36:15 The Lord God of their ancestors 1 continually warned them through his messengers, 2 for he felt compassion for his people and his dwelling place. 36:16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his warnings, 3 and ridiculed his prophets. 4 Finally the Lord got very angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment. 5
9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. 15 They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.
20:9 Then 51 he began to tell the people this parable: “A man 52 planted a vineyard, 53 leased it to tenant farmers, 54 and went on a journey for a long time. 20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave 55 to the tenants so that they would give 56 him his portion of the crop. 57 However, the tenants beat his slave 58 and sent him away empty-handed. 20:11 So 59 he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. 60 20:12 So 61 he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out. 20:13 Then 62 the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; 63 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 64 they threw him out of the vineyard and killed 65 him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
1 tn Heb “fathers.”
2 tn Heb “and the
3 tn Heb “his words.”
4 tn All three verbal forms (“mocked,” “despised,” and “ridiculed”) are active participles in the Hebrew text, indicating continual or repeated action. They made a habit of rejecting God’s prophetic messengers.
5 tn Heb “until the anger of the
6 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
7 tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.
9 tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuonte") in Acts 17:13.
sn Inciting. Ironically, it was the Jews who were disturbing the peace, not the Christians.
10 tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.
11 tn Grk “to the sea.” Here ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ({ew" epi thn qalassan) must mean “to the edge of the sea,” that is, “to the coast.” Since there is no mention of Paul taking a ship to Athens, he presumably traveled overland. The journey would have been about 340 mi (550 km).
12 tn Grk “remained there”; the referent (Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.
14 sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.
15 tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”
16 tn Heb “from the day your ancestors…until this very day.” However, “day” here is idiomatic for “the present time.”
17 tn On the Hebrew idiom see the note at 7:13.
18 tc There is some textual debate about the legitimacy of this expression here. The text reads merely “day” (יוֹם, yom). BHS suggests the word is to be deleted as a dittography of the plural ending of the preceding word. The word is in the Greek and Latin, and the Syriac represents the typical idiom “day after day” as though the noun were repeated. Either יוֹם has dropped out by haplography or a ם (mem) has been left out, i.e., reading יוֹמָם (yomam, “daily”).
19 tn Or “But your predecessors…”; Heb “But they….” There is a confusing interchange in the pronouns in vv. 25-26 which has led to some leveling in the ancient versions and the modern English versions. What is involved here are four levels of referents, the “you” of the present generation (vv. 21-22a), the ancestors who were delivered from Egypt (i.e., the “they” of vv. 22b-24), the “you” of v. 25 which involves all the Israelites from the Exodus to the time of speaking, and the “they” of v. 26 which cannot be the ancestors of vv. 22-24 (since they cannot be more wicked than themselves) but must be an indefinite entity which is a part of the “you” of v. 25, i.e., the more immediate ancestors of the present generation. If this is kept in mind, there is no need to level the pronouns to “they” and “them” or to “you” and “your” as some of the ancient versions and modern English versions have done.
20 tn Heb “hardened [or made stiff] their neck.”
21 tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.
22 tn The vav consecutive with the perfect in a past narrative is a little unusual. Here it is probably indicating repeated action in past time in keeping with the idiom that precedes and follows it. See GKC 332 §112.f for other possible examples.
23 tn Heb “inclined your ear to hear.” This is idiomatic for “paying attention.” It is often parallel with “listen” as here or with “pay attention” (see, e.g., Prov 4:20; 51:1).
24 tn Heb “saying.” The infinitive goes back to “he sent”; i.e., “he sent, saying.”
25 tn Heb “Turn [masc. pl.] each person from his wicked way and from the evil of your [masc. pl.] doings.” See the same demand in 23:22.
26 tn Heb “gave to you and your fathers with reference to from ancient times even unto forever.” See the same idiom in 7:7.
27 tn See the translator’s note on 7:13 for the idiom here.
28 tn See 7:13 for an explanation of this idiom and compare 7:25; 25:4; 26:5; 29:19; 35:15 for similar references to the persistent warnings of the prophets.
29 tn Heb “sent…over again, saying, ‘Do not do this terrible thing that I hate.’” The indirect quote has been used to shorten the sentence and eliminate one level of embedded quotes.
sn This refers to the worship of other gods mentioned in the previous verse.
30 tn There appears to be a deliberate shift in the pronouns used in vv. 2-5. “You” refers to the people living in Egypt who are being addressed (v. 2) and to the people of present and past generations to whom the
31 tn Heb “They did not listen or incline their ear [= pay attention] by turning from their wickedness by not sacrificing to other gods.” The לְ (lamed) + the negative + the infinitive is again epexegetical. The sentence has been restructured and more idiomatic English expressions have been used to better conform with contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to retain the basic relationships of subordination.
32 sn The effect of what the experts in the law were doing was to deny the message of the prophets and thus honor their death by supporting those who had sought their removal. The charge that this is what previous generations did shows the problem is chronic. As T. W. Manson said, the charge here is “The only prophet you honor is a dead prophet!” (The Sayings of Jesus, 101).
33 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
34 tn Grk “you are witnesses and approve of.”
35 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
36 tn Grk “them”; the referent (the prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37 tn “Their,” i.e., the prophets.
38 tc The majority of
39 sn The expression the wisdom of God is a personification of an attribute of God that refers to his wise will.
40 tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.
41 tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.
42 tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.
43 sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.
44 sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.
45 tn Or “who perished.”
46 tn Or “and the temple”; Grk “and the house,” but in this context a reference to the house of God as a place of sanctuary.
47 tn Or “required from.”
48 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
49 tn Or “obey”; Grk “hear.” See the note on the phrase “respond to” in v. 29.
50 sn The concluding statement of the parable, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead, provides a hint that even Jesus’ resurrection will not help some to respond. The message of God should be good enough. Scripture is the sign to be heeded.
51 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.
52 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.
53 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.
54 sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.
55 sn This slave (along with the next two) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.
56 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.
57 tn Grk “from the fruit of the vineyard.”
58 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
sn The image of the tenants beating up the owner’s slave pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.
59 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.
60 sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.
61 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first two slaves.
62 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
63 tn Grk “my beloved son.” See comment at Luke 3:22.
sn The owner’s decision to send his one dear son represents God sending Jesus.
64 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son.
65 sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.