118 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. XXT.
hammock” (so Cheyne on Isa.; A. V., cottage ; Rev., hut), a vineyard-watchman’s deserted hammock tossed to and fro by the storm (Isa. xxiv. 20). So Job speaks of a booth which the keeper of a vineyard runneth up (xxvii. 18), a hut made of sticks and hung with mats, erected only for the harvest season on the field or vineyard, for the watchman who spreads his rude bed upon its high platform, and mounts guard against the robber and the beast. In Spain, where, especially in the South, the Orient has left its mark, not only upon architecture but also upon agricultural implements and methods, Archbishop Trench says that he has observed similar temporary structures erected for watchmen in the vineyards.. The ¢owe alluded to in this passage would seem to have been of a more permanent character (see Stanley above), and some have thought that it was intended not only for watching, but as a storehouse for the wine and a lodging for the workmen.
Let it out (€&éder0). ‘There were three modes of dealing with land. According to one of these, the laborers employed received a certain portion of the fruits, say a third or a fourth of the produce. The other two modes were, either that the tenant paid a money-rent to the proprietor, or else that he agreed to give the owner a definite amount of the produce, whether the harvest had been good or bad. Such leases were given by the year or for life; sometimes the lease was even hereditary, passing from father to son. There can scarcely be a doubt that it is the latter kind of lease which is referred to in the parable: the lessees being bound to give the owner a certain amount of fruits in their season” (Edersheim, “ Life and Times of Jesus”). Compare ver. 34, and Mark xii. 2, “that he might receive of the fruits ” (aro Tov KapTév).
37. They will reverence (évtpamyoovra). The verb liter- ally means to ¢wrn toward ; hence to give heed to, pay respect to.
41. He will miserably destroy those wicked men (caxovds KaKOS aTrohécet avTovs). There is a play upon the words which the A. V. misses and the Rev. preserves by rendering “ miser-
Cu, XXIL] MATTHEW. 119
ably destroy those miserable men.” So the Rheims version : “The naughty men will he bring to naught.” Tynd., “ He will evéd destroy those evil persons.” The order of the Greek words is also striking : Miserable men, miserably he will destroy them.
Which (oirwes). The compound Greek pronoun marks the character of the new husbandmen more distinctly than the simple which ; husbandmen of such a character that, or belong- ing to that class of honest men who will give him his due.
44. Shall be broken (cvvIracIyjcera). The verb is stronger: broken to pieces ; so Rev.
Grind him to powder (Au«pyrjoes adrov). But the A. V. misses the picture in the word, which is that of the winnowimg- fan that separates the grain from the chaff. Literally it is, will winnow him. Rev., scatter him as dust.