Mark 12:3 kjv
And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
Mark 12:3 nkjv
And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Mark 12:3 niv
But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Mark 12:3 esv
And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Mark 12:3 nlt
But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed.
Mark 12 3 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Mistreatment of Servants/Prophets | ||
| Jer 25:4 | "...the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets... but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear." | God sent prophets repeatedly, but ignored. |
| Neh 9:26 | "Nevertheless they were disobedient... and slew thy prophets..." | Israel rebelled and killed God's prophets. |
| 2 Chr 36:15-16 | "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers... But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets..." | God's messengers mocked and abused. |
| Mt 23:34 | "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify..." | Jesus foretells persecution of His messengers. |
| Lk 11:49-51 | "...I will send them prophets and apostles; and some of them they shall slay and persecute..." | Prophetic words about persecution of apostles. |
| Acts 7:52 | "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One..." | Stephen's accusation: ancestors persecuted prophets. |
| Heb 11:36-38 | "And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourging... They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword..." | Faithful enduring persecution including beatings. |
| Authority & Expectation of Fruit | ||
| Isa 5:1-7 | "Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard... The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel..." | Parable of Vineyard where God is landowner. |
| Jer 2:21 | "Yet I had planted thee a noble vine... how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?" | God planted Israel as a good vine. |
| Ps 80:8-16 | "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it." | God's nurturing of Israel as a vine. |
| Mt 21:34 | "And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it." | Parallel: Landowner expects fruit. |
| Lk 20:10 | "And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard..." | Parallel: Landowner expects fruit. |
| Rejection Leading to Judgment | ||
| Mt 21:43 | "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." | Kingdom removed from those who rejected God. |
| Mk 12:9 | "What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others." | Consequences for wicked tenants. |
| Lk 20:16 | "He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others." | Parallel: Judgment on the wicked tenants. |
| Dan 9:26 | "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off... and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary..." | Prophecy of Messiah's rejection & Jerusalem's fall. |
| Divine Patience | ||
| Isa 65:2 | "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people..." | God's persistent patience. |
| Lk 13:6-9 | "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none... let it alone this year also..." | Parable of barren fig tree illustrating patience. |
| Rom 2:4 | "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" | God's patience designed for repentance. |
Mark 12 verses
Mark 12 3 Meaning
This verse describes the second instance of a landowner's servant being sent to collect his due from the vineyard tenants. However, the tenants not only refuse to yield any produce but also violently apprehend the servant, beat him severely, and then dismiss him without having collected anything. This action marks a clear escalation in their defiance and outright rebellion against the landowner's legitimate authority and rightful claims.
Mark 12 3 Context
Mark 12:3 is embedded within Jesus' Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mk 12:1-12), which He delivers in the Jerusalem Temple courts during His final week, shortly before His crucifixion. The parable follows Jesus' Triumphal Entry and the cleansing of the Temple, events that profoundly agitated the chief priests, scribes, and elders who had directly challenged His authority (Mk 11:27-33). In the allegory, the landowner represents God, the vineyard represents Israel (or God's covenant people), the tenants symbolize the religious leaders of Israel (to whom God entrusted the care of His people), and the servants represent the prophets whom God repeatedly sent. This specific verse depicts the increasingly hostile reaction of the tenants to the landowner's messengers, directly foreshadowing the historical persecution of God's prophets by Israel's leadership and their imminent rejection and mistreatment of God's Son, Jesus Himself. The immediate historical setting underscores the confrontational nature of Jesus' words, as the Jewish leadership rightly perceived that the parable was spoken against them (Mk 12:12).
Mark 12 3 Word analysis
- And (καὶ - kai): This conjunction links the current event to the preceding sending of a servant (v. 2), signifying a continuous and escalating sequence of actions.
- they (αὐτόν - auton in the implied nominative for the tenants): Refers to the "husbandmen" or "vine-growers" introduced in Mark 12:1. It emphasizes their collective and intentional action in rejecting the landowner's claims.
- caught (λαβόντες - labontes, from λαμβάνω - lambano): Literally "taking" or "seizing." This implies an active, deliberate, and forceful apprehension of the servant, not a passive or casual encounter. It underscores the tenants' aggression.
- him (αὐτόν - auton): Refers to the specific servant (δοῦλος - doulos) dispatched by the landowner. The singular form keeps the focus on this individual act of violence against one messenger.
- and (καὶ - kai): Connects the act of seizing with the subsequent violent treatment, highlighting the immediate follow-through.
- beat (ἔδειραν - edeiran, from δέρνω - derno): "To flay," "to skin," "to flog," "to beat soundly." This verb denotes a harsh, brutal, and often prolonged physical assault, indicating severe cruelty and deliberate intent to inflict pain. It suggests public humiliation and suffering. This parallels the mistreatment of prophets in the Old Testament.
- him (αὐτόν - auton): Again, the specific servant.
- and (καὶ - kai): Connects the beating with the final act of dismissal.
- sent him away (ἐξαπέστειλαν - exapostellan, from ἐξαποστέλλω - exapostello): "To send off," "to send away from," "to dismiss." This signifies the active expulsion of the servant, a final rejection of his person and mission after the violent assault. It conveys disdain.
- empty (κενόν - kenon): "Empty," "vain," "without profit or results," "void." This crucial adjective reveals the total failure of the servant's mission. He returned without any of the vineyard's produce, symbolizing the tenants' blatant refusal to yield the rightful fruit and their outright rebellion against the landowner's authority. It underscores their complete defiance and usurpation.
Words-group analysis:
- "And they caught him, and beat him": This sequence reveals a deliberate and escalating act of physical violence. It's not just a rejection but an aggressive assault aimed at causing harm and asserting dominance over the landowner's messenger, mirroring the historical persecution of God's prophets by the Jewish leaders.
- "and sent him away empty": This concluding action highlights the tenants' ultimate defiance. The servant returning "empty" signifies their total refusal to acknowledge the landowner's claim or share the fruit. It communicates their usurping intent to keep everything for themselves and marks a complete disregard for accountability, which for the parable's original audience pointed to their spiritual barrenness and failure to render God what was due.
Mark 12 3 Bonus section
- The progression of violence in the parable (first servant shamed, second beaten, others wounded/killed, finally the son killed) highlights the escalating defiance of the tenants, mirroring the deepening hardness of heart of those to whom God had entrusted His spiritual "vineyard" (Israel).
- The parable implies God's persistent patience, sending multiple servants despite their previous rejection. This divine patience provides opportunities for repentance before ultimate judgment.
- For the original audience, particularly the Jewish religious leaders listening to Jesus in the Temple, this parable was a direct indictment. They understood the metaphor of the vineyard (Isa 5:1-7) and the implication that they were the wicked tenants who had failed to produce fruit for God and instead mistreated His messengers.
Mark 12 3 Commentary
Mark 12:3 demonstrates the tenants' increasing audacity and profound disrespect for the landowner's authority, deepening the tragic narrative of the parable. Unlike the first servant who was merely treated shamefully, this second servant is subjected to brutal physical violence and then sent away having failed completely to fulfill his mission. The word "empty" is crucial; it underscores not only the financial loss for the landowner but also the tenants' outright rebellion, their complete refusal to recognize the owner's rights, and their desire to fully appropriate what is not theirs. This act clearly signifies that the tenants intend to seize ownership, not just evade payment. This portrayal allegorically highlights Israel's long history of rejecting and persecuting God's prophets—messengers sent by Him to call His people to account and fruitfulness—and chillingly foreshadows the religious leaders' eventual rejection and crucifixion of Jesus, God's ultimate messenger, His very Son.