Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 20:16
He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard [it,] they said, God forbid.
16. He shall come and destroy ] In Mat 21:41 this is the answer of the people themselves to our Lord’s question.
shall give the vineyard to others ] “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles,” Act 13:46.
God forbid ] Literally, “Might it not be!” Heb. Chalilah. In this utterance we hear the groan oi the Jewish people when the truth that they were indeed to be rejected burst upon them. It woke an echo even in the heart of the Apostle of the Gentiles. For the Hebrew expression Chalilah see Gen 44:7; Gen 44:17; Jos 22:29. It occurs ten times in the Epistle to the Romans alone. See Life of St Paul, 11. 206. It is the opposite of Amen, but occurs here alone in the Gospels.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 16. God forbid.] Or, Let it not be, . Our phrase, God forbid, answers pretty well to the meaning of the Greek, but it is no translation.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
16. He shall come, &c.Thisanswer was given by the Pharisees themselves (Mt21:41), thus pronouncing their own righteous doom. Matthew alone(Mt 21:43) gives the nakedapplication, that “the kingdom of God should be taken from them,and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof”thegreat evangelical community of the faithful, chiefly Gentiles.
God forbidHis wholemeaning now bursting upon them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He shall come and destroy these husbandmen,…. Which had its accomplishment at the destruction of Jerusalem: according to the other evangelists, these words are the answer of the chief priests, Scribes, and elders, to the above questions put to them by Christ, after he had delivered the parable; but here they seem to be the words of Christ, who also said the same, and confirmed what they had observed, and could not but own, that it was just and right, and what might be expected, with what follows:
and shall give the vineyard to others; the land of Judea to the Romans in particular, and the church state, with the Gospel and ordinances of it, to the Gentiles in general, sometimes called “others”; [See comments on Lu 5:29] and
[See comments on Lu 18:11].
and when they heard it, they said, God forbid; though they were their own words, yet repeated and confirmed by Christ, and perceiving that they were the persons intended, deprecate the fulfilment of them; at least so far as they understood they related to the killing of the Messiah, and to the destruction of their nation, city, and temple.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
God forbid ( ). Optative of wish about the future with . Literally,
may it not happen . No word “God” in the Greek. This was the pious protest of the defeated members of the Sanhedrin who began to see the turn of the parable against themselves.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Destroy. See on Matthew 21, 41.
God forbid [ ] . Lit., may it not be.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He shall come and destroy those husbandmen,” (eleusetai kai apolesei tous georgous toutous) “He will come of his own choice and destroy these husbandmen,” Mat 21:41; Mar 12:9; a thing fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, AD 70, Mat 24:2; Luk 21:20-24.
2) “And shall give the vineyard to others.” (kai dosei ton ampelona allois) “And he will give the vineyard to others,” Rom 11:1, to other husbandmen, Mat 21:41; Mar 12:9. The giving of His vineyard work to others alludes directly to the work the Lord gave to His new covenant church, Act 15:14; Joh 15:16; Joh 15:27; Joh 20:21; Mat 28:18-20; Act 1:8.
3) “And when they heard it,” (akousates de) “Then when they heard it,” realized what Jesus had prophetically said.
4) “They said, God forbid.” (eipan me genoito) “They said, may it not be,” may it never come to be. It was an ejaculation, Mat 21:45; But the words of the Lord are “true from the beginning,” and it did come to be, Psa 119:160. He did give His vineyard work to His church for this age, to the Gentiles and the whole world, Mat 5:15-16; Mat 28:18-20; Mar 13:34-35; 1Ti 3:15; Luk 12:32; Joh 20:21; Act 1:8; Act 15:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(16) He shall come and destroy these husbandmen.St. Luke agrees with St. Mark in putting these words into our Lords lips, and not, as St. Matthew does, into those of the by-standers.
They said, God forbid.No other English phrase could well be substituted for this, but it is worth remembering that the name of God does not appear in the original, and that the ejaculation is simply, as it were, a negative Amen, So be it not. Its insertion hero is peculiar to St. Luke, nor does it occur elsewhere in the Gospels. St. Paul uses it frequently, as in Rom. 3:4; Rom. 3:6; Rom. 3:31; Rom. 6:2; Rom. 6:15, et al.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others.” And when they heard it, they said, “God forbid.” ’
What the Lord of the vineyard will do is then spelled out by means of the answer to a typical question. What will He do with them? He will destroy the evil men who have done this thing, and give the vineyard to others. No one could really have been in doubt about the final ending. It was the obvious conclusion. Nevertheless its literal fulfilment was remarkable. For Jerusalem would, within forty years after the death of Jesus, be destroyed, and the care of God’s people would have been removed elsewhere, initially, among other places, to Syrian Antioch (Acts 13), and then to the church leaders of the local communities. But Jerusalem would be left empty.
‘To others.’ Presumably the Apostles, compare Luk 22:30; Mat 16:18-19; Mat 18:18. We can compare here Mat 21:43, ‘The Kingly Rule of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation bringing forth its fruits’, not strictly another nation, but a new Israel as headed by His followers. It was of that new Israel, which excluded the unbelievers in the old Israel, that all who became Christians would become a member (Rom 11:17-27; Gal 3:29; Gal 6:16; Eph 2:11-22).
‘And when they heard it, they said, “God forbid.” ’ As we must surely assume that a good number present recognised the significance of His parable from the start, at least in general outline, some such expostulation is not unexpected. The thought of God’s people being removed from the control of the High Priest and of the Sanhedrin would have appeared to the people like the end of the world. It would sound like another Exile. What would have been surprising would have been if there had been no reaction. For the consequences had been vividly described. This is, of course, a summary of the reaction which would have been even more vociferous. We are not expected to think that everyone said exactly this like some huge automaton. It indicates their intended meaning, not actually what everyone said. But what it does bring out is that they all recognised what the parable was saying.
It should be noted that the fact that the resurrection is not in some way included in the parable serves to confirm that the parable is as given before the resurrection and not altered afterwards. We thus have it in its pre-resurrection state. But the idea of the resurrection is now introduced, although as something added in additionally, not as a direct part of the parable, and it is in the form of a quotation from Scripture.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 20:16. He shall come He will come.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.
11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.
13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.
14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.
15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him . What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?
16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it , they said, God forbid.
Ver. 16. God forbid ] viz. that they should ever kill the Son of God sent unto them. We cannot get men to believe that their hearts are half so bad or their ways so dangerous as the preacher makes of them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 20:16 . : here only in the Gospels, frequent in St. Paul’s Epistles (“a Pauline phrase,” Holtzmann, H. C.). Sturz ( De Dialecto Mac. et Alex. ) reckons it an Alexandrine usage, because found in the sense of deprecation only in Sept [164] , N.T., and late Greek writers. Raphel cites an example from Herodotus. This is put by Lk. into the mouth of the people, as unable to contemplate the doom pronounced on the husbandmen as described by Jesus. In Mt. (Mat 21:41 ) the people themselves pronounce the doom. The sentiment thus strongly expressed prepares the way for the reference to the “rejected stone”.
[164] Septuagint.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
He shall come = [Some answered] he, &c. Compare Mat 21:41.
others = others (of the same kind); i.e. a new Israel, not a different Gentile nation, which would be heteros. App-124.
they said : i.e. others who heard it said.
God forbid = May it never be! Greek. me genoito. Hebrew. chalilah = the opposite of “Amen “(Gen 44:7, Gen 44:17. Jos 22:29). Occurs only here in the Gospels, but ten times in Romans.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 20:16. ) So the LXX. render the Hebrew . They mean to say this, Far be it from us, God forbid, that we should kill the heir. Comp. the following verse, and Joh 12:34.[214] [Frequently it happens that men refuse to acknowledge as in them that degree of wickedness which God upbraids them with.-V. g.]
[214] Comp. Joh 7:20 : Who goeth about to kill thee, with the, God forbid here.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
destroy: Luk 19:27, Psa 2:8, Psa 2:9, Psa 21:8-10, Mat 21:41, Mat 22:7, Act 13:46
shall give: Neh 9:36, Neh 9:37
Reciprocal: 1Sa 20:2 – God forbid Psa 80:12 – broken Isa 5:3 – judge Hos 4:6 – I will also reject Zec 13:8 – two Mat 21:40 – what Mar 12:9 – he will Act 2:35 – thy foes Act 4:11 – the stone Rom 3:4 – God forbid 1Co 6:15 – God Rev 2:5 – else
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Luk 20:16. And when they heard it, they said. Who spoke? Some of the crowd, we think, since as yet Luke has not introduced the chief priests in this connection.
God forbid, or, far be it, i.e., this casting out and killing and consequent destruction. Comp. on the former part of the verse, Mat 21:41.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 16
God forbid. They meant, by this exclamation, not to object to the punishment of such husbandmen, in the imaginary case, but to express their dissent in respect to the religious truth intended by it, viz., that the Messiah would be rejected by the Jewish people, and that they would consequently be destroyed. Hence the force of the Savior’s reply in the Luke 20:17,18.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Only Luke recorded the verbal response of the people to the vineyard owner’s action: "may it never be" (Gr. me genoito, cf. Rom 3:4; Rom 3:6; Rom 3:31, et al.). This was a strong statement expressing firm rejection. They understood that Jesus was predicting that God would condemn Israel’s leaders and turn the nation over to other people, probably Gentiles and specifically the Romans. They foresaw the end of Judaism as they knew it, and this prospect upset them.