Matthew 21:33 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 21:33
Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active imperative, 2nd person plural
another
ἌλληνAllēn
G243
"else · adjective — accusative singular feminine
parable
παραβολὴνparabolēn
G3850
a similitude ("parable") · noun — accusative singular feminine
There was
ἦνēn
G2258
I (thou
a certain
τὶςtìs
G5100
some or any person or object
householder
οἰκοδεσπότηςoikodespotēs
G3617
the head of a family · noun — nominative singular masculine
which
ὅστιςhostis
G3748
which some · relative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
planted
ἐφύτευσενephuteusen
G5452
to set out in the earth · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
a vineyard
ἀμπελῶναampelōna
G290
a vineyard · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
hedged
φραγμὸνphragmon
G5418
a fence · noun — accusative singular masculine
it
αὐτῷautō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
round about
περιέθηκενperiethēken
G4060
to place around · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
digged
ὤρυξενōruxen
G3736
to "burrow" in the ground · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
a winepress
ληνὸνlēnon
G3025
a trough · noun — accusative singular feminine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
it
αὐτῷautō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
built
ᾠκοδόμησενōkodomēsen
G3618
to be a house-builder · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
a tower
πύργονpurgon
G4444
a tower or castle · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
let
ἐξέδετοexedeto
G1554
to give forth · verb — second aorist middle indicative, 3rd person singular
it
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
out
ἐκδίδωμιekdídōmi
G1554
to give forth
to husbandmen
γεωργοῖςgeōrgois
G1092
a land-worker · noun — dative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
went into a far country
ἀπεδήμησεν.apedēmēsen
G589
to go abroad · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 5:1-4 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Mark 12:1-12 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…
Luke 20:9-19 Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far cou…
Jeremiah 2:21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
Song of Solomon 8:11-12 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces o…
John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Psalms 80:8-16 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no trut…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 21:33
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 eco…
Hear another parable,.... Which, though Luke says was spoken to the people, who, were gathered round about him, yet was directed to, and against the chief priests; who continued with him till it was delivered, and the application of it made; when they perceived it was spoken of them. The design of it is, to set forth the many favours and privileges bestowed on the Jewish nation; their unfruitfulness, and the ingratitude of the principal men among them; and their barbarous usage of the servants of the Lord, and particularly of the Son of God himself: the consequence of which would be, the removal of the Gospel from them, and the miserable destruction of them. So that this parable is partly a…
Matthew 21:33-46
Matthew 21:33-46
Mark 21:1-12
Luke 20:9-19
33. Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, who planted a vineyard, and surrounded it by a ditch, and dug a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it to husbandmen, and went abroad, 34. And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive its fruits. 35. And the husbandmen, having seized his servants, wounded one, killed another, and stoned another. 36. Again, he sent other servants more numerous [37] than the first, and they did to them in the same manner. 37. And last of all he sent to them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38. And when the…
The Church Fathers
Or, He set forth the Prophets as it were winepresses, into which an abundant measure of the Holy Spirit, as of new wine, might flow in a teeming stream.
He also introduces a parable of the mission to the vineyard of the Son (not the Father), who was sent after so many servants, and slain by the husbandmen, and avenged by the Father.
Or, The tower is the eminence of the Law, which ascended from earth to heaven, and from which, as from a watch-tower, the coming of Christ might be spied. And let it out to husbandmen.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Agriculture — Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession…
Towers — Of Babel (Gen. 11:4), Edar (Gen. 35:21), Penuel (Judg. 8:9, 17), Shechem (9:46), David (Cant. 4:4), Lebanon (7:4), Syene (Ezek. 29:10), Hananeel (Zech. 14:10), Siloam (Luke 13:4). There were several…
Vine — One of the most important products of Palestine. The first mention of it is in the history of Noah (Gen. 9:20). It is afterwards frequently noticed both in the Old and New Testaments, and in the…
Winefat — (Mark 12:1). The original word (hypolenion) so rendered occurs only here in the New Testament. It properly denotes the trough or lake (lacus), as it was called by the Romans, into which the juice of…
Winepress — From the scanty notices contained in the Bible we gather that, the wine-presses of the Jews consisted of two receptacles of vats placed at different elevations, in the upper one of which the grapes…
Agriculture Or Husbandry · Produce of, given as rent for land — Produce of, given as rent for land
Capital And Labor · Strife between — Strife between
Ecclesiasticism · Jewish, to be overthrown — Jewish, to be overthrown
Employee · CHARACTER OF UNRIGHTEOUS — CHARACTER OF UNRIGHTEOUS
Fence · Hedge — Hedge
Fort · Erected in vineyards and herding grounds — Erected in vineyards and herding grounds
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).
Judgment · ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS — ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS
Land · Leased — Leased
Lease · Of real estate — Of real estate
Parables · Parables of christ: Wicked husbandmen — Parables of christ: Wicked husbandmen
Persecution · The wicked: Illustrated — The wicked: Illustrated
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Renting · Land — Land
Self-Condemnation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Tower · As fortress — As fortress
Towers · Were built: In vineyards — Were built: In vineyards
Unfaithfulness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Vineyard · Towers in — Towers in
Vineyards · Provided with the apparatus for making wine — Provided with the apparatus for making wine
Wine Press · In vineyards — In vineyards
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
