Matthew 21:33
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard--(See on Luk 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" (Luk 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 Mar 4:26.
Open source ↗21:33-46 In this story Jesus draws on Isa 5:1-7. The people of Israel who rejected God’s Messiah forfeited the privilege of being God’s people. The Christian community, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, has now been called to be the people of God (cp. Rom 9:4-8; 11:1-12).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!
So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return.
It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.
Consider, then, the parable of the sower:
“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of all who hear of it will ring,
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!