New Testament · Gospel

Matthew 21:39

The King Enters

So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Matthew 21:39 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Matthew 21:39, in plain English

They grab him, throw him out of the vineyard, and kill him.

Why it's here

The detail about killing him outside the vineyard points to what will happen to Jesus — crucified outside the city walls.

Who's speaking

The narrator describes the murder that mirrors Jesus' own coming death.

Where it sits in the story

They threw him out and killed him. Jesus is telling His own death story before it happens.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

They seize the son, throw him out of the vineyard, and kill him — the detail of killing 'outside the vineyard' foreshadows Jesus' crucifixion outside Jerusalem's walls.

Language and setting

Jesus was crucified outside the city gate (Heb 13:12); the sequence of expulsion then death matches the historical pattern.

Voice

The narrator describes the murder of the son outside the vineyard.

Significance

The son is cast out and killed — a prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus being taken outside Jerusalem to be crucified.

In context

Matthew 21:37–41

37Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’

39So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”

41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

Read all of Matthew 21 — Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey while the crowds shout hosanna. Within hours, he's overturning tables in the temple.

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