Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”
Parallel translations
- WEB When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”
- KJV When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
- NKJV “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”
- NASB Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?”
- NLT “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”
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
Jesus asks what the vineyard owner will do to such tenants. He invites the leaders to pronounce judgment on themselves.
Overview
By posing the question, Jesus draws His hearers into rendering a verdict on the wicked tenants. As with the parable of the two sons, the leaders will condemn themselves out of their own mouths. The question presses home the certainty of divine judgment on those who reject God's Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Heb 10:29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
- Mark 12:9What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others.
- Luke 20:15–16So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 21:40 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.