Kill the heir to the vineyard (Mk 12:7-12:7)

“But those tenants

Said to one another.

‘This is the heir.

Come!

Let us kill him!

The inheritance

Will be ours.’”

 

ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οἱ γεωργοὶ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἶπαν ὅτι Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ κληρονόμος· δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἡμῶν ἔσται ἡ κληρονομία.

 

This parable about the wicked tenants planning to kill the heir of the vineyard can be found in Matthew, chapter 21:38, and Luke, chapter 20:14, almost word for word.  Mark said that Jesus continued his story by saying that instead of respecting the son of the landowner, these tenants saw this son as an heir to the vineyard.  They said to themselves (ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οἱ γεωργοὶ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἶπαν) that he was the heir (ὅτι Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ κληρονόμος).  They were going to kill him (δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν), thinking that they would get his inheritance (καὶ ἡμῶν ἔσται ἡ κληρονομία).  They were really dumb.