Lukas 20:10-12

20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave ¹  to the tenants so that they would give ²  him his portion of the crop. ³  However, the tenants beat his slave ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed. 20:11 So ⁵  he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁶  20:12 So ⁷  he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out.

[20:10]  ¹ sn This slave (along with the next two) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

[20:10]  ² 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 ˹³ 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.

[20:10]  ³ tn Grk “from the fruit of the vineyard.”

[20:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:10]  sn The image of the tenants beating up the owner’s slave pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[20:11]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.

[20:11]  ⁶ sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.

[20:12]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first two slaves.