12:12a

the leaders sought: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the leaders sought is literally “they sought,” as in the New King James Version. The Berean Standard Bible uses the phrase the leaders sought to refer clearly to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, who were last mentioned in 11:27. Refer to these leaders in a way that is natural in your language.

sought to arrest Jesus: The religious leaders tried to think of a way to arrest Jesus secretly so the people would not know about it. Otherwise, the people who followed Jesus might cause a riot by trying to defend him.

arrest: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as arrest has several meanings. Here it means “seize, capture,” and it implies that the leaders wanted to take Jesus away for trial and punishment.

12:12b

for: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason why the religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus.

they knew that He had spoken this parable against them: The Jewish leaders understood that Jesus had told the story of the grape farm as a warning to them. (Jesus may also have given the metaphor of the stone as a warning to them.) Jesus meant that when they rejected him, they rejected the one whom God had sent. They understood that Jesus meant that God would certainly punish them if they did not repent. This was why they wanted to arrest Jesus.

In some languages it may be necessary to express the meaning more explicitly. For example, in 12:12a–b, the New Living Translation, 1996 edition says:

The Jewish leaders wanted to arrest him for using this illustration because they realized he was pointing at them—they were the wicked farmers in his story.

See parable, Type 3, in the Glossary for how to translate parable in this context.

12:12c

But fearing the crowd: This phrase explains why the Jewish religious leaders did not arrest Jesus yet. (See 12:12a.) They were afraid that the many other people there might riot and try to help Jesus. They knew that the people respected Jesus and that many people believed his teaching.

The leaders had wanted or tried to arrest Jesus, but they did not do it yet. In some languages it may be necessary to make that information explicit. For example:

But they did not arrest him because they were afraid of the people

12:12d

they left Him and went away: The leaders left Jesus because they were afraid to arrest him.

General Comment on 12:12a–d

In some languages it may be necessary to change the order of the parts in this verse. For example, the Revised English Bible says:

12bThey saw that the parable was aimed at them 12aand wanted to arrest him; 12cbut they were afraid of the people, 12dso they left him alone and went away.

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