34 And G1161 when G3753 the time G2540 of the fruit G2590 drew near, G1448 he sent G649 his G846 servants G1401 to G4314 the husbandmen, G1092 that they might receive G2983 the fruits G2590 of it. G846
Yet the LORD H3068 testified H5749 against Israel, H3478 and against Judah, H3063 by H3027 all the prophets, H5030 and by all the seers, H2374 saying, H559 Turn H7725 ye from your evil H7451 ways, H1870 and keep H8104 my commandments H4687 and my statutes, H2708 according to all the law H8451 which I commanded H6680 your fathers, H1 and which I sent H7971 to you by H3027 my servants H5650 the prophets. H5030 Notwithstanding they would not hear, H8085 but hardened H7185 their necks, H6203 like to the neck H6203 of their fathers, H1 that did not believe H539 in the LORD H3068 their God. H430 And they rejected H3988 his statutes, H2706 and his covenant H1285 that he made H3772 with their fathers, H1 and his testimonies H5715 which he testified H5749 against them; and they followed H3212 H310 vanity, H1892 and became vain, H1891 and went after H310 the heathen H1471 that were round about H5439 them, concerning whom the LORD H3068 had charged H6680 them, that they should not do H6213 like them. And they left H5800 all the commandments H4687 of the LORD H3068 their God, H430 and made H6213 them molten images, H4541 even two H8147 calves, H5695 and made H6213 a grove, H842 and worshipped H7812 all the host H6635 of heaven, H8064 and served H5647 Baal. H1168 And they caused their sons H1121 and their daughters H1323 to pass H5674 through the fire, H784 and used H7080 divination H7081 and enchantments, H5172 and sold H4376 themselves to do H6213 evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD, H3068 to provoke him to anger. H3707 Therefore the LORD H3068 was very H3966 angry H599 with Israel, H3478 and removed H5493 them out of his sight: H6440 there was none left H7604 but the tribe H7626 of Judah H3063 only. Also Judah H3063 kept H8104 not the commandments H4687 of the LORD H3068 their God, H430 but walked H3212 in the statutes H2708 of Israel H3478 which they made. H6213 And the LORD H3068 rejected H3988 all the seed H2233 of Israel, H3478 and afflicted H6031 them, and delivered H5414 them into the hand H3027 of spoilers, H8154 until he had cast H7993 them out of his sight. H6440 For he rent H7167 Israel H3478 from the house H1004 of David; H1732 and they made Jeroboam H3379 the son H1121 of Nebat H5028 king: H4427 and Jeroboam H3379 drave H5080 H5077 Israel H3478 from following H310 the LORD, H3068 and made them sin H2398 a great H1419 sin. H2401 For the children H1121 of Israel H3478 walked H3212 in all the sins H2403 of Jeroboam H3379 which he did; H6213 they departed H5493 not from them; Until the LORD H3068 removed H5493 Israel H3478 out of his sight, H6440 as he had said H1696 by H3027 all his servants H5650 the prophets. H5030 So was Israel H3478 carried away H1540 out of their own land H127 to Assyria H804 unto this day. H3117
And the LORD H3068 God H430 of their fathers H1 sent H7971 to them by H3027 his messengers, H4397 rising up betimes, H7925 and sending; H7971 because he had compassion H2550 on his people, H5971 and on his dwelling place: H4583 But they mocked H3931 the messengers H4397 of God, H430 and despised H959 his words, H1697 and misused H8591 his prophets, H5030 until the wrath H2534 of the LORD H3068 arose H5927 against his people, H5971 till there was no remedy. H4832
And testifiedst H5749 against them, that thou mightest bring them again H7725 unto thy law: H8451 yet they dealt proudly, H2102 and hearkened H8085 not unto thy commandments, H4687 but sinned H2398 against thy judgments, H4941 (which if a man H120 do, H6213 he shall live H2421 in them;) and withdrew H5414 H5637 the shoulder, H3802 and hardened H7185 their neck, H6203 and would not hear. H8085 Yet many H7227 years H8141 didst thou forbear H4900 them, and testifiedst H5749 against them by thy spirit H7307 in H3027 thy prophets: H5030 yet would they not give ear: H238 therefore gavest H5414 thou them into the hand H3027 of the people H5971 of the lands. H776
Solomon H8010 had a vineyard H3754 at Baalhamon; H1174 he let out H5414 the vineyard H3754 unto keepers; H5201 every one H376 for the fruit H6529 thereof was to bring H935 a thousand H505 pieces of silver. H3701 My vineyard, H3754 which is mine, is before H6440 me: thou, O Solomon, H8010 must have a thousand, H505 and those that keep H5201 the fruit H6529 thereof two hundred. H3967
From the thirteenth H7969 H6240 year H8141 of Josiah H2977 the son H1121 of Amon H526 king H4428 of Judah, H3063 even unto this day, H3117 that is the three H7969 and twentieth H6242 year, H8141 the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 hath come unto me, and I have spoken H1696 unto you, rising early H7925 and speaking; H1696 but ye have not hearkened. H8085 And the LORD H3068 hath sent H7971 unto you all his servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 rising early H7925 and sending H7971 them; but ye have not hearkened, H8085 nor inclined H5186 your ear H241 to hear. H8085 They said, H559 Turn ye again H7725 now every one H376 from his evil H7451 way, H1870 and from the evil H7455 of your doings, H4611 and dwell H3427 in the land H127 that the LORD H3068 hath given H5414 unto you and to your fathers H1 for H5704 ever H5769 and ever: H5769 And go H3212 not after H310 other H312 gods H430 to serve H5647 them, and to worship H7812 them, and provoke me not to anger H3707 with the works H4639 of your hands; H3027 and I will do you no hurt. H7489 Yet ye have not hearkened H8085 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 that ye might provoke me to anger H3707 with the works H4639 of your hands H3027 to your own hurt. H7451
Therefore say H559 thou unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Turn H7725 ye unto me, saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 and I will turn H7725 unto you, saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635 Be ye not as your fathers, H1 unto whom the former H7223 prophets H5030 have cried, H7121 saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Turn H7725 ye now from your evil H7451 ways, H1870 and from your evil H7451 doings: H4611 but they did not hear, H8085 nor hearken H7181 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Your fathers, H1 where are they? and the prophets, H5030 do they live H2421 for ever? H5769 But my words H1697 and my statutes, H2706 which I commanded H6680 my servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 did they not take hold H5381 of your fathers? H1 and they returned H7725 and said, H559 Like as the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 thought H2161 to do H6213 unto us, according to our ways, H1870 and according to our doings, H4611 so hath he dealt H6213 with us.
Thus speaketh H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 saying, H559 Execute H8199 true H571 judgment, H4941 and shew H6213 mercy H2617 and compassions H7356 every man H376 to his brother: H251 And oppress H6231 not the widow, H490 nor the fatherless, H3490 the stranger, H1616 nor the poor; H6041 and let none of you imagine H2803 evil H7451 against H376 his brother H251 in your heart. H3824 But they refused H3985 to hearken, H7181 and pulled away H5414 H5637 the shoulder, H3802 and stopped H3513 their ears, H241 that they should not hear. H8085 Yea, they made H7760 their hearts H3820 as an adamant stone, H8068 lest they should hear H8085 the law, H8451 and the words H1697 which the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 hath sent H7971 in his spirit H7307 by H3027 the former H7223 prophets: H5030 therefore came a great H1419 wrath H7110 from the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, H7121 and they would not hear; H8085 so they cried, H7121 and I would not hear, H8085 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts: H6635
And G2532 at the season G2540 he sent G649 to G4314 the husbandmen G1092 a servant, G1401 that G2443 he might receive G2983 from G3844 the husbandmen G1092 of G575 the fruit G2590 of the vineyard. G290 And G1161 they caught G2983 him, and beat G1194 him, G846 and G2532 sent him away G649 empty. G2756 And G2532 again G3825 he sent G649 unto G4314 them G846 another G243 servant; G1401 and at him G2548 they cast stones, G3036 and wounded him in the head, G2775 and G2532 sent him away G649 shamefully handled. G821 And G2532 again G3825 he sent G649 another; G243 and him G2548 they killed, G615 and G2532 many G4183 others; G243 G3303 beating some, G1194 and G1161 killing some. G615
And G2532 at G1722 the season G2540 he sent G649 a servant G1401 to G4314 the husbandmen, G1092 that G2443 they should give G1325 him G846 of G575 the fruit G2590 of the vineyard: G290 but G1161 the husbandmen G1092 beat G1194 him, G846 and sent him away G1821 empty. G2756 And G2532 again G4369 he sent G3992 another G2087 servant: G1401 and G1161 they beat G1194 him also, G2548 and G2532 entreated him shamefully, G818 and sent him away G1821 empty. G2756 And G2532 again G4369 he sent G3992 a third: G5154 and G1161 they wounded G5135 him G5126 also, G2532 and cast him out. G1544 Then G1161 said G2036 the lord G2962 of the vineyard, G290 What G5101 shall I do? G4160 I will send G3992 my G3450 beloved G27 son: G5207 it may be G2481 they will reverence G1788 him when they see G1492 him. G5126 But G1161 when the husbandmen G1092 saw G1492 him, G846 they reasoned G1260 among G4314 themselves, G1438 saying, G3004 This G3778 is G2076 the heir: G2818 come, G1205 let us kill G615 him, G846 that G2443 the inheritance G2817 may be G1096 ours. G2257 So G2532 they cast G1544 him G846 out of G1854 the vineyard, G290 and killed G615 him. What G5101 therefore G3767 shall G4160 the lord G2962 of the vineyard G290 do G4160 unto them? G846 He shall come G2064 and G2532 destroy G622 these G5128 husbandmen, G1092 and G2532 shall give G1325 the vineyard G290 to others. G243 And G1161 when they heard G191 it, they said, G2036 God forbid. G3361 G1096 And G1161 he beheld G1689 them, G846 and said, G2036 What G5101 is G2076 this G5124 then G3767 that is written, G1125 The stone G3037 which G3739 the builders G3618 rejected, G593 the same G3778 is become G1096 the head G2776 of G1519 the corner? G1137 Whosoever G3956 shall fall G4098 upon G1909 that G1565 stone G3037 shall be broken; G4917 but G1161 on G1909 whomsoever G3739 G302 it shall fall, G4098 it will grind G3039 him G846 to powder. G3039 And G2532 the chief priests G749 and G2532 the scribes G1122 the same G1722 G846 hour G5610 sought G2212 to lay G1911 hands G5495 on G1909 him; G846 and G2532 they feared G5399 the people: G2992 for G1063 they perceived G1097 that G3754 he had spoken G2036 this G5026 parable G3850 against G4314 them. G846
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Matthew 21
Commentary on Matthew 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
Mt 21:1-9. Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on the First Day of the Week. ( = Mr 11:1-11; Lu 19:29-40; Joh 12:12-19).
For the exposition of this majestic scene—recorded, as will be seen, by all the Evangelists—see on Lu 19:29-40.
Mt 21:10-22. Stir about Him in the City—Second Cleansing of the Temple, and Miracles There—Glorious Vindication of the Children's Testimony—The Barren Fig Tree Cursed, with Lessons from It. ( = Mr 11:11-26; Lu 19:45-48).
For the exposition, see on Lu 19:45-48; and Mr 11:12-26.
Mt 21:23-46. The Authority of Jesus Questioned and the Reply—The Parables of the Two Sons, and of the Wicked Husbandman. ( = Mr 11:27-12:12; Lu 20:1-19).
Now commences, as Alford remarks, that series of parables and discourses of our Lord with His enemies, in which He develops, more completely than ever before, His hostility to their hypocrisy and iniquity: and so they are stirred up to compass His death.
The Authority of Jesus Questioned, and the Reply (Mt 21:23-27).
23. By what authority doest thou these things!—referring particularly to the expulsion of the buyers and sellers from the temple,
and who gave thee this authority?
24. And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, &c.
25. The baptism of John—meaning his whole mission and ministry, of which baptism was the proper character.
whence was it? from heaven, or of men?—What wisdom there was in this way of meeting their question will best appear by their reply.
If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?—"Why did ye not believe the testimony which he bore to Me, as the promised and expected Messiah?" for that was the burden of John's whole testimony.
26. But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people—rather, "the multitude." In Luke (Lu 20:6) it is, "all the people will stone us"—"stone us to death."
for all hold John as a prophet—Crooked, cringing hypocrites! No wonder Jesus gave you no answer.
27. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell—Evidently their difficulty was, how to answer, so as neither to shake their determination to reject the claims of Christ nor damage their reputation with the people. For the truth itself they cared nothing whatever.
Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things—What composure and dignity of wisdom does our Lord here display, as He turns their question upon themselves, and, while revealing His knowledge of their hypocrisy, closes their mouths! Taking advantage of the surprise, silence, and awe produced by this reply, our Lord followed it up immediately by the two following parables.
Parable of the Two Sons (Mt 21:28-32).
28. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard—for true religion is a practical thing, a "bringing forth fruit unto God."
29. He answered and said, I will not—Trench notices the rudeness of this answer, and the total absence of any attempt to excuse such disobedience, both characteristic; representing careless, reckless sinners resisting God to His face.
30. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir—"I, sir." The emphatic "I," here, denotes the self-righteous complacency which says, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men" (Lu 18:11).
and went not—He did not "afterward repent" and refuse to go; for there was here no intention to go. It is the class that "say and do not" (Mt 23:3)—a falseness more abominable to God, says Stier, than any "I will not."
31. Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? They say unto him, The first—Now comes the application.
Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go—or, "are going"; even now entering, while ye hold back.
into the kingdom of God before you—The publicans and the harlots were the first son, who, when told to work in the Lord's vineyard, said, I will not; but afterwards repented and went. Their early life was a flat and flagrant refusal to do what they were commanded; it was one continued rebellion against the authority of God. The chief priests and the elders of the people, with whom our Lord was now speaking, were the second son, who said, I go, sir, but went not. They were early called, and all their life long professed obedience to God, but never rendered it; their life was one of continued disobedience.
32. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness—that is, calling you to repentance; as Noah is styled "a preacher of righteousness" (2Pe 2:5), when like the Baptist he warned the old world to "flee from the wrath to come."
and ye believed him not—They did not reject him; nay, they "were willing for a season to rejoice in his light" (Joh 5:35); but they would not receive his testimony to Jesus.
but the publicans and the harlots believed him—Of the publicans this is twice expressly recorded, Lu 3:12; 7:29. Of the harlots, then, the same may be taken for granted, though the fact is not expressly recorded. These outcasts gladly believed the testimony of John to the coming Saviour, and so hastened to Jesus when He came. See Lu 7:37; 15:1, &c.
and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him—Instead of being "provoked to jealousy" by their example, ye have seen them flocking to the Saviour and getting to heaven, unmoved.
Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Mt 21:33-46).
33. Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard—(See on Lu 13:6).
and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower—These details are taken, as is the basis of the parable itself, from that beautiful parable of Isa 5:1-7, in order to fix down the application and sustain it by Old Testament authority.
and let it out to husbandmen—These are just the ordinary spiritual guides of the people, under whose care and culture the fruits of righteousness are expected to spring up.
and went into a far country—"for a long time" (Lu 20:9), leaving the vineyard to the laws of the spiritual husbandry during the whole time of the Jewish economy. On this phraseology, see on Mr 4:26.
34. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen—By these "servants" are meant the prophets and other extraordinary messengers, raised up from time to time. See on Mt 23:37.
that they might receive the fruits of it—Again see on Lu 13:6.
35. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one—see Jer 37:15; 38:6.
and killed another—see Jer 26:20-23.
and stoned another—see 2Ch 24:21. Compare with this whole verse Mt 23:37, where our Lord reiterates these charges in the most melting strain.
36. Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them likewise—see 2Ki 17:13; 2Ch 36:16, 18; Ne 9:26.
37. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son—In Mark (Mr 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 (Lu 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.
38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves—Compare Ge 37:18-20; Joh 11:47-53.
This is the heir—Sublime expression this of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time is to come into the possession of, His own Son in our nature (Heb 1:2).
come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance—that so, from mere servants, we may become lords. This is the deep aim of the depraved heart; this is emphatically "the root of all evil."
39. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard—compare Heb 13:11-13 ("without the gate—without the camp"); 1Ki 21:13; Joh 19:17.
and slew him.
40. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh—This represents "the settling time," which, in the case of the Jewish ecclesiastics, was that judicial trial of the nation and its leaders which issued in the destruction of their whole state.
what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41. They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men—an emphatic alliteration not easily conveyed in English: "He will badly destroy those bad men," or "miserably destroy those miserable men," is something like it.
and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons—If this answer was given by the Pharisees, to whom our Lord addressed the parable, they thus unwittingly pronounced their own condemnation: as did David to Nathan the prophet (2Sa 12:5-7), and Simon the Pharisee to our Lord (Lu 7:43, &c.). But if it was given, as the two other Evangelists agree in representing it, by our Lord Himself, and the explicitness of the answer would seem to favor that supposition, then we can better explain the exclamation of the Pharisees which followed it, in Luke's report (Lu 20:16)—"And when they heard it, they said, God forbid"—His whole meaning now bursting upon them.
42. Jesus saith unto them. Did ye never read in the scriptures—(Ps 118:22, 23).
The stone which the builders rejected, &c.—A bright Messianic prophecy, which reappears in various forms (Isa 28:16, &c.), and was made glorious use of by Peter before the Sanhedrim (Ac 4:11). He recurs to it in his first epistle (1Pe 2:4-6).
43. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God—God's visible Kingdom, or Church, upon earth, which up to this time stood in the seed of Abraham.
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof—that is, the great evangelical community of the faithful, which, after the extrusion of the Jewish nation, would consist chiefly of Gentiles, until "all Israel should be saved" (Ro 11:25, 26). This vastly important statement is given by Matthew only.
44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder—The Kingdom of God is here a Temple, in the erection of which a certain stone, rejected as unsuitable by the spiritual builders, is, by the great Lord of the House, made the keystone of the whole. On that Stone the builders were now "falling" and being "broken" (Isa 8:15). They were sustaining great spiritual hurt; but soon that Stone should "fall upon them" and "grind them to powder" (Da 2:34, 35; Zec 12:2)—in their corporate capacity, in the tremendous destruction of Jerusalem, but personally, as unbelievers, in a more awful sense still.
45. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables—referring to that of the Two Sons and this one of the Wicked Husbandmen.
they perceived that he spake of them.
46. But when they sought to lay hands on him—which Luke (Lu 20:19) says they did "the same hour," hardly able to restrain their rage.
they feared the multitude—rather, "the multitudes."
because they took him for a prophet—just as they feared to say John's baptism was of men, because the masses took him for a prophet (Mt 21:26). Miserable creatures! So, for this time, "they left Him and went their way" (Mr 12:12).