The Wicked Husbandmen
Encyclopedia
The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen is a parable
of Jesus
found in three of the four Canonical gospels (Luke
, Mark
, and Matthew
), and in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas
. It describes a householder planting a vineyard and letting it out to husbandmen, who failed in their duty.
This parable was about chief priests and Pharisees
and was given to the people present in the Temple
during the final week
before the death of Jesus.
, here is the parable as Matthew has written it :
All the Synoptic versions of the parable state that the priests of the Sanhedrin
understood that Jesus' parable was directed against them, and thus that they are the husbandmen. The term husbandman is translated as tenant or farmer in the New International Version
and as vine-grower in the New American Standard Bible
. Workers often tended absentee estates and if the owner had no heirs the workers would have the first right to the land.
The description of the vineyard is from Isaiah
5. Using a vineyard as a metaphor
to describe Israel
was a common practice for religious discourse at the time. It could also be God
's covenant
, or perhaps the world itself. The produce made at the vineyard might be a metaphor for all the good produced by the people, which the authorities are not sharing with God, and trying to keep for themselves. The produce of the vineyard might also be the people themselves, as people are what the government tends.
The owner of the vineyard is God and the son is Jesus. A common interpretation of the servants is that of the Jewish prophet
s, although they could be all of God's preceding messengers. The meaning of the "others" who will be given the vineyard is debated. Some proposed interpretations have seen them as other Jews, or Christians, or maybe even the Jewish Christians
. They are usually seen as the new Christian community.
As a consequence of these interpretations, the parable is usually interpreted as saying that God (the owner), keeps sending prophets (servants) to collect what is due, the grapes, a symbol of good. The priests (leaseholders) however refuse to comply with the prophets and instead hurt each one worse than they did the previous, wanting ever more control of Israel (the vineyard) for themselves; but when they finally kill the son, God (the owner) will revoke their right to Israel (the vineyard), and give it the followers of Jesus (the others) instead. God had granted his vineyard, his covenant, his land that produces grape
s, symbolizing good, to his workers, the Jewish priests or all the world's authorities, to be worked for his benefit. Yet when he sends someone to collect what is due, the prophets of the past, his tenants refuse to pay up and hurt each succeeding servant worse than the last, meaning the increasing disregard of the will of God. God has given the vineyard to be worked for God's benefit but the husbandmen seem to want to keep the produce, indeed control of the vineyard, for themselves. When they finally kill his son who came to collect what was due, God decides that he has made a mistake by granting the vineyard to them and takes it back and gives it to those he thinks will be more trustworthy.
Jesus is thus criticizing the Jewish authorities directly for rejecting God's will, and for their treatment of Jesus himself, Jesus being the son of the parable. The husbandmen could also be seen as all of human
ity as it is stated that they are the ones who killed the son, Jesus being killed by the Romans
at the request of the Jews.
People have seen meanings in the other elements of the story, such as the far country being heaven
, or more abstractly the time between Moses
and Jesus, but there is no general agreement on these elements of the story.
There also seems to be a direct historical reference by Jesus to Sennacherib
, king of Assyria
, some 700 years previous. Sennacherib
conquered Babylon
at the time that Hezekiah
was king of Judah
, and set up several rulers over the city, all of whom were overthrown. Finally, he sent his son and heir apparent Assur-nadin-sumi to rule, but after a short time, he was also killed. Finally, Sennacherib
himself went to Babylon
and destroyed the city stone by stone, and placed a curse
on it that it should not be rebuilt for seventy years.
Is Jesus saying that the chief priests and perhaps the Roman authorities must be replaced? That Judaism
will be reformed or, as Christian
s largely hold, replaced by Christianity
? Or that all of humanity's old ways are to be replaced by the new way taught by Jesus
? He is also telling this to the priests who know it is about them, so Jesus is accusing them of wanting to kill him, predicting
that they will, and that they will lose their deal with God
as punishment.
community. Jesus predicts he will be rejected
, perhaps meaning his death. This passage is a quote from Psalm 118:22-23. Many writers of the New Testament
used this Psalm to sum up their understanding of Jesus' death as part of his role as the messiah
. The Psalm refers to someone being saved from death by God. It is notable that the Hebrew
word for son, ben, is almost the same as stone, eben, which might be what generated seeing Jesus as a stone. Since the synoptics state Jesus said this in the Temple, this could reflect their view of Jesus as replacing the function of the Temple, bringing God's presence to humanity. God takes away the vineyard not for hurting or killing his servants but his son, showing how much he valued his son, and the quote shows the son's importance in God's new plan for the vineyard.
The saying about the stone being rejected by the builders technically refers to a cornerstone, but it is almost universally interpreted to mean a keystone
, and without that meaning the saying has very little significance. As a keystone, it is essentially an allegory for people rejecting the single most important thing (without a keystone, an arch
built from sections will collapse). Metaphorically, the saying, in the context of the Synoptics, is interpreted as a direct criticism of the priests for rejecting what was most important. Scholars are divided though, whether the stone is supposed to be Jesus himself, or whether it is just the teachings he gives
.
Skeptics
usually hold that Jesus did not really predict his own death and that predictions of this sort are examples of vaticinium ex eventu, prophecy after the fact. This could be seen as referring to the new Church's belief that they had superseded
Judaism
through Jesus' death, resurrection and role as the messiah. Others think it might be a reference to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem as seen by Christians as God's punishment for Jesus' death and their assumption that their new communities were the new Temple. There is no mention in the parable of the method of Jesus' death, crucifixion
, or resurrection
, unless the Psalm quote is counted. The son is killed outside the vineyard, which might be a reference to Jesus' death outside the city of Jerusalem, although in Mark's version of this parable he is killed inside and then thrown out.
Seeing Jesus as a "stone" to build on precedes Jerusalem's destruction however. Paul
, in his letter to the Romans
chapter 9:33, refers to Jesus as a stone. Paul does not use the Psalms for his scriptural support but instead uses quotes from Isaiah
8:14 and 28:16. Luke stated, probably after Jerusalem's destruction, in Acts of the Apostles
4:11 that Peter
used the same Psalm to describe Jesus shortly after Jesus' death. 1 Peter
, which most scholars consider pseudepigraphal, uses both Isaiah and the Psalm as references in 2:6-8.
The parable, according to the Q hypothesis, probably appeared first in Mark, then was copied and slightly altered by Matthew and Luke. Mark's source is in dispute, with the earliest tradition given by Papias
as Mark's source being Peter. It is also found in the Gospel of Thomas
as sayings 65-66, who some have suggested preceded the canonical Gospels, although its dating is still largely uncertain to scholars.
Here is the version of this parable that appears in Thomas (Patterson-Meyer Translation):
The part about the stone which has been rejected by the builders appears in the three canonical gospel accounts as well, but appears within the parable, instead of afterwards as a separate thought as it does here in the Gospel of Thomas. It also lacks Jesus' short explanation between the two found in the Synoptics.
The Gospels claim Jesus told this parable, but his statement about the stone seems to be taken from the Septuagint version of the Psalms, a version written in Koine Greek
and associated with Hellenistic Judaism
. There has been much skepticism over whether Jesus really said it, at least in this form, as he would probably have said it in Aramaic
or Hebrew
, although the Gospel authors may have used the only version of Jewish scripture they had available to them for composition. They might have also used the Greek version as they were writing for a Greek speaking audience. If both Matthew and Luke took it from Mark and kept the quote they thought Jesus had really said it. Jesus also uses it in Thomas in almost the same form.
Matthew's version states the method of killing the third servant, stoning, which the other versions lack. Stoning might be a reference to Christian martyr
s' deaths, perhaps the death of James the Just
. Matthew also has the priests say that the husbandmen should be thrown out, a joke on them when they later realize they are the husbandmen, although Mark and Luke have Jesus say that to them. Both Luke and Matthew have a statement about the stone's destructive power that Mark lacks.
Irenaeus
used this parable to defend the link between Judaism's God
and Jesus, in his Adversus Haereses. If one sees the servants as the Jewish prophets, then the owner who sent them must then be the same father of the son in the story, who are God the Father
and Jesus, so the God of the Jews must also be Jesus' father. Marcion
held that Jesus was not the son of the God described in the Jewish scriptures. Some have transferred this parable against the Jewish authorities to all Jews and have used it to justify anti-semitism
, although all the books agree it was directed against the chief priests, who were Sadducees
, not the Jewish people in general.
Parable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
found in three of the four Canonical gospels (Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
, Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
, and Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
), and in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
. It describes a householder planting a vineyard and letting it out to husbandmen, who failed in their duty.
This parable was about chief priests and Pharisees
Pharisees
The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
and was given to the people present in the Temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
during the final week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
before the death of Jesus.
The parable (from Matthew)
From the King James BibleKing James Version of the Bible
The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...
, here is the parable as Matthew has written it :
- There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyardVineyardA vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepressFruit pressA fruit press is a device used to separate fruit solids - stems, skins, seeds, pulp, leaves, and detritus - from fruit juice.-Cider press:A cider press is used to crush apples or pears...
in it, and built a towerTowerA tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....
, and let it out to husbandmenLeasehold estateA leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....
, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruitFruitIn broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
- And the husbandmen took his servants, and beatAssaultIn law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
one, and killedMurderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
another, and stonedStoningStoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
- But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritanceInheritanceInheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
- When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stoneRock (geology)In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
- Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of GodKingdom of GodThe Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
shall be taken from you, and given to a nationNationA nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
- And when the chief priests and PhariseesPhariseesThe Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophetProphetIn religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
Meaning
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
understood that Jesus' parable was directed against them, and thus that they are the husbandmen. The term husbandman is translated as tenant or farmer in the New International Version
New International Version
The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...
and as vine-grower in the New American Standard Bible
New American Standard Bible
The New American Standard Bible , also informally called New American Standard Version , is an English translation of the Bible....
. Workers often tended absentee estates and if the owner had no heirs the workers would have the first right to the land.
The description of the vineyard is from Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
5. Using a vineyard as a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
to describe Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
was a common practice for religious discourse at the time. It could also be God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
's covenant
Covenant (biblical)
A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...
, or perhaps the world itself. The produce made at the vineyard might be a metaphor for all the good produced by the people, which the authorities are not sharing with God, and trying to keep for themselves. The produce of the vineyard might also be the people themselves, as people are what the government tends.
The owner of the vineyard is God and the son is Jesus. A common interpretation of the servants is that of the Jewish prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s, although they could be all of God's preceding messengers. The meaning of the "others" who will be given the vineyard is debated. Some proposed interpretations have seen them as other Jews, or Christians, or maybe even the Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
. They are usually seen as the new Christian community.
As a consequence of these interpretations, the parable is usually interpreted as saying that God (the owner), keeps sending prophets (servants) to collect what is due, the grapes, a symbol of good. The priests (leaseholders) however refuse to comply with the prophets and instead hurt each one worse than they did the previous, wanting ever more control of Israel (the vineyard) for themselves; but when they finally kill the son, God (the owner) will revoke their right to Israel (the vineyard), and give it the followers of Jesus (the others) instead. God had granted his vineyard, his covenant, his land that produces grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s, symbolizing good, to his workers, the Jewish priests or all the world's authorities, to be worked for his benefit. Yet when he sends someone to collect what is due, the prophets of the past, his tenants refuse to pay up and hurt each succeeding servant worse than the last, meaning the increasing disregard of the will of God. God has given the vineyard to be worked for God's benefit but the husbandmen seem to want to keep the produce, indeed control of the vineyard, for themselves. When they finally kill his son who came to collect what was due, God decides that he has made a mistake by granting the vineyard to them and takes it back and gives it to those he thinks will be more trustworthy.
Jesus is thus criticizing the Jewish authorities directly for rejecting God's will, and for their treatment of Jesus himself, Jesus being the son of the parable. The husbandmen could also be seen as all of human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
ity as it is stated that they are the ones who killed the son, Jesus being killed by the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
at the request of the Jews.
People have seen meanings in the other elements of the story, such as the far country being heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, or more abstractly the time between Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Jesus, but there is no general agreement on these elements of the story.
There also seems to be a direct historical reference by Jesus to Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
, king of Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
, some 700 years previous. Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
conquered Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
at the time that Hezekiah
Hezekiah
Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah. Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c. 715 and 686 BC. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible....
was king of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
, and set up several rulers over the city, all of whom were overthrown. Finally, he sent his son and heir apparent Assur-nadin-sumi to rule, but after a short time, he was also killed. Finally, Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
himself went to Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
and destroyed the city stone by stone, and placed a curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
on it that it should not be rebuilt for seventy years.
Is Jesus saying that the chief priests and perhaps the Roman authorities must be replaced? That Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
will be reformed or, as Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s largely hold, replaced by Christianity
Supersessionism
Supersessionism is a term for the dominant Christian view of the Old Covenant, also called fulfillment theology and replacement theology, though the latter term is disputed...
? Or that all of humanity's old ways are to be replaced by the new way taught by Jesus
New Covenant
The New Covenant is a concept originally derived from the Hebrew Bible. The term "New Covenant" is used in the Bible to refer to an epochal relationship of restoration and peace following a period of trial and judgment...
? He is also telling this to the priests who know it is about them, so Jesus is accusing them of wanting to kill him, predicting
Prediction
A prediction or forecast is a statement about the way things will happen in the future, often but not always based on experience or knowledge...
that they will, and that they will lose their deal with God
Covenant (biblical)
A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...
as punishment.
Exegesis
Jesus seems to refer to himself as a stone on which a building is built. The building would seem to be the new ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
community. Jesus predicts he will be rejected
Rejection of Jesus
The Canonical Gospels of the New Testament include some accounts of the rejection of Jesus in the course of his ministry. Judaism's view of Jesus, Jesus in Islam, and the view of the Historical Jesus all differ from Christian views of Jesus.-Hometown rejection:...
, perhaps meaning his death. This passage is a quote from Psalm 118:22-23. Many writers of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
used this Psalm to sum up their understanding of Jesus' death as part of his role as the messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
. The Psalm refers to someone being saved from death by God. It is notable that the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
word for son, ben, is almost the same as stone, eben, which might be what generated seeing Jesus as a stone. Since the synoptics state Jesus said this in the Temple, this could reflect their view of Jesus as replacing the function of the Temple, bringing God's presence to humanity. God takes away the vineyard not for hurting or killing his servants but his son, showing how much he valued his son, and the quote shows the son's importance in God's new plan for the vineyard.
The saying about the stone being rejected by the builders technically refers to a cornerstone, but it is almost universally interpreted to mean a keystone
Keystone (architecture)
A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
, and without that meaning the saying has very little significance. As a keystone, it is essentially an allegory for people rejecting the single most important thing (without a keystone, an arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
built from sections will collapse). Metaphorically, the saying, in the context of the Synoptics, is interpreted as a direct criticism of the priests for rejecting what was most important. Scholars are divided though, whether the stone is supposed to be Jesus himself, or whether it is just the teachings he gives
Ministry of Jesus
In the Christian gospels, the Ministry of Jesus begins with his Baptism in the countryside of Judea, near the River Jordan and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples. The Gospel of Luke states that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry...
.
Skeptics
Skepticism
Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
usually hold that Jesus did not really predict his own death and that predictions of this sort are examples of vaticinium ex eventu, prophecy after the fact. This could be seen as referring to the new Church's belief that they had superseded
Supersessionism
Supersessionism is a term for the dominant Christian view of the Old Covenant, also called fulfillment theology and replacement theology, though the latter term is disputed...
Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
through Jesus' death, resurrection and role as the messiah. Others think it might be a reference to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem as seen by Christians as God's punishment for Jesus' death and their assumption that their new communities were the new Temple. There is no mention in the parable of the method of Jesus' death, crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
, or resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, unless the Psalm quote is counted. The son is killed outside the vineyard, which might be a reference to Jesus' death outside the city of Jerusalem, although in Mark's version of this parable he is killed inside and then thrown out.
Seeing Jesus as a "stone" to build on precedes Jerusalem's destruction however. Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, in his letter to the Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
chapter 9:33, refers to Jesus as a stone. Paul does not use the Psalms for his scriptural support but instead uses quotes from Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
8:14 and 28:16. Luke stated, probably after Jerusalem's destruction, in Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
4:11 that Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
used the same Psalm to describe Jesus shortly after Jesus' death. 1 Peter
First Epistle of Peter
The First Epistle of Peter, usually referred to simply as First Peter and often written 1 Peter, is a book of the New Testament. The author claims to be Saint Peter the apostle, and the epistle was traditionally held to have been written during his time as bishop of Rome or Bishop of Antioch,...
, which most scholars consider pseudepigraphal, uses both Isaiah and the Psalm as references in 2:6-8.
The parable, according to the Q hypothesis, probably appeared first in Mark, then was copied and slightly altered by Matthew and Luke. Mark's source is in dispute, with the earliest tradition given by Papias
Papias
Papias was a bishop of the early Church, canonized as a saint. Eusebius of Caesarea calls him "Bishop of Hierapolis" which is 22 km from Laodicea and near Colossae Papias (writing in the first third of the 2nd century) was a bishop of the early Church, canonized as a saint. Eusebius of...
as Mark's source being Peter. It is also found in the Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
as sayings 65-66, who some have suggested preceded the canonical Gospels, although its dating is still largely uncertain to scholars.
Here is the version of this parable that appears in Thomas (Patterson-Meyer Translation):
- 65. He said, "A [...] person owned a vineyard and rented it to some farmers, so they could work it and he could collect its crop from them. He sent his slave so the farmers would give him the vineyard's crop. They grabbed him, beat him, and almost killed him, and the slave returned and told his master. His master said, 'Perhaps he didn't know them.' He sent another slave, and the farmers beat that one as well. Then the master sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they'll show my son some respect.' Because the farmers knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they grabbed him and killed him. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!"
- 66. Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone."
The part about the stone which has been rejected by the builders appears in the three canonical gospel accounts as well, but appears within the parable, instead of afterwards as a separate thought as it does here in the Gospel of Thomas. It also lacks Jesus' short explanation between the two found in the Synoptics.
The Gospels claim Jesus told this parable, but his statement about the stone seems to be taken from the Septuagint version of the Psalms, a version written in Koine Greek
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
and associated with Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism was a movement which existed in the Jewish diaspora that sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism...
. There has been much skepticism over whether Jesus really said it, at least in this form, as he would probably have said it in Aramaic
Aramaic of Jesus
It is generally agreed that the historical Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic, perhaps along with some Hebrew and Greek . The towns of Nazareth and Capernaum, where Jesus lived, were primarily Aramaic-speaking communities, although Greek was widely spoken in the major cities of the Eastern Mediterranean...
or Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew language
Biblical Hebrew , also called Classical Hebrew , is the archaic form of the Hebrew language, a Canaanite Semitic language spoken in the area known as Canaan between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Biblical Hebrew is attested from about the 10th century BCE, and persisted through...
, although the Gospel authors may have used the only version of Jewish scripture they had available to them for composition. They might have also used the Greek version as they were writing for a Greek speaking audience. If both Matthew and Luke took it from Mark and kept the quote they thought Jesus had really said it. Jesus also uses it in Thomas in almost the same form.
Matthew's version states the method of killing the third servant, stoning, which the other versions lack. Stoning might be a reference to Christian martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s' deaths, perhaps the death of James the Just
James the Just
James , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity...
. Matthew also has the priests say that the husbandmen should be thrown out, a joke on them when they later realize they are the husbandmen, although Mark and Luke have Jesus say that to them. Both Luke and Matthew have a statement about the stone's destructive power that Mark lacks.
Irenaeus
Irenaeus
Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...
used this parable to defend the link between Judaism's God
God in Judaism
The conception of God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute one indivisible incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable, and that it is only God's revealed aspect that...
and Jesus, in his Adversus Haereses. If one sees the servants as the Jewish prophets, then the owner who sent them must then be the same father of the son in the story, who are God the Father
God the Father
God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
and Jesus, so the God of the Jews must also be Jesus' father. Marcion
Marcion of Sinope
Marcion of Sinope was a bishop in early Christianity. His theology, which rejected the deity described in the Jewish Scriptures as inferior or subjugated to the God proclaimed in the Christian gospel, was denounced by the Church Fathers and he was excommunicated...
held that Jesus was not the son of the God described in the Jewish scriptures. Some have transferred this parable against the Jewish authorities to all Jews and have used it to justify anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, although all the books agree it was directed against the chief priests, who were Sadducees
Sadducees
The Sadducees were a sect or group of Jews that were active in Ancient Israel during the Second Temple period, starting from the second century BC through the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The sect was identified by Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society...
, not the Jewish people in general.