Bible Strands
Luke 20:10
At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus tells this parable to the people while teaching in the temple, immediately after questioning the religious leaders about John the Baptist’s authority. He delivers the narrative to confront the chief priests and scribes who are actively challenging His actions.
The words — The Greek ἀπέστειλεν (apesteilen) means “he sent,” and γεωργοὺς (geōrgous) translates directly to “farmers” or “tenants.” These terms establish the contractual obligation of the tenants to deliver a portion of the vineyard’s yield to the absent owner.
The thread — Matthew 21:34 records a parallel account of a landowner sending servants at harvest to collect fruit. The pattern of rejected messengers aligns with the prophetic warnings in 2 Chronicles 36:15 and the recorded rebellion in Nehemiah 9:26.
Why it lands — The text states that the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed, documenting a direct breach of the harvest agreement. It requires the reader to recognize that rejecting a sent representative is a rejection of the owner’s authority and a failure to fulfill a stated obligation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 36:15 Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
- Nehemiah 9:26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Matthew 21:34 When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit.
- Judges 6:8 He sent them a prophet, who told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- 1 Kings 22:24 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?”
- 2 Kings 17:13 Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
- 2 Chronicles 16:10 Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
- 2 Chronicles 24:19 Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them, but they would not listen.
- Nehemiah 9:30 You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
- Psalms 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.