Saying 65: The Wicked Tenants
A man leased his vineyard to farmers. He sent a servant for the produce and they beat him; he sent another and they beat him too; he sent his son, and they killed him, knowing he was the heir.
Commentary
Thomas’s version lacks the quotations from Isaiah that frame Mark’s, which several scholars read as evidence of a pre-allegorical form of the parable. Saying 66 then supplies the rejected-stone line separately.
Parallels
Mark 12:1–9; Matthew 21:33–41; Luke 20:9–16
Sayings on the same themes
- Saying 102 Saying 102: The Dog in the Manger Damn the Pharisees: they are like a dog asleep in the cattle trough, who neither eats nor lets the cattle eat.
- Saying 104 Saying 104: When the Bridegroom Leaves Invited to pray and fast, Jesus asks what sin he has committed or how he has been defeated; rather, when the bridegroom…
- Saying 31 Saying 31: No Prophet in His Own Village No prophet is welcome in his own village; no doctor heals the people who know him.
- Saying 44 Saying 44: Blasphemy Against the Spirit Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the Son will be forgiven; whoever blasphemes against the Holy…
- Saying 40 Saying 40: The Vine Planted Apart A grapevine has been planted away from the Father; it has no strength, and it will be pulled up by the root…
- Saying 89 Saying 89: Washing the Outside of the Cup Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not understand that whoever made the inside also made the outside?