# Luke 20.3-18 **Book:** [Luke](/codex/luke-the-evangelist/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 1. And it came to pass, on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders; 2. and they spake, saying unto him, Tell us: By what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? > > **3. And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a question; and tell me: 4. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? 5. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? 6. But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. 7. And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. 8. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 9. And he began to speak unto the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country for a long time. 10. And at the season he sent unto the husbandmen a servant, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 11. And he sent yet another servant: and him also they beat, and handled him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12. And he sent yet a third: and him also they wounded, and cast him forth. 13. And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him. 14. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned one with another, saying, This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 15. And they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do unto them? 16. He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. 17. But he looked upon them, and said, What then is this that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner? 18. Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.** > > 19. And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that very hour; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he spake this parable against them. 20. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor. (Luke 20:1-20, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 1. On one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the Good News, the priests and scribes came to him with the elders. 2. They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?” > > **3. He answered them, “I also will ask you one question. Tell me: 4. the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?” 5. They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6. But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7. They answered that they didn’t know where it was from. 8. Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” 9. He began to tell the people this parable. “A man planted a vineyard, and rented it out to some farmers, and went into another country for a long time. 10. At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him, and sent him away empty. 11. He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12. He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him, and threw him out. 13. The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.’ 14. “But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15. They threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them? 16. He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!” 17. But he looked at them, and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the chief cornerstone?’ 18. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.”** > > 19. The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people, for they knew he had spoken this parable against them. 20. They watched him, and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor. (Luke 20:1-20, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 1. And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2. And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? > > **3. And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6. But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7. And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 9. Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10. 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. 11. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. 13. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. 14. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 15. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? 16. He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. 17. And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? 18. Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.** > > 19. And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. 20. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. (Luke 20:1-20, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 1. And it came to pass, on one of those days, as he is teaching the people in the temple, and proclaiming good news, the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders, came upon [him], 2. and spake unto him, saying, 'Tell us by what authority thou dost these things? or who is he that gave to thee this authority?' > > **3. And he answering said unto them, 'I will question you, I also, one thing, and tell me: 4. the baptism of John, from heaven was it, or from men?' 5. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, 'If we may say, From heaven, he will say, Wherefore, then, did ye not believe him? 6. and if we may say, From men, all the people will stone us, for they are having been persuaded John to be a prophet.' 7. And they answered, that they knew not whence [it was], 8. and Jesus said to them, 'Neither do I say to you by what authority I do these things.' 9. And he began to speak unto the people this simile: 'A certain man planted a vineyard, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad for a long time, 10. and at the season he sent unto the husbandmen a servant, that from the fruit of the vineyard they may give to him, but the husbandmen having beat him, did send [him] away empty. 11. 'And he added to send another servant, and they that one also having beaten and dishonoured, did send away empty; 12. and he added to send a third, and this one also, having wounded, they did cast out. 13. 'And the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my son, the beloved, perhaps having seen this one, they will do reverence; 14. and having seen him, the husbandmen reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir; come, we may kill him, that the inheritance may become ours; 15. and having cast him outside of the vineyard, they killed [him]; what, then, shall the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16. He will come, and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others.' And having heard, they said, 'Let it not be!' 17. and he, having looked upon them, said, 'What, then, is this that hath been written: A stone that the builders rejected, this became head of a corner? 18. every one who hath fallen on that stone shall be broken, and on whom it may fall, it will crush him to pieces.'** > > 19. And the chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him in that hour, and they feared the people, for they knew that against them he spake this simile. 20. And, having watched [him], they sent forth liers in wait, feigning themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his word, to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor, (Luke 20:1-20, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Deuteronomy 28-68 Slave Trade Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/deuteronomy-28-68-slave-trade-prophecy-objection-defeater/), via [Luke 20.9-19](/codex/luke-20-9-19/) **Concepts:** - [Jesus Said](/codex/jesus-said/) **Lexicon:** - [H7218 - rosh](/codex/h7218-rosh/), via [Luke 20.17](/codex/luke-20-17/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.