Mark 12:1

ἐν παραβολαῖς. Cf. Mark 3:23; Mark 4:2. Mk gives only one parable, but Mt. gives three. This and the Sower and the Mustard Seed are the three parables which are in all three Synoptics, and Mt. places this parable between the Two Sons, which treats of work in the vineyard, and the Marriage of the King’s Son. During the special training of the Twelve there had been few, if any, parables. In these last days of public teaching Christ began to use them again. But, although there probably were several, ἐν παραβολαῖς does not necessarily mean more than one. It is an O.T. phrase, and may be used of a single parable or dark saying, like our “You are speaking in parables.” The αὐτοῖς evidently means the deputation from the Sanhedrin; so also Mt. But Lk. says that He began πρὸς τὸν λαὸν λέγειν. If He spoke to the people, He spoke at the hierarchy, who were still present. The parable contains an indirect answer to the question which they raised. His authority is that of the Father who sent Him, as He sent the Prophets through many generations; and he warns them of the judgment which awaits them, when they have slain Him as they slew the previous messengers. This story, therefore, might be called an allegory rather than a parable, for it sets forth in a figure past, present, and future events, rather than truths for the permanent guidance of believers. As Mark 12:9 shows, the tenants of the vineyard are not the hierarchy but the nation whom they mislead, and the vineyard is not the nation, but the nation’s spiritual privileges. It is not intimated that the Jews will be handed over to other leaders, but that their privileges will be handed over to the Gentiles. The whole nation followed the lead of the hierarchy in putting the Messiah to death and shared in the guilt of that act; and it was the whole nation that was dispossessed. Christ is recalling the well-known parable in Isaiah 5:1-7, and there also the whole nation is condemned. Cf. Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15:1-6; Ezekiel 19:10-14; Hosea 10:1; Deuteronomy 32:32. The audience would understand the imagery of the parable. It is somewhat captious criticism when Loisy says that a man who plants his own vineyard is not likely to be a lord who takes a long journey, and that an owner who lives a long way off would not want to be paid in kind with fruit. It is not said that he planted the vineyard himself, or that he went a long way off, or that the messengers could not sell the fruit and bring money for it. Moreover, reasonable hearers do not expect everything in a parable to be prosaically probable: it suffices that there are no glaring impossibilities. Lk. makes the story more symmetrical; a single slave is sent thrice, and the treatment of the messengers becomes steadily worse, until it culminates in the death of the son. From Lk. comes the reading λέγειν in this verse; [2853][2854][2855][2856][2857], Latt. Syrr. have λαλεῖν.

[2853] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mark 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2854] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mark 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2855] Codex Seidelianus I. 9th or 10th cent. Contains Mark 1:13 to Mark 14:18; Mark 14:25 to Mark 16:20.

[2856] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mark 1:1 to Mark 10:15; Mark 10:30 to Mark 15:1; Mark 15:20 to Mark 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mark 16:8 and Mark 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[2857] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

Ἀμπελῶνα ἄνθρ. ἐφύτευσεν. Cf. Genesis 9:20; Deuteronomy 20:6; Deuteronomy 28:30; Deuteronomy 28:39, etc. The termination -ων is similar to -etum in Latin. Cf. ἐλαιών (Mark 11:1), δενδρών (Aq. Genesis 21:33; 1 Samuel 31:13), ῥοδών, etc.

φραγμόν. In Palestine, fences are commonly of stone, which is abundant (Numbers 22:24; Proverbs 24:31; Isaiah 5:5). Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 421.

ὑπολήνιον. The ληνός (Mt.) was the trough, cut in the solid rock or lined with masonry, in which the grapes were trodden, and out of which the juice flowed into the ὑπολήνιον. These details have no separate meaning. They show that the tenants were well treated by the owner. The vineyard was protected from wild animals (Numbers 22:24; Psalms 80:13; Song of Solomon 2:15), and there was a complete outfit for wine-making. Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, p. 138.

πύργον. A residence for the wine-dressers and a watch-tower against robbers (Isaiah 1:8; Mark 5:2).

γεωργοῖς. A generic term including ἀμπελουργοί (Luke 13:7). In Jeremiah 52:16 the two are distinguished. As in the parable of the Unrighteous Steward, these tenants had a long lease and paid in kind. All three Gospels have ἐξέδετο (WH. App. p. 168; Blass § 23. 3), which occurs nowhere else in N.T. The verb is used in the same sense in Plato (Laws, vii. 806 D), but in LXX. of giving a daughter in marriage (Exodus 2:21; Sir 7:25; 1Ma 10:58).

ἀπεδήμησεν. Went into another country (R.V.); “far country” is more than the word means, and the parable implies that the owner was not far off. Lk. adds χρόνους ἱκανούς. Origen interprets the absence as meaning the withdrawal of the Shechinah. The cessation of the theocracy is more probable. In any case, the tenants are not forgotten. Jehovah frequently reminds them of their duty to Him. It is like the act of a father who gives his children the opportunity of right action without constant supervision.