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OET (OET-LV) But those the tenant_farmers said to themselves, that This is the heir, come, we_may_kill_ him _off, and the inheritance will_be of_us.
OET (OET-RV) But the tenant farmers said to each others, ‘Ah ha. This is the one who will inherit this land. If we kill him, we’ll be the ones to control the estate.’
In 11:28 the Jewish religious leaders asked Jesus two questions about his authority. In this section Jesus used a parable to answer those question in an indirect way. The Jewish leaders showed that they understood this parable by the way they responded in 12:12.
Jesus’ parable was about a man who owned a grape farm. He told some men to farm it for him and to give him a share of the profit. However, the men refused to give the owner his share. They even mistreated his servants who came to collect the money. When the owner sent his own son, they killed him.
Jesus used the people in the parable to represent the Jewish religious leaders and their actions toward God and toward himself, God’s son. Here are the most likely meanings of the different people and things in the parable:See Ray Summers, Commentary on Luke: Jesus, the Universal Savior, 1972, on the parallel passage in Luke 20:9–19.
The owner of the grape farm | represents | God | |
The grape farm | represents | Israel and its people | |
The grape farmers | represent | the Jewish religious leaders | |
The servants | represent | God’s messengers or prophets | |
The son | represents | Jesus |
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The parable of the vineyard and its farmers
The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard (GNT)
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 21:33–46 and Luke 20:9–19.
But the tenants said to one another,
But when the son arrived, the renters/farmers said to each other,
Instead, when they saw the son, the men who had agreed to farm for him said to one another,
Verses 12:7–8 tell what happened after the son arrived at the grape farm. However, the text in 12:7a does not actually say that the son arrived. In some languages it may be necessary to make that explicit. For example:
But when the son arrived
But the tenants said to one another: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But introduces a contrast with what the owner thought in 12:6c. Instead of respecting the owner’s son, the farmers told each other that they should kill him (12:7c). Indicate this contrast in a natural way in your language.
‘This is the heir.
‘This is the one who will inherit the grape farm.
‘This is the owner’s only son. When the owner dies, he will get the farm.
This is the heir: Here the tenants indicated that the owner’s son was his heir. The Greek word that the BSB translates as heir refers to the person who would own his father’s property after his father died.
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
Let us(incl) kill him, and as a result, the grape farm will belong to us.(incl)’
Listen, let us kill him, so we will be able to keep/own his father’s property/estate.’
Let us kill him, and we will get the farm.’
Come: In this context the Greek word that the BSB translates as Come indicates that the farmers encouraged each other to unite and kill the heir. It does not refer to moving toward something. Consider whether you have an expression in your culture that members of a group might use to encourage each other to do something. In some languages it may be more natural not to translate this word.
let us kill him: The grape farmers said the words let us kill him to encourage each other to kill the owner’s son.
and the inheritance will be ours: This phrase expresses what the farmers thought would happen if they killed the son.It seems that the farmers were not thinking clearly about the probable results of their killing the heir. Perhaps when they saw the son coming they thought that the owner had already died and that the son was coming to claim the grape farm for himself (Gundry pages 686–687). Some scholars indicate that it was customary at that time that, when men had farmed land for three (or perhaps four) years or more, they could claim that it was their land if there was no one else to claim it (France page 461). So the farmers thought that if they killed the son (apparently the only son), they would become the owners of the grape farm. In some languages you may wish to make this clear by following this example:
If we do, then the inheritance will be ours.
the inheritance: The Greek word that the BSB translates as inheritance refers to the grape farm, which the son would receive when his father died. To “inherit” something means to own it when the previous owner, usually a parent, dies.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οἱ γεωργοὶ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἶπαν
those (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐκεῖνοι Δέ οἱ γεωργοί πρός ἑαυτούς εἶπαν ὅτι Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ κληρονόμος δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν καί ἡμῶν ἔσται ἡ κληρονομία)
Here Jesus implies that those farmers said this when they saw that the man’s son had arrived at the vineyard. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [But when the son arrived, those farmers said to each other] or [But those farmers, when they saw the man’s son, said to each other]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
γεωργοὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐκεῖνοι Δέ οἱ γεωργοί πρός ἑαυτούς εἶπαν ὅτι Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ κληρονόμος δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν καί ἡμῶν ἔσται ἡ κληρονομία)
See how you translated farmers in [12:1](../12/01.md). Alternate translation: [vine dressers] or [grape farmers]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἶπαν, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ κληρονόμος; δεῦτε, ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἡμῶν ἔσται ἡ κληρονομία
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐκεῖνοι Δέ οἱ γεωργοί πρός ἑαυτούς εἶπαν ὅτι Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ κληρονόμος δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν καί ἡμῶν ἔσται ἡ κληρονομία)
If it would be clearer in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [said to each other that this man was the heir and that they should come and kill him so that the inheritance would be theirs]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
δεῦτε
come
Here, the word Come is an exhortation to do something together with the speaker. The word does not necessarily mean that the people must travel somewhere. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that exhorts people to work together. Alternate translation: [Working together] or [Acting with one another]
Note 5 topic: grammar-connect-logic-goal
καὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐκεῖνοι Δέ οἱ γεωργοί πρός ἑαυτούς εἶπαν ὅτι Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ κληρονόμος δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν καί ἡμῶν ἔσται ἡ κληρονομία)
Here, the word and introduces the purpose for which the farmers plan to kill the son. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces a purpose. Alternate translation: [and that way]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἡ κληρονομία
the inheritance
Here the farmers are referring primarily to the vineyard, which would be the son’s inheritance. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [the inheritance, this vineyard,]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἡ κληρονομία
the inheritance
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of inheritance, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [what he would inherit]
12:7 The reasoning of the tenants is unclear to us, although it was apparently clear to the original hearers, requiring no further explanation (cp. Matt 21:38; Luke 20:14). Perhaps with the son’s coming, they assumed that the father had died and that the murder of the son would leave the vineyard without a living claimant. Then ownership would fall to those who had been working the vineyard for years.
OET (OET-LV) But those the tenant_farmers said to themselves, that This is the heir, come, we_may_kill_ him _off, and the inheritance will_be of_us.
OET (OET-RV) But the tenant farmers said to each others, ‘Ah ha. This is the one who will inherit this land. If we kill him, we’ll be the ones to control the estate.’
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.