# Mark 12.1-12

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-06-26 | updated: 2026-06-26 -->

**Book:** [Mark](/codex/john-mark/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> **"1. <span class="rl-speech">And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard.</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.</span> 4. <span class="rl-speech">And again he sent unto them another servant; and him they wounded in the head, and handled shamefully.</span> 5. <span class="rl-speech">And he sent another; and him they killed: and many others; beating some, and killing some.</span> 6. He had yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last unto them, saying, <span class="rl-speech">They will reverence my son.</span> 7. But those husbandmen said among themselves, <span class="rl-speech">This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">Have ye not read even this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner;</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes?</span> 12. And they sought to lay hold on him; and they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spake the parable against them: and they left him, and went away."**
>
> "13. And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk. 14. And when they were come, they say unto him, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one; for thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" (Mark 12:1-14, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> **"1. <span class="rl-speech">He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country.</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard.</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty.</span> 4. <span class="rl-speech">Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.</span> 5. <span class="rl-speech">Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some.</span> 6. Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, <span class="rl-speech">‘They will respect my son.’</span> 7. But those farmers said among themselves, <span class="rl-speech">‘This is the heir. Come, let’</span>s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8. <span class="rl-speech">They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner.</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">This was from the Lord, it is marvelous in our eyes’?”</span> 12. They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away."**
>
> "13. They sent some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. 14. When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" (Mark 12:1-14, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> **"1. <span class="rl-speech">And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.</span> 4. <span class="rl-speech">And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.</span> 5. <span class="rl-speech">And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.</span> 6. Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, <span class="rl-speech">They will reverence my son.</span> 7. But those husbandmen said among themselves, <span class="rl-speech">This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?</span> 12. And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way."**
>
> "13. And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. 14. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" (Mark 12:1-14, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> **"1. <span class="rl-speech">And he began to speak to them in similes: 'A man planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around, and digged an under-wine-vat, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad;</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">and he sent unto the husbandmen at the due time a servant, that from the husbandmen he may receive from the fruit of the vineyard,</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">and they, having taken him, did severely beat [him], and did send him away empty.</span> 4. <span class="rl-speech">'And again he sent unto them another servant, and at that one having cast stones, they wounded [him] in the head, and sent away, dishonoured.</span> 5. <span class="rl-speech">'And again he sent another, and that one they killed; and many others, some beating, and some killing.</span> 6. 'Having yet therefore one son, his beloved, he sent also him unto them last, saying, <span class="rl-speech">They will reverence my son;</span> 7. and those husbandmen said among themselves, <span class="rl-speech">This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and ours shall be the inheritance;</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">and having taken him, they did kill, and cast [him] forth without the vineyard.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">'What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">And this Writing did ye not read: A stone that the builders rejected, it did become the head of a corner:</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">from the Lord was this, and it is wonderful in our eyes.'</span> 12. And they were seeking to lay hold on him, and they feared the multitude, for they knew that against them he spake the simile, and having left him, they went away;"**
>
> "13. and they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they may ensnare him in discourse, 14. and they having come, say to him, 'Teacher, we have known that thou art true, and thou art not caring for any one, for thou dost not look to the face of men, but in truth the way of God dost teach; is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? may we give, or may we not give?'" (Mark 12:1-14, 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._

- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_


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## Quoted in

- [Deuteronomy 28-68 Slave Trade Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/deuteronomy-28-68-slave-trade-prophecy-objection-defeater/)

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## Notes

_Your annotations._

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_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.