tenants (of a vineyard) / winegrower

The Greek that is translated as “tenants (of a vineyard)” or similar in English is translated in the Pfälzisch translation by Walter Sauer (publ. 2012) as Winzer and in Luxembourghish as Wënzer, both “winemaker (vintner).” The area were Pfälzisch and Luxembourghish are spoken are traditional wine making areas and this is the commonly used term.

The same term is also used in John 15:1 for (English) “winegrower.” (Source: Zetzsche)

complete verse (Matthew 21:36)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 21:36:

  • Uma: “The owner of the field again sent/ordered other slaves, more than the first time. But they were also just done to like that.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the owner sent again other servants to go to them. They were more then the previous ones. The caretakers did to them as they had done to the others.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And this person again sent many more than he sent at first. However, these who were caring (for the vineyard), they did the same thing to them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then the farm owner sent more slaves than the first-time, but what the tenant-farmers (lit. those-who-took-care-of the farm) did to them was the same.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When that owner discovered it, he sent others, more than those first slaves. But like that indeed was done by those he’d left in charge.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The field-owner then sent even more servants to the field, but those workers at the field again mistreated the ones who arrived there.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 21:36

The commentators point out that the servants mentioned in this verse are intended to represent the post-exilic prophets. Even the bitter experience of the exile did not cause Israel to alter its attitude toward God.

Again … other servants may be problematic for some readers to whom it may suggest that these other servants were now being sent a second time (Again). To remove this difficulty, one may translate “After this, the man sent other servants.”

More than the first may require translation as a separate sentence: “He sent more slaves this time than he did the first time.”

Did the same to them (Good News Translation “treated them the same way”) may be translated “did the same thing to them that they did to the other slaves.” The text has simply they and them. Translators will have to make sure it is clear that it was the tenants who did the same thing to these servants.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .