Mark 12:7

7 "But those men--the vine-dressers--said to one another, "`Here is the heir: come, let us kill him, and then the property will one day be ours.'

Mark 12:7 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 12:7

But those husbandmen said among themselves
This, in the Persic version, is introduced thus, "when the vine dressers saw the son of the lord of the vineyard": agreeably to ( Matthew 21:38 ) . The Ethiopic version renders it, "and the servants said"; not the servants that had been sent, but the workmen in the vineyard:

this is the heir;
that is, "of the vineyard", as the Persic version expresses it they knew him by the prophecies of the Old Testament which had described him, and by the miracles which were wrought by him; and they could not deny but that the vineyard of the house of Judah belonged to him, and he was right heir to the throne of Israel; though they refused to embrace him, confess him, and declare for him: but, on the other hand, said,

come let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours;
that is, "the vineyard", and the Persic version again read. The priests, Scribes, and elders of the people consulted together to take away his life, with this view: that they might continue in the quiet possession of their nation, temple, and worship, in the office they bore, and in the privileges they partook of; and that the Romans might not come, and take away their place and nation, ( John 11:47 John 11:48 ) ; (See Gill on Matthew 21:38).

Mark 12:7 In-Context

5 Yet a third he sent, and him they killed. And he sent many besides, and them also they ill-treated, beating some and killing others.

6 He had still one left whom he could send, a dearly-loved son: him last of all he sent, saying, "`They will treat my son with respect.'

7 "But those men--the vine-dressers--said to one another, "`Here is the heir: come, let us kill him, and then the property will one day be ours.'

8 "So they took him and killed him, and flung his body outside the vineyard.

9 What, therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do?" "He will come and put the vine-dressers to death," they said; "and will give the vineyard to others."