Luke 20:9–20:19, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Luke 20:9–20:19
The Tenant Parable Warns Violent Leaders
The vineyard remains Israel; the tenants are the ones on trial
He begins to speak to the people a parable of a man who plants a vineyard, lets it out to husbandmen, and goes into a far country. In season he sends a servant for fruit; they beat him and send him away empty. Another they beat and shame; a third they wound and cast out. Then he sends his beloved son, saying they will reverence him. The tenants reason that the inheritance can be seized if the heir dies, and they kill him. What shall the lord of the vineyard do? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen and give the vineyard to others. Hearers say, God forbid.
He looks on them and cites the stone which the builders rejected, become the head of the corner. Whoever falls on it is broken; on whom it falls, it will grind him to powder. The chief priests and scribes perceive that he has spoken this parable against them and seek to lay hands on him, but they fear the people. The vineyard language evokes Israel; the tenants are accountable leaders, not the Jewish people as a whole. Transfer of tenancy is a warning to violent stewards, not a doctrine that God has ethnically replaced Israel. Do not preach this as collective Jewish guilt or as permission to treat Jews as discarded tenants.
How this should shape us
If you hold a trust — a board, a pulpit, a family name, a public office — hear the parable as a charge against violent or grasping stewardship, not as a story about a race. Guard fruit for the owner, and refuse any reading that turns this vineyard into a warrant against Jewish people.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Luke 20:9–20:19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 20:9–20:19
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges only where the unit discusses them; local syntax controls sense.
STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew-Acts rows for Luke 20:9–20:19
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 20:9–20:19
Supports: Critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, narrative structure, sources, social questions, Passion, or resurrection.
Yale Bible Study Gospel of Luke course, In Jerusalem study guide, Luke 19:28-22:71; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Supports: Current reader-oriented synthesis of anonymity, date, Jewish setting, salvation, marginalized people, parables, wealth, and whole-book movement.
Enter the Bible Luke course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, Bible in the World, and linked passage index; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Supports: One complete confessional reading of the unit, independently checked against critical, textual, and ethical controls.
Bolt, “Luke,” commentary heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Luke 20:9–20:19
Supports: Literary relationship evidence and material alternatives among Luke, Mark, and Matthew without treating dependence as a historicity verdict.
Goodacre, The Synoptic Problem, chapters 1-5 on Synoptic data and Markan priority and chapters 6-10 on Q and Farrer alternatives; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Supports: Abstract-supported control against simple anti-Jewish or replacement summaries; not a settlement of every scene.
Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), official abstract and bibliographic range pp. 738-765; applied only to Jewish continuity and Gentile-inclusion framing in Luke 20:9–20:19
Supports: Critical control for pro-Jewish and anti-Jewish tensions, Roman responsibility, collective blame, and later harm.
Gaston, “Anti-Judaism and the Passion Narrative in Luke and Acts,” complete open essay, especially the sections on Jerusalem warnings, Luke 22-23, Pilate, Herod, Roman execution, collective responsibility, and reception; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 20:9–20:19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 20:9–20:19
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges only where the unit discusses them; local syntax controls sense.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew-Acts rows for Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗open university bible study course
The Gospel of Luke Course and Study Guides
Yale Divinity School faculty
Yale Bible Study, 2020; current online edition
Supports: Critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, narrative structure, sources, social questions, Passion, or resurrection.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study Gospel of Luke course, In Jerusalem study guide, Luke 19:28-22:71; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗modern scholarly book introduction
Luke: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and Bible in the World
Matthew L. Skinner
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, 2024 revision; current course inspected 2026
Supports: Current reader-oriented synthesis of anonymity, date, Jewish setting, salvation, marginalized people, parables, wealth, and whole-book movement.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Luke course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, Bible in the World, and linked passage index; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
Luke
Peter G. Bolt
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: One complete confessional reading of the unit, independently checked against critical, textual, and ethical controls.
Exact location: Bolt, “Luke,” commentary heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗modern scholarly open monograph
The Synoptic Problem: A Way Through the Maze
Mark Goodacre
T&T Clark; open access supplied by the author and Duke University, 2001; open release 2011
Supports: Literary relationship evidence and material alternatives among Luke, Mark, and Matthew without treating dependence as a historicity verdict.
Exact location: Goodacre, The Synoptic Problem, chapters 1-5 on Synoptic data and Markan priority and chapters 6-10 on Q and Farrer alternatives; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗peer reviewed article abstract and metadata
The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish
Joshua Paul Smith
The Journal of Theological Studies 72.2, 2021
Supports: Abstract-supported control against simple anti-Jewish or replacement summaries; not a settlement of every scene.
Exact location: Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), official abstract and bibliographic range pp. 738-765; applied only to Jewish continuity and Gentile-inclusion framing in Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗scholarly essay open html
Anti-Judaism and the Passion Narrative in Luke and Acts
Lloyd Gaston
Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity, vol. 1; Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1986
Supports: Critical control for pro-Jewish and anti-Jewish tensions, Roman responsibility, collective blame, and later harm.
Exact location: Gaston, “Anti-Judaism and the Passion Narrative in Luke and Acts,” complete open essay, especially the sections on Jerusalem warnings, Luke 22-23, Pilate, Herod, Roman execution, collective responsibility, and reception; applied to Luke 20:9–20:19
Open source ↗