
1. A strange degeneracy of all sorts of men from the virtues of their ancestors.
2. A general stupidity and inapprehensiveness of common danger.
3. An atheistical contempt of religion.
4. Spiritual pride.
II. The greatest mercy that can ever be vouchsafed to a nation is Gods giving His kingdom to it. (Bishop Stilligfleet.)
The head stone of the corner
The Jews were the first builders to whom God gave the privilege to build His Church. Three things the corner-stone is to the builders work-
1. The structure ranges up to the corner-stone. All else is below, that it may be high; all ministers to it. Abase yourself that Christ may be exalted.
2. The whole fabric holds up the head of the corner to the view of men that it may be admired. Take care that the aspect which your religion wears to every man is not yourself, but Christ.
3. Let Christ, as the stone does the corner, bind everything. He is the one cementing all that is true. Whatever is in Christ, though it be repugnant to your feelings, do not send it away from you. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The stone of stumbling
The two clauses of the text figuratively point to two different classes of operation-in the one case the stone is represented as passive, lying quiet; in the other, it has got motion. In the one case, it is a self-inflicted, remedial injury; in the other, it is total and judicial.
I. Every man has some kind of connection with Christ. The gospel must influence every man somehow; it is an element in our present civilization. Christ does something to every one of us. He is either the rock on which I build or a stone of stumbling.
II. The immediate issue of rejection of him is loss and maiming-Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. The positive harm. No man ever yet passively rejected Christ; there is always a slight struggle with right before living away. So that every man who rejects Christ wounds his own conscience, hardens his own heart, makes himself a worse man. By the natural result of his unbelief his nature shall be broken. I need not dwell on the negative evil results of unbelief; we fail to possess the great Jove of God by which only we are made what we ought to be. Not only by the act of rejection of Christ do we maim ourselves, but also all attempts of opposition to the gospel as a system stand self-convicted-Whosoever falls on this stone shall be broken.
III. The ultimate issue of unbelief is irremediable destruction when Christ begins to move. The former clause has spoken about the passive operation of unbelief whilst the gospel is being preached; this about the active agency of Christ, It shall grind him to powder. (A. McLaren, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv37–43 37. Last of all he sent unto them his…
37. Last of all he sent unto them his son. This was the last and crowning effort of divine mercy; after which, on the one side, all the resources, even of heavenly love, are exhausted; on the other, the measure of sins is perfectly filled up.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv42–43 Jehovah. Psa 118:23.
Lord’s
Jehovah. Psa 118:23.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv37, 42 v. 37. But last of all he sent unto…
v. 37. But last of all he sent unto them. his son, saying, They will relevance my son.
v. 38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
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v. 39. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
v. 40. When the lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
v. 41. They say unto Him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
The patience of the master was still not exhausted. He determined upon one last measure to bring those husbandmen to their senses and, incidentally, to obtain the fruits of his garden. He thought they would surely relevance, show the proper respect to, his son, with deep shame for their former conduct and an earnest desire to regain the trust of the master. But the wickedness of these husbandmen, exceeded the ordinary measure. With truly devilish malice they resolved to kill the heir. By removing the heir, they hoped to take the heritage without opposition, to seize it as their own. Having reached the climax of His story, Jesus paused to ask the opinion of His hearers as to the fate of those husbandmen when the lord would return. Without hesitation came the answer that he would most miserably put to death those miserable and wicked servants, and entrust his vineyard to honest husbandmen that would give the stipulated rental at the proper time. In giving this answer, in which Jesus heartily concurred, the members of the Jewish council either put up a bold front in apparent indignation over such outrageous wickedness, though they felt that the parable was meant for them, or they were really too blind to see the connection of the Lord’s words. But in either event their judgment was a sentence of destruction upon themselves and all those of their people that willingly followed them in their wickedness, in their rejection of the Savior.
For the explanation of the parable is evident at a glance. God Himself is the Ruler of the household. The vineyard, as in the Old Testament passages is His. Church, which He had planted in the midst of the people of Israel, His chosen people. He had given to this nation the full measure of His goodness and mercy. He had drawn a hedge about them against the heathen, the ceremonial law, the theocratic form of government. He had given them the strong watch-tower of the kingdom of David and his descendants. He had given them all the external advantages which would enable them to prove themselves a holy nation. But the fruit He expected was not forthcoming. He sent Samuel and other prophets at the time of the judges. He sent more and greater prophets than before with powerful preaching and great signs and wonders. But their abuse of His messengers increased with the passing of time, as in the case of Elijah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, 2Ch 24:20; Mat 23:37; Jer 3:20; Heb 11:36-38; Luk 11:47-51. Last of all He sent His only, His well-beloved Son, hoping that they would recognize Him as His personal representative and give Him the respect and relevance due Him. But they hardened their hearts against His teaching and against His miracles, held councils of hatred against Him, and finally put Him to death, after a formal excommunication. Thus the husbandmen, the prominent members of the Jewish people, and especially their chief priests and elders, the scribes and Pharisees, rejected the counsel of God toward themselves and brought down damnation upon their own heads. And the vineyard with its fruit, the kingdom of God with the riches of His mercy and love, was given to the Gentiles, who accepted it and have since enjoyed its blessings and, in a measure at least, paid the fruits that God demanded, in good works.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv38, 40, 42, 43 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues telling a parable. (See: Parables)
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translationWords
heir
possess
inherit
vineyard
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv37, 40, 41, 42, 43 21:37 Finally: God’s revelation climaxed in Jesus (see 13:16-17;…
21:37 Finally: God’s revelation climaxed in Jesus (see 13:16-17; Heb 1:1-2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.