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And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Matthew 21:39 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
  • BSB So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed 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 2:23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
  • Acts 4:25–27Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
  • Jas 5:6Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
  • Acts 3:14–15But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
  • Matt 26:57And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.
  • John 18:12Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,
  • Luke 22:52–54Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?
  • Acts 7:52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
  • Acts 5:30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
  • Acts 4:10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
  • Matt 26:50And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
  • John 18:24Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
  • Mark 14:46–53And they laid their hands on him, and took him.
  • Heb 13:11–13For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without 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.