Mark 12:1
in Mark 12Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.
KJV
And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
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This verse in Mark 12
Commentary
15 notes on this verseOr, the hedge is the law, which prohibited their mingling with strangers. There follows, And went into a far country. Or else, By the first servant, understand the prophets who lived about the time of Elias, (2 Chron. 18:23.) for Zedekiah the false prophet beat Micaiah; and by the second servant whom they wounded in the head, that is, evil entreated, we may understand the prophets who lived about the time of Hosea and Isaiah; but by the third servant understand the prophets who flourished about the time of Daniel and Ezekiel.
This site's exposition
A man planted a vineyard
The parable opens, A man planted a vineyard, with a wall, a watchtower and a wine vat that all stand in Isaiah 5:1-7. Spoken straight after the question of authority in chapter 11, the parable has a target plain to everyone listening.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church5 voices
God the Father is called a man by a human conception. The vineyard is the house of Israel; the hedge is the guardianship of Angels; the winefat is the law, the tower is the temple, and the husbandmen, the priests.
And he began to speak to them in parables: A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit, and built a tower. This man who planted the vineyard is the same who in another parable hired laborers into his …
And he leased it to husbandmen. Elsewhere, he called these workers of the vineyard, who had been hired at the first, third, sixth and ninth hours. And he went away on a journey, not by changing location. For where can God be absent from, since …
(in Marc. 3, 42) Or else, the hedge is the wall of the city, the winefat is the altar, or those winefats, by which three psalms receive their name.
(ubi sup.) Not by any change of place, but He seemed to go away from the vineyard, that He might leave the husbandmen to act on their own freewill. It goes on: And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
The vineyard signifies the Jewish people, which the Lord planted: "Protect," it is said, "that which Thy right hand hath planted" (Ps. 79:16), and Moses says: "Bring him in and plant him in the mountain of Thine inheritance" (Ex. 15:17). By the "hedge" is understood …
(non occ.) After the Lord had closed the mouths of His tempters by a wise question, He next shows their wickedness in a parable; wherefore it is said: And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he began to speak unto them by parables,.... As of the two sons the father bid go to work in the vineyard; and of the planting of a vineyard, and letting it out to husbandmen, as here; though the latter is only related by this evangelist, yet both are by Matthew. This was not the first time of his speaking by parables to the people, though it might be the first time he spake in this way to the chief priests and elders, and who are particularly designed in them. A certain man planted a vineyard.
Members of the church are God's tenants, and they have both a good Landlord and a good bargain, and may live well upon it, if it be not their own fault.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
The verses before us contain a historical parable. The history of the Jewish nation, from the day that Israel left Egypt down to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, is here set before us as in a mirror. Under the figure of the vineyard and the husbandmen, the Lord Jesus tells the story of God's dealings with His people for fifteen hundred years. Let us study it attentively, and apply it to ourselves. Let us observe, in the first place, God's special kindness to the Jewish Church and nation . He gave to them peculiar privileges.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
The verses before us contain a historical parable. The history of the Jewish nation, from the day that Israel left Egypt down to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, is here set before us as in a mirror. Under the figure of the vineyard and the husbandmen, the Lord Jesus tells the story of God's dealings with His people for fifteen hundred years. Let us study it attentively, and apply it to ourselves. Let us observe, in the first place, God's special kindness to the Jewish Church and nation . He gave to them peculiar privileges. He dealt with them as a man deals with a piece of land which he separates and hedges in for "a vineyard." He gave them good laws and ordinances. He planted them in a goodly land, and cast out seven nations before them. He passed by greater and mightier nations to show them favor. He let alone Egypt, and Assyria, and Greece, and Rome, and showered down mercies on a few million people in Palestine. The vineyard of the Lord was the house of Israel. No family under heaven ever received so many signal and distinguishing privileges as the family of Abraham. And we too, who live in Great Britain, can we say that we have received no special mercies from God? We cannot say so. Why are we not a heathen country, like China? Why are we not a land of idolaters, like Hindostan? We owe it all to the distinguishing favor of God. It is not for our goodness and worthiness, but of God's free grace, that England is what England is among the nations of the earth. Let us be thankful for our mercies, and know the hand from which they come. Let us not be high-minded, but humble, lest we provoke God to take our mercies away. If Israel had peculiar national privileges, so also has England. Let Englishmen mark this well, and take heed lest that which happened to Israel should happen also to them.
A certain man planted a vineyard - See this parable explained, Mat 21:33-41 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
See this parable explained in the notes at Mat 21:33-46. See this parable explained in the notes at Mat 21:33-46.
The words behind it
24 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἤρξατο | erxato | He began | G757 → | 85 times |
| αὐτοῖς | autois | to them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| παραβολαῖς | parabolais | parables | G3850 → | 50 times |
| λαλεῖν· | lalein | to speak: | G2980 → | 294 times |
| ἀμπελῶνα | ampelona | A vineyard | G290 → | 23 times |
| ἄνθρωπος | anthropos | a man | G444 → | 549 times |
| ἐφύτευσεν | ephuteusen | planted | G5452 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| περιέθηκεν | perietheken | he placed around [it] | G4060 → | 8 times |
| φραγμὸν | phragmon | a fence | G5418 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὤρυξεν | oruxen | dug | G3736 → | |
| ὑπολήνιον | hupolenion | a wine vat | G5276 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ᾠκοδόμησεν | okodomesen | built | G3618 → | 40 times |
| πύργον | purgon | a tower | G4444 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐξέδετο | exedeto | rented out | G1554 → | |
| αὐτὸν | auton | it | G846 → | 5565 times |
| γεωργοῖς | georgois | to farmers | G1092 → | 19 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀπεδήμησεν | apedemesen | traveled abroad | G589 → |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἤρξατοHe began
erxatoG757 →85 times
αὐτοῖςto them
autoisG846 →5565 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
παραβολαῖςparables
parabolaisG3850 →50 times
λαλεῖν·to speak:
laleinG2980 →294 times
ἀμπελῶναA vineyard
ampelonaG290 →23 times
ἄνθρωποςa man
anthroposG444 →549 times
ἐφύτευσενplanted
ephuteusenG5452 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
περιέθηκενhe placed around [it]
periethekenG4060 →8 times
φραγμὸνa fence
phragmonG5418 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὤρυξενdug
oruxenG3736 →
ὑπολήνιονa wine vat
hupolenionG5276 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ᾠκοδόμησενbuilt
okodomesenG3618 →40 times
πύργονa tower
purgonG4444 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐξέδετοrented out
exedetoG1554 →
αὐτὸνit
autonG846 →5565 times
γεωργοῖςto farmers
georgoisG1092 →19 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀπεδήμησενtraveled abroad
apedemesenG589 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 25:14For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
it leads to
- Matthew 25:14–30
For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 13:34
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.
- Luke 19:12–27
So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return.
- Romans 12:6–8
We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;
- 1 Peter 4:9–11
Show hospitality to one another without complaining.
- Matthew 25:14–30
Through
Mark 13:34It 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.
it leads to
- John 10:3
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
- Luke 12:36–40
Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.
- John 10:3
Through
Mark 4:2And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,
it leads to
- Matthew 13:34–35
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.
- Matthew 13:34–35
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this verse
About Mark
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.