Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 21:38
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
38. let us seize on his inheritance ] This would be impossible in real life, but not more impossible than the thought of the Pharisees that by the death of Jesus they would gain the spiritual supremacy.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 38. Said among themselves] Alluding to the conspiracies which were then forming against the life of our blessed Lord, in the councils of the Jewish elders and chief priests. See Mt 27:1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark and Luke have the same with no considerable alteration. Our Lord here prophesieth his own death by the means of these wicked priests, and so both lets them know that he was not ignorant of what was in their hearts, and they had been already (as we heard before) taking counsel about, by which they might again have concluded that he was the Son of God, and one who knew their hearts; and he also lets them know, that they should not surprise him, and that he was not afraid of them.
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said, This is the heir. These words let the Pharisees (to whom, together with the people, he at that time spake) know that themselves knew he was the Son of God, and were convicted in their own consciences that he was the true Lord of the church. Though this was not true of all that had a hand in crucifying Christ; for Paul saith of some of them, that if they had known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; yet it was doubtless true of many of them, and those the most knowing men amongst them. But herein did their most prodigious blindness and madness appear, that when they knew this, they should think it possible to prevent his being set as King upon the Lords holy hill of Zion. One would think this were impossible to rational creatures. But why should we think so? How many are there in the world at this day, that are convicted in their own consciences, and do believe that the ways and people whom they prosecute to their ruin, yea, to death itself, are the truths, the ways, the people of God, yet they will be kicking against the pricks! And though God makes many of them perish in their enterprises, and suffers them not to come with hoary heads to the grave in peace, yet there ariseth another instead of this hydra, a posterity approving their doings and thinking, though their fathers failed in this or that little policy, yet they shall prevail against God, and his inheritance shall be theirs. Wise Providence thus fitteth the saints for their crown, and suffers sinners to prepare themselves for the day of wrath.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38. But when the husbandmen saw theson, they said among themselvesCompare Gen 37:18-20;Joh 11:47-53.
This is the heirSublimeexpression this of the great truth, that God’s inheritance wasdestined for, and in due time is to come into the possession of, Hisown Son in our nature (Heb1:2).
come, let us kill him, andlet us seize on his inheritancethat so, from mere servants,we may become lords. This is the deep aim of the depravedheart; this is emphatically “the root of all evil.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But when the husbandmen saw the son,…. Whom many of them knew, though some did not: some were entirely ignorant of him; some knew him, but durst not confess him, yet were not injurious to him; others acted against light and conscience, with spite and malice, as did these men. They expected the Messiah about this time; they knew, by prophecy, it could not be long ere he appeared: when they saw Jesus of Nazareth, they knew by various circumstances, by all the characters of the Messiah meeting in him, and by his miracles, that he must be the same.
They said among themselves; privately, not openly to the people,
this is the heir; as indeed he is of all things, as the Son of God, and as the mediator of the new covenant: he is heir of all that his Father has, as he is his natural, essential, and only begotten Son; and as mediator, he is heir of all things, natural, spiritual, and eternal, for the use and benefit of his church and people, who are also his portion and inheritance: but here it seems to denote, his being heir to the throne of Israel, the government of the Jewish nation, as he was the son of David; and the Jews confess y, that because it was said that Jesus of Nazareth was , “near to the kingdom”, therefore they put him to death:
come let us kill him, and seize on his inheritance: concluding, that could they be rid of him, their nation would be in peace, their temple would stand, and temple worship and service continue, and they remain in their office and authority undisturbed; the contrary of which they feared, should he be suffered to live; though what they feared from his life, befell them upon, and in consequence of his death, quite beyond all their counsels and expectations.
y T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 43. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Take his inheritance ( ). Ingressive aorist active subjunctive (hortatory, volitive) of . Let us get his inheritance.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
(38) This is the heir.What we learn elsewhere enables us to understand the feelings with which the priests and scribes must have heard these words. Already had Caiaphas given the counsel that one man should die for the people (Joh. 11:49), while among those who knew it, and did not protest, were many who believed on Him, and yet, through fear of the Pharisees, were not confessed disciples (Joh. 12:42). The words of the parable showed that they stood face to face with One who knew the secrets of their hearts, and had not deceived Himself as to the issue of the conflict in which He was now engaged.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
38. This is the heir They confess his being the heir, among themselves; but they utter no such confession to him. Externally they hold him as an intruder, and treat him as a burglar and a robber. Thus with a masterly pencil does our Lord paint these rulers to themselves. In their own hearts they confess this is the heir; in their language and dealing with him they deny his authority, and crucify him as a blasphemer and traitor. By this we are not to understand that God does not foreknow the future wickedness of probationary men; but that he permits yet punishes their withholding what he has a right to expect. Seize on his inheritance These rulers determined to retain the power over Israel. They rejected our Lord as a false claimant of authority, because he would remove the old dispensation and establish the kingdom of God. This would overthrow their own hierarchy. The words expressing the violence of the husbandmen are numerous and graphic: kill, seize, caught, cast, slew. They might nearly all occur in the narrative of Christ’s own apprehension and crucifixion.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“But the vineyard workers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance.’ ”
The reaction of the husbandmen is then given. ‘Said among themselves’ was a hint of what Jesus’ listeners were already secretly doing. They were whispering among themselves. They would kill the heir so that they might retain control of the inheritance. For the Law allowed for the fact that if those in physical possession of land were able to farm it untroubled by anyone for a number of years they could claim legal possession of it for themselves, and they had probably gained the impression that the owner was unwilling to come himself. Thus they may well have thought that if the heir was slain they would be left alone. Perhaps they also saw his coming as signifying that the father was dead. They certainly saw it as a display of weakness. They could not understand His longsuffering.
Certainly as the Jewish leaders saw the great crowds hanging on to Jesus’ every word they must have felt that ‘their inheritance’ was slipping away from them. Thus the picture is graphic, and in view of their plans to kill Jesus (Mat 12:14; Mar 3:6; Joh 11:50; Joh 11:53; see also Mat 16:21; Mat 17:23; Mat 20:18), a telling one. And they would feel that once He was out of the way they would be able to get a grip on things and regain control over the inheritance.
‘Let us kill him.’ The words are similar to those used by Joseph’s brothers in Gen 37:20 (see LXX). Jesus was likening these men to Joseph’s brothers, full of hate and jealousy towards a brother. Joseph’s brothers had been forerunners of the persecutors of the prophets, and of these men who now planned Jesus’ downfall.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 21:38-39. When the husbandmen saw the son It would hence seem, that the Jews knew Jesus to be the Son of God. Yet Peter says both of the rulers and the people, that they crucified the Lord ignorantly, Act 3:17 and our Lord himself prays for them as not knowing what they did. It is evident indeed, that the rulers, for verymalice, caused him to be crucified; yet it is not at all improbable, that though they could not but confess him to be some great person or prophet, yet they might be far from being convinced that he was the Messiah. The Apostles themselves, notwithstanding they had been eye-witnesses of all his miracles, and had the advantage of hearing all his discourses, doubted whether he was the Messiah, while he lay in the grave; there can therefore be no impropriety, in supposing that the unbelieving Jews were in the same state of mind. And, if so, where is the inconsistency in saying, that though they put him to death as a prophet, they did not crucify him as the Messiah? That this was really their opinion is evident both from Sacred History, and from the general sentiments of their descendants, even to this day. Our Lord’s words may bear another sense, and imply, that though it be granted they acknowledged his being the Messiah, and thought that in putting him to death, they were answerable for the death of a mere mortal only, yet they were ignorant of his essential dignity, and the near relation in which he stood to his heavenly Father. Yet after all, this, like the other circumstance of their seizing upon the inheritance, may be added to heighten and complete the parable, without being intended to convey any particular and independant truth. For it is the nature of a parable, as well as of a fable, or an historical picture, to convey some general truth to the mind, resulting from the whole assemblage of circumstances or figures taken collectively; but not to convey particular truths from any single circumstance or figure considered as separate, detached from, or independant of the rest. St. Matthew and St. Luke say, That the husbandmen cast the son out of the vineyard, and killed him, (Mat 21:39.) St. Mark says, They first killed him, and then cast him out: but his meaning may have been this; they so beat and bruised him, before they cast him out, that he could not live; and, after having cast him out, they completed the murder, killing him outright. The manner in which St. Mark has expressed it, insinuates, that after they had killed him, they threw out his body, without burial, to the dogs; a circumstance which does not seem to have any particular reference, but is formed to shew in a general point of view, the greatness of the rebellion of these husbandmen. If such a proposal as that before us, come, let us kill him, &c. would have been the height of folly as well as wickedness in these husbandmen, it was so much the more proper to represent the part that the Jewish rulers acted in the murder of Christ, which they were now projecting, andwhich they accomplished within three days. The admonition was most graciouslygiven; but served only, in an astonishing manner, to illustrate that degree of hardness to which a sinful heart is capable of arriving. See Mac-knight, Doddridge, and Chemnitz.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Ver. 38. This is the heir; come, &c. ] So that these husbandmen the Pharisees knew, and yet crucified the Lord of glory; and all this out of desperate malice, which had debauched their reason, and even satanized or transformed them into so many breathing devils; they fell into that unpardonable sin, Mat 12:31 .
Let us seize on his inheritance ] Covetousness is bloody, Eze 22:13 ; Pro 1:11 ; Pro 1:13 1Ki 21:10 . Ahab longed for a salad out of Naboth’s vineyard, and must have it, though Naboth die for it, Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra fames! Judas selleth his Master for thirty pence.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
38. ] So Nicodemus, Joh 3:2 , . , even at the beginning of His ministry; how much more then after three years spent in His divine working. The latent consciousness that Jesus was the Messiah , expressed in the prophecy of Caiaphas (Joh 11:49-52 ; cf. the of our ch. Mat 26:64 ), added no doubt to the guilt of the Jewish rulers in rejecting and crucifying Him, however this consciousness may have been accompanied with of one kind or other in all of them, see Act 3:17 and note.
. ] This the Son is in virtue of His human nature : see Heb 1:1-2 .
. . . ] The very words of the LXX, ref. Gen., where Joseph’s brethren express a similar resolution: and no doubt used by the Lord in reference to that history, so deeply typical of His rejection and exaltation. This resolution had actually been taken, see Joh 11:53 ; and that immediately after the manifestation of His power as the Son of God ( , . . . Joh 11:41 ), in the raising of Lazarus, and also immediately ( ) after Caiaphas’s prophecy.
. ] see Joh 11:48 . As far as this, the parable is History: from this point, Prophecy.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 21:38 . : neither have they; they 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 inheritance. The action of the parable is confined to a single season, the messengers following close on each other. But Jesus obviously has in His eye the whole history of Israel, from the settlement 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 forthcoming, and the persistent neglect and disloyalty of the 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 (Mat 23:37 ).
[118] Authorised Version.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
among. Greek. en. App-104.
seize on = hold on to, or hold fast. See note on 2Th 2:6, “withholdeth”: which should be rendered as here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
38. ] So Nicodemus, Joh 3:2, . , even at the beginning of His ministry; how much more then after three years spent in His divine working. The latent consciousness that Jesus was the Messiah, expressed in the prophecy of Caiaphas (Joh 11:49-52; cf. the of our ch. Mat 26:64), added no doubt to the guilt of the Jewish rulers in rejecting and crucifying Him, however this consciousness may have been accompanied with of one kind or other in all of them,-see Act 3:17 and note.
.] This the Son is in virtue of His human nature: see Heb 1:1-2.
. . .] The very words of the LXX, ref. Gen., where Josephs brethren express a similar resolution: and no doubt used by the Lord in reference to that history, so deeply typical of His rejection and exaltation. This resolution had actually been taken, see Joh 11:53; and that immediately after the manifestation of His power as the Son of God (, … Joh 11:41), in the raising of Lazarus, and also immediately () after Caiaphass prophecy.
.] see Joh 11:48. As far as this, the parable is History: from this point, Prophecy.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 21:38. , this is the Heir) They might have known Him to be the Heir, and yet they opposed His right.-, , come, let us kill Him) Thus the LXX. in Gen 37:20.-, let us seize upon) They thought to have done so after Christ was slain: see ch. Mat 27:63-64.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
This: Mat 2:13-16, Mat 26:3, Mat 26:4, Mat 27:1, Mat 27:2, Gen 37:18-20, Psa 2:2-8, Mar 12:7, Mar 12:8, Luk 20:14, Joh 11:47-53, Act 4:27, Act 4:28, Act 5:24-28
Reciprocal: Exo 1:16 – then ye shall Jdg 16:2 – kill him 2Sa 17:2 – I will smite 1Ki 1:12 – the life 2Ki 11:1 – and destroyed Psa 2:1 – people Psa 40:14 – that Jer 7:26 – they did Jer 11:9 – General Mat 12:45 – Even Mat 27:23 – But Mar 9:31 – The Son Mar 11:18 – and Luk 9:44 – for Luk 19:12 – a far Luk 22:2 – General Joh 7:1 – because Joh 7:19 – Why Joh 16:20 – but the Heb 1:2 – appointed Jam 5:6 – have
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1:38
Being the heir, if he could be removed there would seem to be no one to claim the property, hence the workers planned to make away with him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
[This is the heir, etc.] compare this verse Mat 21:38 with Joh 11:48; and it seems to hint, that the rulers of the Jews acknowledged among themselves that Christ was the Messias; but being strangely transported beside their senses, they put him to death; lest, bringing in another worship and another people, he should either destroy or suppress their worship and themselves.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 21:38. This is the heir. Heir in virtue of His human nature, Heb 1:1-2.
Keep his inheritance. Not seize. An expression of folly (in addition to the wicked resolve), as though the death of the heir would permit them to hold the possession, while the householder lived. This assumes an unwilling conviction of the Messiah-ship of Jesus, on the part of the rulers. Up to this point the parable was History, here it becomes Prophecy. In the attempt to maintain their own authority, which He had challenged, by putting Him to death, they foolishly defied God. Some of them might have thought, if we try to kill Him, He will save himself, if He is the Messiah (comp, the taunt during the crucifixion, chap. Mat 27:40); but this prophetic word should have banished that thought.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us {s} seize on his inheritance.
(s) Literally, “let us hold it fast”.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israel’s leaders did not reject Jesus because it was not clear who He was but because they refused to submit to His authority (Mat 23:37). Jesus had announced to His disciples that the Jewish leaders would kill Him (Mat 16:21; Mat 17:23; Mat 20:18). Now He announced this to the leaders themselves and the people.