Mark 12:1

Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

And he began to speak to them in similes: `A man planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around, and digged an under-winevat, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad;

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Καὶ ἤρξατο αὐτοῖς ἐν παραβολαῖς λέγεῖν. Ἀμπελῶνα ἐφύτευσεν ἄνθρωπος, καὶ περιέθηκεν φραγμόν, καὶ ὤρυξεν ὑπολήνιον, καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν πύργον, καὶ ἐξέδοτο αὐτὸν γεωργοῖς, καὶ ἀπεδήμησεν.

Transliteration

And he ērxato to-them in parabolais legein. Ampelōna ephyteusen anthrōpos, and periethēken phragmon, and ōryxen hypolēnion, and ōkodomēsen pyrgon, and exedoto it to-geōrgois, and apedēmēsen.

Grammar Details

• *ērxato*: aorist middle indicative, 3rd singular - began
• *parabolais*: dative plural feminine - parables
• *legein*: present active infinitive - to speak/say
• *Ampelōna*: accusative singular masculine - vineyard
• *ephyteusen*: aorist active indicative, 3rd singular - planted
• *anthrōpos*: nominative singular masculine - man/person
• *periethēken*: aorist active indicative, 3rd singular - placed around
• *phragmon*: accusative singular masculine - fence/hedge
• *ōryxen*: aorist active indicative, 3rd singular - dug
• *hypolēnion*: accusative singular neuter - wine vat/pit under the winepress
• *ōkodomēsen*: aorist active indicative, 3rd singular - built
• *pyrgon*: accusative singular masculine - tower
• *exedoto*: aorist middle indicative, 3rd singular - gave out/leased
• *geōrgois*: dative plural masculine - farmers/vinedressers
• *apedēmēsen*: aorist active indicative, 3rd singular - went away/traveled abroad

Word Meanings

• *ērxato*: began/started
• *parabolais*: parables/analogies/comparisons
• *legein*: to speak/to say/to tell
• *ampelōna*: vineyard/vine-field
• *ephyteusen*: planted/established
• *anthrōpos*: man/human/person
• *periethēken*: placed around/set around/surrounded with
• *phragmon*: fence/hedge/wall
• *ōryxen*: dug/excavated
• *hypolēnion*: wine vat/pit under the winepress
• *ōkodomēsen*: built/constructed
• *pyrgon*: tower/watchtower
• *exedoto*: leased/rented out/gave out
• *geōrgois*: farmers/vinedressers/agricultural workers
• *apedēmēsen*: went away/traveled abroad/left the country

Referenced Verses

• Isa 5:1-4 : 1 Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill, 2 And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it `with' a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! 3 And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. 4 What -- to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!
• Ps 80:8-9 : 8 A vine out of Egypt Thou dost bring, Thou dost cast out nations, and plantest it. 9 Thou hast looked before it, and dost root it, And it filleth the land, 10 Covered have been hills `with' its shadow, And its boughs `are' cedars of God. 11 It sendeth forth its branches unto the sea, And unto the river its sucklings. 12 Why hast Thou broken down its hedges, And all passing by the way have plucked it? 13 A boar out of the forest doth waste it, And a wild beast of the fields consumeth it. 14 God of Hosts, turn back, we beseech Thee, Look from heaven, and see, and inspect this vine, 15 And the root that Thy right hand planted, And the branch Thou madest strong for Thee, 16 Burnt with fire -- cut down, From the rebuke of Thy face they perish.
• Matt 25:14 : 14 `For -- as a man going abroad did call his own servants, and did deliver to them his substance,
• Mark 4:2 : 2 and he taught them many things in similes, and he said to them in his teaching:
• Mark 4:11-13 : 11 and he said to them, `To you it hath been given to know the secret of the reign of God, but to those who are without, in similes are all the things done; 12 that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they may turn, and the sins may be forgiven them.' 13 And he saith to them, `Have ye not known this simile? and how shall ye know all the similes?
• Mark 4:33-34 : 33 And with many such similes he was speaking to them the word, as they were able to hear, 34 and without a simile he was not speaking to them, and by themselves, to his disciples he was expounding all.
• Mark 13:34 : 34 as a man who is gone abroad, having left his house, and given to his servants the authority, and to each one his work, did command also the porter that he may watch;
• Song 8:11-12 : 11 Solomon hath a vineyard in Baal-Hamon, He hath given the vineyard to keepers, Each bringeth for its fruit a thousand silverlings; 12 My vineyard -- my own -- is before me, The thousand `is' for thee, O Solomon. And the two hundred for those keeping its fruit. O dweller in gardens!
• Luke 8:10 : 10 And he said, `To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of God, and to the rest in similes; that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
• Luke 13:6-9 : 6 And he spake this simile: `A certain one had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit in it, and he did not find; 7 and he said unto the vine-dresser, Lo, three years I come seeking fruit in this fig-tree, and do not find, cut it off, why also the ground doth it render useless? 8 `And he answering saith to him, Sir, suffer it also this year, till that I may dig about it, and cast in dung; 9 and if indeed it may bear fruit --; and if not so, thereafter thou shalt cut it off.'
• Luke 15:13 : 13 `And not many days after, having gathered all together, the younger son went abroad to a far country, and there he scattered his substance, living riotously;
• Luke 19:12 : 12 He said therefore, `A certain man of birth went on to a far country, to take to himself a kingdom, and to return,
• Luke 20:9-9 : 9 And he began to speak unto the people this simile: `A certain man planted a vineyard, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad for a long time, 10 and at the season he sent unto the husbandmen a servant, that from the fruit of the vineyard they may give to him, but the husbandmen having beat him, did send `him' away empty. 11 `And he added to send another servant, and they that one also having beaten and dishonoured, did send away empty; 12 and he added to send a third, and this one also, having wounded, they did cast out. 13 `And the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my son -- the beloved, perhaps having seen this one, they will do reverence; 14 and having seen him, the husbandmen reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir; come, we may kill him, that the inheritance may become ours; 15 and having cast him outside of the vineyard, they killed `him'; what, then, shall the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come, and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others.' And having heard, they said, `Let it not be!' 17 and he, having looked upon them, said, `What, then, is this that hath been written: A stone that the builders rejected -- this became head of a corner? 18 every one who hath fallen on that stone shall be broken, and on whom it may fall, it will crush him to pieces.' 19 And the chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him in that hour, and they feared the people, for they knew that against them he spake this simile.
• Luke 22:9 : 9 and they said to him, `Where wilt thou that we might prepare?'
• John 15:1-8 : 1 `I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman; 2 every branch in me not bearing fruit, He doth take it away, and every one bearing fruit, He doth cleanse by pruning it, that it may bear more fruit; 3 already ye are clean, because of the word that I have spoken to you; 4 remain in me, and I in you, as the branch is not able to bear fruit of itself, if it may not remain in the vine, so neither ye, if ye may not remain in me. 5 `I am the vine, ye the branches; he who is remaining in me, and I in him, this one doth bear much fruit, because apart from me ye are not able to do anything; 6 if any one may not remain in me, he was cast forth without as the branch, and was withered, and they gather them, and cast to fire, and they are burned; 7 if ye may remain in me, and my sayings in you may remain, whatever ye may wish ye shall ask, and it shall be done to you. 8 `In this was my Father glorified, that ye may bear much fruit, and ye shall become my disciples.
• Acts 7:38 : 38 `This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the messenger who is speaking to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers who did receive the living oracles to give to us;
• Acts 7:46-47 : 46 who found favour before God, and requested to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob; 47 and Solomon built Him an house.
• Rom 3:1-2 : 1 What, then, `is' the superiority of the Jew? or what the profit of the circumcision? 2 much in every way; for first, indeed, that they were intrusted with the oracles of God;
• Rom 9:4-5 : 4 who are Israelites, whose `is' the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the lawgiving, and the service, and the promises, 5 whose `are' the fathers, and of whom `is' the Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen.
• Rom 11:17-24 : 17 And if certain of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wast graffed in among them, and a fellow-partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive tree didst become -- 18 do not boast against the branches; and if thou dost boast, thou dost not bear the root, but the root thee! 19 Thou wilt say, then, `The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in;' right! 20 by unbelief they were broken off, and thou hast stood by faith; be not high-minded, but be fearing; 21 for if God the natural branches did not spare -- lest perhaps He also shall not spare thee. 22 Lo, then, goodness and severity of God -- upon those indeed who fell, severity; and upon thee, goodness, if thou mayest remain in the goodness, otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And those also, if they may not remain in unbelief, shall be graffed in, for God is able again to graff them in; 24 for if thou, out of the olive tree, wild by nature, wast cut out, and, contrary to nature, wast graffed into a good olive tree, how much rather shall they, who `are' according to nature, be graffed into their own olive tree?
• Mark 12:1-9 : 1 And he began to speak to them in similes: `A man planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around, and digged an under-winevat, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad; 2 and he sent unto the husbandmen at the due time a servant, that from the husbandmen he may receive from the fruit of the vineyard, 3 and they, having taken him, did severely beat `him', and did send him away empty. 4 `And again he sent unto them another servant, and at that one having cast stones, they wounded `him' in the head, and sent away -- dishonoured. 5 `And again he sent another, and that one they killed; and many others, some beating, and some killing. 6 `Having yet therefore one son -- his beloved -- he sent also him unto them last, saying -- They will reverence my son; 7 and those husbandmen said among themselves -- This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and ours shall be the inheritance; 8 and having taken him, they did kill, and cast `him' forth without the vineyard. 9 `What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 And this Writing did ye not read: A stone that the builders rejected, it did become the head of a corner: 11 from the Lord was this, and it is wonderful in our eyes.' 12 And they were seeking to lay hold on him, and they feared the multitude, for they knew that against them he spake the simile, and having left him, they went away;
• Ps 147:19-20 : 19 Declaring His words to Jacob, His statutes and His judgments to Israel. 20 He hath not done so to any nation, As to judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye Jah!
• Neh 9:13-14 : 13 `And on mount Sinai Thou hast come down, even to speak with them from the heavens, and Thou dost give to them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commands. 14 And Thy holy sabbath Thou hast made known to them, and commands, and statutes, and law, Thou hast commanded for them, by the hand of Moses Thy servant;
• Ps 78:68-69 : 68 And He chooseth the tribe of Judah, With mount Zion that He loved, 69 And buildeth His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it to the age.
• Isa 7:23 : 23 And it hath come to pass, in that day, Every place where there are a thousand vines, At a thousand silverlings, Is for briers and for thorns.
• Jer 2:21 : 21 And I planted thee a choice vine, wholly a true seed, And how hast thou been turned to Me, To the degenerate shoots of a strange vine?
• Ezek 20:11-12 : 11 And I give to them My statutes, And my judgments I caused them to know, Which the man who doth -- liveth by them. 12 And also My sabbaths I have given to them, To be for a sign between Me and them, To know that I `am' Jehovah their sanctifier.
• Ezek 20:18-20 : 18 And I say to their sons in the wilderness: In the statutes of your fathers ye walk not, And their judgments ye do not observe, And with their idols ye are not defiled. 19 I `am' Jehovah your God, in My statutes walk, And My judgments observe, and do them, 20 And My sabbaths sanctify, And they have been for a sign between Me and you, To know that I, Jehovah, `am' your God.
• Ezek 20:49 : 49 And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, They are saying of me, Is he not using similes?
• Matt 13:10-15 : 10 And the disciples having come near, said to him, `Wherefore in similes dost thou speak to them?' 11 And he answering said to them that -- `To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given, 12 for whoever hath, it shall be given to him, and he shall have overabundance, and whoever hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him. 13 `Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand, 14 and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive, 15 for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them.
• Matt 13:34-35 : 34 All these things spake Jesus in similes to the multitudes, and without a simile he was not speaking to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, `I will open in similes my mouth, I will utter things having been hidden from the foundation of the world.'
• Matt 21:28-22:14 : 28 `And what think ye? A man had two children, and having come to the first, he said, Child, go, to-day be working in my vineyard.' 29 And he answering said, `I will not,' but at last, having repented, he went. 30 `And having come to the second, he said in the same manner, and he answering said, I `go', sir, and went not; 31 which of the two did the will of the father?' They say to him, `The first.' Jesus saith to them, `Verily I say to you, that the tax-gatherers and the harlots do go before you into the reign of God, 32 for John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye did not believe him, and the tax-gatherers and the harlots did believe him, and ye, having seen, repented not at last -- to believe him. 33 `Hear ye another simile: There was a certain man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and did put a hedge round it, and digged in it a wine-press, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad. 34 `And when the season of the fruits came nigh, he sent his servants unto the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of it, 35 and the husbandmen having taken his servants, one they scourged, and one they killed, and one they stoned. 36 `Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did to them in the same manner. 37 `And at last he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son; 38 and the husbandmen having seen the son, said among themselves, This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and may possess his inheritance; 39 and having taken him, they cast `him' out of the vineyard, and killed him; 40 whenever therefore the lord of the vineyard may come, what will he do to these husbandmen?' 41 They say to him, `Evil men -- he will evilly destroy them, and the vineyard will give out to other husbandmen, who will give back to him the fruits in their seasons.' 42 Jesus saith to them, `Did ye never read in the Writings, A stone that the builders disallowed, it became head of a corner; from the Lord hath this come to pass, and it is wonderful in our eyes. 43 `Because of this I say to you, that the reign of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit; 44 and he who is falling on this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it may fall it will crush him to pieces.' 45 And the chief priests and the Pharisees having heard his similes, knew that of them he speaketh, 46 and seeking to lay hold on him, they feared the multitudes, seeing they were holding him as a prophet. 1 And Jesus answering, again spake to them in similes, saying, 2 `The reign of the heavens was likened to a man, a king, who made marriage-feasts for his son, 3 and he sent forth his servants to call those having been called to the marriage-feasts, and they were not willing to come. 4 `Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Say to those who have been called: Lo, my dinner I prepared, my oxen and the fatlings have been killed, and all things `are' ready, come ye to the marriage-feasts; 5 and they, having disregarded `it', went away, the one to his own field, and the other to his merchandise; 6 and the rest, having laid hold on his servants, did insult and slay `them'. 7 `And the king having heard, was wroth, and having sent forth his soldiers, he destroyed those murderers, and their city he set on fire; 8 then saith he to his servants, The marriage-feast indeed is ready, and those called were not worthy, 9 be going, then, on to the cross-ways, and as many as ye may find, call ye to the marriage-feasts. 10 `And those servants, having gone forth to the ways, did gather all, as many as they found, both bad and good, and the marriage-feast apartment was filled with those reclining. 11 `And the king having come in to view those reclining, saw there a man not clothed with clothing of the marriage-feast, 12 and he saith to him, Comrade, how didst thou come in hither, not having clothing of the marriage-feast? and he was speechless. 13 `Then said the king to the ministrants, Having bound his feet and hands, take him up and cast forth to the outer darkness, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth; 14 for many are called, and few chosen.'