Matthew 21:35

35 "The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another *, and stoned a third.

Matthew 21:35 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 21:35

And the husbandmen took his servants
They seized and laid hold of them in a rude and violent manner: so far were they from treating these servants with respect, as they ought to have done; considering whose they were, from whom they came, and upon what account; and also so far from delivering to them the fruit due to their master, or excusing their inability to make a suitable return, as might be expected, they use them very roughly:

and beat one;
either with the fist, as Jeremiah was struck by Pashur, the son of Immer, the priest, one of these husbandmen, ( Jeremiah 20:1 Jeremiah 20:2 ) and as Micaiah was smitten on the cheek by Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, the false prophet, ( 2 Chronicles 18:23 ) or with a scourge, and may refer to the punishment of beating with forty stripes, save one, by which the skin was flayed off; as the word here signifies; for some of these servants had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, ( Hebrews 11:36 ) . And killed another; that is, with the sword. There were four kinds of death in the power of the sanhedrim, of which this is one, and what follows is another; and were these, stoning, burning, killing (i.e. beheading with the sword), and strangling: the manner of executing this punishment here expressed, was this:

``They cut off the person's head (Pyyob) , "with a sword", in the manner the government orders it. R. Judah says, this is indecent (i.e. to cut off his head standing, they do not do so), but they put his head upon a block, and cut it off with an axe; they reply to him, there is no death more abominable than this ^F24.''

So the prophets, in the time of Elijah, were killed with the sword, ( 1 Kings 19:14 ) see also ( Daniel 11:33 ) .

And stoned another;
as they did Zechariah, ( 2 Chronicles 24:21 ) and doubtless many others; since Jerusalem had the character of killing the prophets, and stoning them that were sent unto her, ( Matthew 23:37 ) these seemed such that were stoned, but not killed; but as Mark says, were wounded in the head with the stones thrown at them, and shamefully handled, and sadly abused.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F24 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 1, 3.

Matthew 21:35 In-Context

33 "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.

34 "When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce.

35 "The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another , and stoned a third.

36 "Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them.

37 "But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'