Exegesis:

en parabolais (cf. 3.23) ‘in parables,’ ‘by means of parables’: here the phrase is adverbial, referring to the manner of teaching; “parabolically” (Rawlinson).

The beginning of this parable is modelled after Isa. 5.1-2, and contains eight words appearing for the first time in Mark (four of which occur only here in Mark), from the Septuagint version of Isa. 5.1-2. They are the following:

ampelōn (12.2, 8, 9) ‘vineyard.’

phuteuō (only here in Mark) ‘to plant.’

peritithēmi (15.17, 36) ‘to place around.’

phragmos (only here in Mark) ‘fence,’ ‘wall,’ ‘hedge’: in this case, probably a wall of unmortared stones (cf. Rawlinson).

orussō (only here in Mark) ‘to dig.’

hupolēnion (only here in the N.T.; the Septuagint of Isa. 5.2 is prolēnion) properly the ‘pit for the wine press,’ dug into the rock, in which was placed the ‘vat’ or ‘vessel’ (the prolēnion of Isa. 5.2) into which the liquid would run. Arndt & Gingrich, however, take it to be the vat or trough itself into which the wine would run. It should be noticed that King James Version ‘winefat’ is ‘wine vat’ today.

oikodomeō (12.10; 14.58; 15.29) ‘build,’ ‘erect.’

purgos (only here in Mark) ‘tower’ which was built in a vineyard from the top of which men could keep watch over the vineyard.

The parable follows Isa. 5.1-2 up to this point. From here on the parable is independent of the Old Testament passage.

kai exedoto auton geōrgois, kai apedēmēsen ‘and he leased it to vinedressers and went away.’

ekdidomai (only here in Mark) ‘let out for hire,’ ‘lease.’

geōrgos (12.2, 7, 9) ‘a tiller of the soil,’ ‘a farmer,’ ‘a vinedresser’; by extension (as here) ‘a tenant farmer’ .

apodēmeō (only here in Mark) ‘leave on a journey,’ ‘go abroad’: Revised Standard Version (following American Standard Version) ‘go into another country’ appears to be too literal a rendering of the word. The papyri (cf. Moulton & Milligan) use the verb in the general sense of ‘going away,’ rather in the strict etymological sense of leaving one’s country (cf. Manson, ‘went away’).

Translation:

For parables see 3.23, but the combination speak in parables may require two verbs of speaking, e.g. ‘as he spoke, he told them likenesses’ or ‘he told them stories as he spoke.’

Vineyard immediately causes difficulty for the translator in many parts of the world, especially the tropics, where grapes cannot be grown, except under very special circumstances. In such instances one may use a descriptive phrase, ‘planted many plants which bore fruit’ or ‘planted many vines which gave a fruit called grape,’ in which case ‘grape’ would be borrowed from the most appropriate prestige language of the area.

Hedge is often translated as ‘a stone wall,’ but any general word for ‘fence’ or ‘enclosure’ can be used, if ‘stone walls’ are completely unknown.

It is very possible that this winepress consisted of a large trough cut into the stone in which the grapes were squeezed by the process of men walking on them. From the bottom of the vat would be a small opening through which the juice could flow out into vessels. In most translations one must attempt to describe such an object, e.g. ‘pit where they squeezed the juice’ (Highland Puebla Nahuatl), ‘hole for squeezing out grapejuice’ (Central Tarahumara), or ‘place to take juice out of the fruit’ (Barrow Eskimo).

The tower in this passage is not a ‘bell-tower’ or ‘church tower,’ as some translations have implied. It is only an elevated platform, usually built up of stone, with a temporary brush shelter on top, from which one could watch the crop to protect it from prowlers and birds.

Let it out must refer to the entire vineyard, not just to the tower, as some translations seem to imply. In general, however, there is no difficulty in expressing the meaning of letting out property to tenant farmers, for this practice is so widespread. However, in some regions this practice is not known, and hence one must describe the process briefly in order for the parable to make sense, e.g. ‘arranged to have men take care of the vineyard in exchange for part of the produce’ or ‘contracted with men to take care of the fruit plants in exchange for some of the fruit.’

Another country may be translated as ‘another region’ or ‘another land,’ but it should be sufficiently far as to preclude easy return, close supervision, or quick communication. The essential meaning here is not related to the distance which the man went on his journey but that he was out of close touch. Where, for example, a translation implies only that the owner went over into another valley, the reader will not realize just why he didn’t take care of the matter himself.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .