Matthew 21:34-43

21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ¹  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ²  21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ³  killed another, and stoned another. 21:36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. 21:37 Finally he sent his son to them, ⁴  saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 21:39 So ⁵  they seized him, ⁶  threw him out of the vineyard, ⁷  and killed him. 21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ⁸ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ⁹ 

21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people ¹⁰  who will produce its fruit.

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¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

sn These slaves represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

² tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”

³ sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

⁴ sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son in v. 38.

⁶ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

⁷ sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.

⁸ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.

⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

¹⁰ tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).