And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
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.
- 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.
- 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 up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
- Acts 4:25–27who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
- Jas 5:6You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.
- Acts 3:14–15But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
- Matt 26:57Those who had taken Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.
- John 18:12So the detachment, the commanding officer, and the officers of the Jews, seized Jesus and bound him,
- Luke 22:52–54Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
- Acts 7:52Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
- Acts 5:30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree.
- Acts 4:10be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole.
- Matt 26:50Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
- John 18:24Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.
- Mark 14:46–53They laid their hands on him, and seized him.
- Heb 13:11–13For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.
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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.