Texts in Conversation
Of the first three Gospels, only Luke has the vineyard owner hedge with perhaps before sending his son, using a Greek word found nowhere else in the New Testament. The Gospel of Thomas says perhaps twice and, like Luke, lets only the son be killed.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Mark 12:6
New Testament
1 Then he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his portion of the crop. 3 But those tenants seized his slave, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 So he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously. 5 He sent another, and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed. 6 He had one left, his one dear son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.
Luke 20:13
New Testament
9 Then he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time. 10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave to the tenants so that they would give him his portion of the crop. However, the tenants beat his slave and sent him away empty-handed. 11 So he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 So he sent still a third. They even wounded this one and threw him out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never happen!”
Gospel of Thomas 1:65
Nag Hammadi
64 Jesus said, “A man had guests, and when he prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite the guests. He went to the first and said to him, ‘My master invites you.’ He said, ‘I have a claim against merchants; they are coming to me this evening. I must go and give orders. I ask to be excused from the dinner.’ He went to another and said, ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him, ‘I have bought a house and I am required for a day. I will not have time.’ He went to another and said, ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him, ‘My friend is getting married, and I am organizing the banquet. I cannot come. I ask to be excused.’ He went to another and said, ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him, ‘I have bought a farm; I am going to collect the rent. I will not be able to come. I ask to be excused.’ The servant returned and said to his master, ‘Those whom you invited to the dinner have asked to be excused.’ The master said to his servant, ‘Go out on the highways; bring those whom you meet, so that they may dine.’ Merchants and traders will not enter the places of my Father.” 65 He said, “A good man owned a vineyard and leased it to some farmers to work it and he might receive its fruit from them. He sent his servant so that the farmers might give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his servant, beat him, and almost killed him, and the servant returned and told his master. His master said, ‘Perhaps they did not recognize him.’ He sent another servant. The farmers beat that one as well. Then the owner sent his son and said, ‘Perhaps they will show respect to my son.’ The farmers knew that he was the heir of the vineyard. They seized him and killed him. Whoever has ears should hear.” 66 Jesus said, “Show me the stone that the builders rejected; that is the cornerstone.”
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Notes and References
“... The return of the beaten slave poses a problem for Thomas, who seems at pains to create a more plausible story. Luke had already coped with the problem of plausibility by having an inner monologue in which the owner weighs possibilities after the second sending (Luke 20:13: “Perhaps . . .”). As part of the attempt to increase plausibility, Thomas not only takes over this inner monologue of deliberation but anticipates it here—he will still use it again after the second sending—to justify the sending of a second slave after the first has been beaten. [...] In any event, what is clear is that Thomas takes Luke’s deliberating soliloquy (“perhaps”) and moves it forward, apparently in an attempt to make the owner’s action more plausible. Placed after the first sending, the deliberation makes the second sending slightly more intelligible—if no less fruitless. The two separate deliberations introduced by “perhaps” also provide an added structural element to this schematic story. [...] Like Luke (contrary to Mark and Matthew), Thomas makes the master’s deliberative soliloquy a main clause. Into the “lord of the vineyard’s” deliberation Luke pointedly inserts an adverb encountered nowhere else in the NT: “Perhaps [isōs] they will respect him [i.e., my son].” Thomas parallels this with his own adverb mešak (“Perhaps they will respect him, my son”). Interestingly, mešak occurs nowhere in CGT except in logion 65, in the two Lucan-like deliberations of the owner. [...] While traces of both Matthew and Mark can be detected, it is Luke’s redactional changes that are most clearly mirrored in Thomas. They include (1) Luke 20:9: the abrupt beginning of the story without the clear allusion to Isa 5:2; (2) Luke 20:10: the phrase “in order that they might give to him [some of] the fruit of the vineyard”; (3) the omission of the killing of any slave (in keeping with the sending of only one slave each time); (4) the inclusion of “perhaps” (Luke’s isōs, Thomas’ mešak) in the owner’s soliloquy, expressing hope that the farmers will respect his son. This point is especially telling since isōs never appears anywhere else in the NT, just as Thomas never uses mešak outside of logion 65. Luke pointedly inserts the adverb to make the owner’s decision slightly more plausible. Thomas follows Luke in both wording and intention. ...”
Meier, John P.
A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 5: Probing the Authenticity of the Parables
(pp. 121-124) Yale University Press, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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