Matthew 21:45

And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	Καὶ Kai	G2532	and · conjunction
when	ἀκούσαντες akousantes	G191	to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
priests	ἀρχιερεῖς archiereis	G749	the high-priest (literally · noun — nominative plural masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
Pharisees	Φαρισαῖοι Pharisaioi	G5330	a separatist · noun — nominative plural masculine, a title
heard	ἀκούω akoúō	G191	to hear (in various senses)
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
parables	παραβολὰς parabolas	G3850	a similitude ("parable") · noun — accusative plural feminine
perceived	ἔγνωσαν egnōsan	G1097	to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
that	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
spake	λέγει. legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
of	περὶ peri	G4012	properly · preposition
them	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine

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

Luke 20:19 And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had s…
Luke 11:45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.
Matthew 12:12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 21:45

And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables--referring to that of the Two Sons and this one of the Wicked Husbandmen. they perceived that he spake of them.

John Gill on Matthew 21:45

And when the chief priests and Pharisees,.... Which latter, though not before mentioned, were many of them of the grand sanhedrim, as well as the chief priests, scribes, and elders: "had heard his parables"; that of the two sons being sent into the vineyard, and that of the letting out the vineyard to husbandmen, they perceived that he spake of them: they plainly saw that they were designed by the son, that promised to go into the vineyard, but did not; only talked of works, but did not do them: and that they were the husbandmen that acted the ungrateful part to the householder, and the cruel one to his servants, and would to his son, their own consciences told them they were the men. They…

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John Calvin on Matthew 21:33–end

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…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 21:45

This explanation fits with Matthew’s theme of God’s judgment on the Jewish leaders who misled the people of Israel (see 23:13-15).

The Church Fathers

Hard as were the hearts of the Jews in unbelief, they yet perceived that the Lord's sentence was directed against themselves.
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

This, that they are afraid to lay hands on Jesus because of the multitudes, is daily acted in the Church, when any who is a brother only in name, is ashamed or afraid to assail the unity of faith and peace which he does not love, because of the good men with whom he lives.
— Rabanus Maurus ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Verse 45, 46.) And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. And they sought to arrest him, but they feared the crowds because they regarded him as a prophet. Though they had hard hearts and were dull in their disbelief and impiety towards the Son of God, they could not deny the clear accusations, and they understood that all of the Lord's judgments were directed against them. Therefore, they indeed wanted to kill him, but they feared the crowds because they regarded him as a prophet. The crowd is always fickle, and does not persist in a fixed will: it is like the waves, being carried back and forth by the force of different winds. They now venerate and worship him as if he were a prophet, but later they shout against him: Crucify him, crucify such a person (John 19:6).
— Jerome, Commentary on Matthew

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

Husbandman · An agriculturist — An agriculturist
Parables · Parables of christ: Wicked husbandmen — Parables of christ: Wicked husbandmen
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Pharisees, The · Christ: Offended, by his doctrine — Christ: Offended, by his doctrine

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).