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So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Matthew 21:39 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
  • KJV And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
  • NKJV So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.
  • NASB And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
  • NLT So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

They throw the son out of the vineyard and kill him. This foreshadows Jesus' crucifixion outside Jerusalem.

Overview

The casting of the son outside the vineyard before killing him strikingly anticipates Jesus being crucified outside the city walls (cf. Hebrews 13:12). The parable thus predicts the very death the leaders are planning. What seems the tenants' triumph is in fact the unfolding of God's redemptive plan.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Acts 2:23He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
  • Acts 4:25–27You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
  • Jas 5:6You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
  • Acts 3:14–15You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
  • Matt 26:57Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered.
  • John 18:12Then the band of soldiers, with its commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him.
  • Luke 22:52–54Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple officers, and elders who had come for Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against an outlaw?
  • Acts 7:52Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
  • Acts 5:30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree.
  • Acts 4:10then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
  • Matt 26:50“Friend,” Jesus replied, “do what you came for.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus, and arrested Him.
  • John 18:24Then Annas sent Him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
  • Mark 14:46–53Then the men seized Jesus and arrested Him.
  • Heb 13:11–13Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (14)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 21:39YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 21:39 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.