268
490. καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἐξέβαλον ἔξω τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος καὶ ἀπέκτειναν. 40. ὅταν οὖν ἔλθῃ ὁ κύριος τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος, τί ποιήσει τοῖς γεωργοῖς
x Ch. xxvi. ἐκείνοις 5 ss 54- k.
XIV. 49. Lk. xxiv.
αγ. John αὐτῷ τοὺς καρποὺς ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς αὐτῶν.
41. Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, “Kaxods κακῶς ἀπολέσει αὐτούς : καὶ τὸν ἀμπελῶνα ἐκδόσεται !
ἄλλοις γεωργοῖς, οἵτινες ἀποδώσουσιν 42. Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ
Vv. 3 2 A A - y ME viii. Ἰνησοῦς, “ Οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε év ταῖς * ypadais, ‘Ao ὃν 7 ἀπεδοκί-
31; xii. Io.
LE. ix. 22, µασαν OL οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας’ παρὰ
Heb. xii. 17 al.
1 εκδωσεται in all uncials nearly.
recognise at once the son and heir, and resolve forthwith on desperate courses, which are at once carried out. They eject the son, kill him, and seize the in- heritance. The action of the parable is confined to a single season, the mes- sengers following close on each other. But Jesus obviously has in His eye the whole history of Israel, from the settle- ment in Canaan till His own time, and sees in it God’s care about fruit (a holy nation), the mission of the successive prophets to insist that fruit be forth- coming, and the persistent neglect and disloyalty ofthe people. Neglect, for there was no fruit to give to the messengers, though that does not come out in the parable. The picture is a very sombre one, but it is broadly true. Israel, on the whole, had not only not done God’s will, but had badly treated those who urged her to do it. She killed her prophets (Mt. xxiii. 37).
Vv. 40-46. Application—érav οὖν ἔλθῃ 6 κ., etc.: what would you expect the owner to do after such ongoings have been reported to him? Observe the subjunctive after ὅταν compared with the indicative ἤγγισεν after ὅτε, ver. 34. ὅτε points to a definite time past, ὅταν is indefinite (vide Hermann, Viger, p. 437)-—Ver. 41. λέγονσι, they say: who? the men incriminated, though they could not but see through the thin veil of the allegory. In Mk. and Lk. the words appear to be put into Christ’s mouth.— κακοὺς κακῶς ἀπολέσει: a solemn fact classically expressed ("επ Graeci ser- monis peritiam in Matthaeo ’’—Raphel, Annot.) = He wili badly destroy bad men.—ottwes, such as; he will give out the vineyard to husbandmen of a different stamp.—t. κ. ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς αὐτῶν: the fruits in their (the fruits’) seasons, regularly year by year.—Ver. 42. οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε, etc.: another of Christ’s impromptu felicitous quotations ;
Κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη, καὶ ἔστι θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν ;᾽
εκδοσεται in minusc. only.
from Ps. cxvili. 22, 23 (Sept.). This quota- tion contains, in germ, another parable, in which the ejected and murdered heir of the former parable becomes the re- jected stone of the builders of the theo- cratic edifice ; only, however, to become eventually the accepted honoured stone of God. It is an apposite citation, because probably regarded as Messianic by those in whose hearing it was made (it was so regarded by the Rabbis—Schétt- gen, ad loc.), and because it intimated to them that by killing Jesus they would not be done with Him.—Ver. 43. διὰ τοῦτο, introducing the application of the oracle, and implying that the persons addressed are the builders = therefore.— ἡ βασιλεία τ. θ.: the doom is forfeiture of privilege, the kingdom taken from them and given to others.—é@va, to a nation; previously, as Paul calls it, a no nation (οὐκ ἔθνει, Rom. x. 19), the reference being, plainly, to the heathen world.—rovotv7t τ. κ. α.: cf. ili. 8, 10; vii. 17, bringing forth the fruits of it (the kingdom). The hope that the new nation will bring forth the fruit is the ground of the transference. God elects with a view to usefulness; a useless elect people has no prescriptive rights.— Ver. 44. This verse, bracketed by W.H., found in the same connection in Lk. (xx. 18), looks rather like an interpola- tion, yet it suits the situation, serving as a solemn warning to men meditating evil intentions against the Speaker.—o πεσὼν: he who falls on the stone, as if stumbling against it (Is. viii. 14).— συνθλασθήσεται, shall be broken in pieces, like an earthen vessel falling ona rock. This compound is found only in late Greek authors.—颒 ὃν 8° ἂν πέσῃ, on whom it shall fall, in judgment. The distinction is between men who believe not in the Christ through misunderstand ing and those who reject Him through an evil heart of unbelief. Both suffer in