Markus 12:1-2

The Parable of the Tenants

12:1 Then ¹  he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. ²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ³  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁴  and went on a journey. 12:2 At harvest time he sent a slave ⁵  to the tenants to collect from them ⁶  his portion of the crop. ⁷ 

Markus 12:7

12:7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’

Markus 12:9

12:9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy ⁸  those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ⁹ 

[12:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ² 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.

[12:1]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁴ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[12:2]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[12:2]  sn This slave (along with the others) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

[12:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “from the tenants,” but this is redundant in English, so the pronoun (“them”) was used in the translation.

[12:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “from the fruits of the vineyard.”

[12:9]  ⁸ sn The statement that the owner will come and destroy those tenants is a promise of judgment; see Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44.

[12:9]  ⁹ sn The warning that the owner would give the vineyard to others suggests that the care of the promise and the nation’s hope would be passed to others. This eventually looks to Gentile inclusion; see Eph 2:11-22.