Zakharia 11:8-9

11:8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month, ¹  for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well. 11:9 I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”

Zakharia 11:15-17

11:15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ²  11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ³  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ⁴  and tear off their hooves.

11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!

May his arm wither completely away,

and his right eye become completely blind!”

Maleakhi 2:1-3

The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message

2:1 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ⁵  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ⁶  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 2:3 I am about to discipline your children ⁷  and will spread offal ⁸  on your faces, ⁹  the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it.

Maleakhi 2:9

2:9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your ¹⁰  instruction.”

Matius 21:41-45

21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ¹¹ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ¹² 

21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people ¹³  who will produce its fruit. 21:44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ¹⁴  21:45 When ¹⁵  the chief priests and the Pharisees ¹⁶  heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.

Markus 12:8-9

12:8 So ¹⁷  they seized him, ¹⁸  killed him, and threw his body ¹⁹  out of the vineyard. ²⁰  12:9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy ²¹  those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ²² 

Lukas 20:16-18

20:16 He will come and destroy ²³  those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” ²⁴  When the people ²⁵  heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” ²⁶  20:17 But Jesus ²⁷  looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? ²⁸  20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, ²⁹  and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ³⁰ 

[11:8]  ¹ sn Zechariah is only dramatizing what God had done historically (see the note on the word “cedars” in 11:1). The “one month” probably means just any short period of time in which three kings ruled in succession. Likely candidates are Elah, Zimri, Tibni (1 Kgs 16:8-20); Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem (2 Kgs 15:8-16); or Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:1–25:7).

[11:15]  ² sn The grammar (e.g., the incipient participle מֵקִים, maqim, “about to raise up,” v. 16) and overall sense of vv. 15-17 give the incident a future orientation. Zechariah once more is role-playing but this time he is a “foolish” shepherd, i.e., one who does not know God and who is opposed to him (cf. Prov 1:7; 15:5; 20:3; 27:22). The individual who best represents this eschatological enemy of God and his people is the Antichrist (cf. Matt 24:5, 24; 2 Thess 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

[11:16]  ³ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

[11:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

[2:3]  ⁷ tc The phrase “discipline your children” is disputed. The LXX and Vulgate suppose זְרוֹעַ (zÿroa’, “arm”) for the MT זֶרַע (zera’, “seed”; hence, “children”). Then, for the MT גֹעֵר (go’er, “rebuking”) the same versions suggest גָּרַע (gara’, “take away”). The resulting translation is “I am about to take away your arm” (cf. NAB “deprive you of the shoulder”). However, this reading is unlikely. It is common for a curse (v. 2) to fall on offspring (see, e.g., Deut 28:18, 32, 41, 53, 55, 57), but a curse never takes the form of a broken or amputated arm. It is preferable to retain the reading of the MT here.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term פֶרֶשׁ (feresh, “offal”) refers to the entrails as ripped out in preparing a sacrificial victim (BDB 831 s.v. פֶּרֶשׁ). This graphic term has been variously translated: “dung” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); “refuse” (NKJV, NASB); “offal” (NEB, NIV).

[2:3]  ⁹ sn See Zech 3:3-4 for similar coarse imagery which reflects cultic disqualification.

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).

[21:42]  ¹¹ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[21:42]  sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.

[21:42]  ¹² sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[21:43]  ¹³ tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).

[21:44]  ¹⁴ tc A few witnesses, especially of the Western text (D 33 it sy^s Or Eus^syr), do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in א B C L W Z (Θ) 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy^c,p,h co and should be included as authentic.

[21:44]  tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

[21:44]  sn This proverb basically means that the stone crushes, without regard to whether it falls on someone or someone falls on it. On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.

[21:45]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[21:45]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:8]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[12:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

[12:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “him.”

[12:8]  ²⁰ sn Throwing the heir’s body out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.

[12:9]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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.

[20:16]  ²³ 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.

[20:16]  ²⁴ 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.

[20:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people addressed in v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:16]  ²⁶ sn May this never happen! Jesus’ audience got the point and did not want to consider a story where the nation would suffer judgment.

[20:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:17]  ²⁸ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[20:17]  sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.

[20:18]  ²⁹ tn On this term, see BDAG 972 s.v. συνθλάω.

[20:18]  ³⁰ tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

[20:18]  sn This proverb basically means that the stone crushes, without regard to whether it falls on someone or someone falls on it. On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.