Lit., one single fig-tree. Rev., in margin.

Presently (παραχρῆμα)

Presently, in popular speech, has acquired something of a future force. I will do such a thing presently means, I will do it, not immediately, but soon. The rendering here was correct in the older English sense of instantly. So constantly in Shakspeare:

"Prospero. Go, bring the rabble,

O'er whom I gave thee pow'r, here, to this place.

Ariel. Presently?

Pros. Ay, with a twink.

Ar. Before you can say 'come,' and 'go,'

And breathe twice; and cry 'so so;'

Each one tripping on his toe

Will be here."

Temptest, iv., 1.

Compare Matthew 21:20. "How did the fig-tree immediately wither away?" Rev.

This is a different word from that in Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; μετανοεῖτε, Repent ye. Though it is fairly claimed that the word here implies all that is implied in the other word, the New Testament writers evidently recognize a distinction, since the noun which corresponds to the verb in this passage (μεταμέλεια) is not used at all in the New Testament, and the verb itself only five times; and, in every case except the two in this passage (see Matthew 21:32), with a meaning quite foreign to repentance in the ordinary gospel sense. Thus it is used of Judas, when he brought back the thirty pieces (Matthew 27:3); of Paul's not regretting his letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 7:8); and of God (Hebrews 7:21). On the other hand, μετανοέω, repent, used by John and Jesus in their summons to repentance (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17), occurs thirty-four times, and the noun μετάνοια, repentance (Matthew 3:8, Matthew 3:11), twenty-four times, and in every case with reference to that change of heart and life wrought by the Spirit of God, to which remission of sins and salvation are promised. It is not impossible, therefore, that the word in this passage may have been intended to carry a different shade of meaning, now lost to us. Μεταμέλομαι, as its etymology indicates (μετά, after, and μέλω, to be an object of care), implies an after-care, as contrasted with the change of mind denoted by μετάνοια. Not sorrow for moral obliquity and sin against God, but annoyance at the consequences of an act or course of acts, and chagrin at not having known better. "It may be simply what our fathers were wont to call hadiwist (had-I-wist, or known better, I should have acted otherwise)" (Trench). Μεταμέλεια refers chiefly to single acts; μετάνοια denotes the repentance which affects the whole life. Hence the latter is often found in the imperative: Repent ye (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19); the former never. Paul's recognition of the distinction (2 Corinthians 7:10) is noteworthy. "Godly sorrow worketh repentance (μετάνοιαν) unto salvation," a salvation or repentance "which bringeth no regret on thinking of it afterwards" (ἀμεταμέλητον). There is no occasion for one ever to think better of either his repentance or the salvation in which it issued.

Rev., more literally, set a hedge about it; possibly of the thorny wild aloe, common in the East.

Digged a wine-press (ὤρυξεν ληνὸν)

In Isaiah 5:1, Isaiah 5:2, which this parable at once recalls, the Hebrew word rendered by the Septuagint and here digged, is hewed out, i.e., from the solid rock. "Above the road on our left are the outlines of a wine-fat, one of the most complete and best preserved in the country. Here is the upper basin where the grapes were trodden and pressed. A narrow channel cut in the rock conveyed the juice into the lower basin, where it was allowed to settle; from there it was drawn off into a third and smaller basin. There is no mistaking the purpose for which those basins were excavated in the solid rock" (Thomson, "Land and Book").

A tower (πύργον)

For watchmen. Stanley ("Sinai and Palestine") describes the ruins of vineyards in Judea as enclosures of loose stones, with the square gray tower at the corner of each. Allusions to these watching-places, temporary and permanent, are frequent in Scripture. Thus, "a booth in vineyard" (Isaiah 1:8). "The earth moveth to and fro like a hammock" (so Cheyne on Isaiah; A. V., cottage; Rev., hut), a vineyard-watchman's deserted hammock tossed to and fro by the storm (Isaiah 24:20). So Job speaks of a booth which the keeper of a vineyard runneth up (Job 27:18), a hut made of sticks and hung with mats, erected only for the harvest season on the field or vineyard, for the watchman who spreads his rude bed upon its high platform, and mounts guard against the robber and the beast. In Spain, where, especially in the South, the Orient has left its mark, not only upon architecture but also upon agricultural implements and methods, Archbishop Trench says that he has observed similar temporary structures erected for watch men in the vineyards. The tower alluded to in this passage would seem to have been of a more permanent character (see Stanley above), and some have thought that it was intended not only for watching, but as a storehouse for the wine and a lodging for the workmen.

Let it out (ἐξέδετο)

"There were three modes of dealing with land. According to one of these, the laborers employed received a certain portion of the fruits, say a third or a fourth of the produce. The other two modes were, either that the tenant paid a money-rent to the proprietor, or else that he agreed to give the owner a definite amount of the produce, whether the harvest had been good or bad. Such leases were given by the year or for life; sometimes the lease was even hereditary, passing from father to son. There can scarcely be a doubt that it is the latter kind of lease which is referred to in the parable: the lessees being bound to give the owner a certain amount of fruits in their season" (Edersheim, "Life and Times of Jesus"). Compare Matthew 21:34, and Mark 12:2, "that he might receive of the fruits" (ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν).

The verb literally means to turn toward; hence to give heed to, pay respect to.

There is a play upon the words which the A. V. misses and the Rev. preserves by rendering "miserably destroy those miserable men." So the Rheims version: "The naughty men will he bring to naught." Tynd., "He will evil destroy those evil persons." The order of the Greek words is also striking: Miserable men, miserably he will destroy them.

Which (οἵτινες)

The compound Greek pronoun marks the character of the new husbandmen more distinctly than the simple which ; husbandmen of such a character that, or belonging to that class of honest men who will give him his due.

The verb is stronger: broken to pieces; so Rev.

Grind him to powder (λικμήσει αὐτόν)

But the A. V. misses the picture in the word, which is that of the winnowing-fan that separates the grain from the chaff. Literally it is, will winnow him. Rev., scatter scatter as dust.

But the phrase refers to the marriage-feast, rather than to the marriage-ceremony. In Esther 9:22, the word is used of feasting without any reference to a marriage. Rev., a marriage-feast.

Perhaps an unconscious play on the words, lost in both A. V. and Rev., to call the called. This was according to the Oriental custom of sending a messenger, after the invitations have been issued, to notify the invited guests that the entertainment is prepared. Thus Esther invites Haman to a banquet on the morrow, and, at the actual time, the chamberlain comes to bring him to the feast (Esther 5:8; Esther 6:14).

Not the principal meal of the day, but a noon-breakfast; luncheon.

Fatlings (σιτιστὰ)

From σῖτος, corn, grain, or food generally. Properly animals especially fed up or fatted for a feast.

Not in the sense of jeering. They simply gave it no heed.

His farm (ἴδιον ἀγρόν)

Rev., his own farm; bringing out the contrast between his selfish interest and the respect due to his king. Compare 2 Chronicles 30:10.

Not in our grand sense of armies, but troops, soldiers. Compare Luke 23:11, where the word is rendered men of war; Rev., soldiers.