Paragraph 20:13–16b

In this paragraph the owner decided to send his son. The grape farmers/tenants rejected him and killed him. This figuratively represents the people rejecting Jesus, God’s Son, and killing him.

20:13a

In Greek, 20:13a begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “and” or “so.” The New International Version translates this word as “Then.” It introduces what the owner thought or said as a result of what had happened. In some languages it may be natural to introduce this statement with a clause. For example:

When ⌊the owner heard this⌋
-or-
When ⌊the servant returned to the owner⌋

Introduce this event in a natural way in your language.

‘What shall I do?’ asked the owner of the vineyard: The Berean Standard Bible places the words asked the owner of the vineyard in the middle of what the owner said to himself. This is good English style. However, in some languages, it may be necessary to place these words at the beginning of 20:13a. For example:

Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I ?…’ (New International Version)

What shall I do?: This is a rhetorical question. The owner asked himself this question. He was not certain how he should react to what the farmers had done. Some ways to translate this uncertainty are:

• As a question. For example:

What will I do now? (New Century Version)
-or-
What am I to do? (Revised English Bible)

• As a direct quote. For example:

I wonder what I should do.

• As an indirect quote. For example:

…⌊he⌋ thought about what he should do.

Translate this uncertainty in a way that is natural in your language.

asked the owner of the vineyard: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as asked can refer to either thoughts or spoken words. Some other ways to translate it here are:

The owner then said to himself (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Then the owner asked himself
-or-
The owner thought

20:13b

I will send my beloved son: Here the owner answered the question that he asked himself in 20:13a. The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as my beloved describes the son. It indicates that the son was very dear to his father. It does not imply that the owner had other sons whom he did not love. This son was his only son. In the parable he represents God’s Son Jesus.

Some other ways to translate it are:

I will send my beloved son (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
I will send my own dear son (Good News Translation)
-or-
I will send my son. I love him very much.

In 3:22 God used this phrase about Jesus at his baptism. See how you translated it there.

20:13c

Perhaps they will respect him: In Greek the word him is emphasized. It is literally: “maybe this-one they will respect.” The owner thought that the grape farmers would probably respect his son. They knew that he had given his son complete authority to represent him. The clause implies a contrast with the servants, whom the grape farmers did not respect. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit:

perhaps they will respect him ⌊even though they did not respect my servants⌋

Perhaps: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Perhaps occurs only here in the New Testament. It is difficult to know exactly how much certainty it indicates. English versions have translated it in different ways. For example:

Surely (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
probably (God’s Word)
-or-
it may be (Revised Standard Version)

The parable compares God to the owner. It may not intend to imply that the owner had the same knowledge of the future as God has. The owner had reason to hope and expect that the farmers would respect his son. Translate the word Perhaps in a natural way in your language for this context.

General Comment on 20:13a–c

In some languages it may be necessary to use indirect speech to tell what the owner thought. For example:

So the owner of the vineyard wondered what to do next. He decided to send his own beloved son, hoping that the tenants would respect him.

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