Journal: Bulletin for Biblical Research
Volume: BBR 03:1 (NA 1993)
Article: Jesus’ Exposition Of Scripture In Luke 20:9-19: An Inquiry In Light Of Jewish Hermeneutics
Author: Charles A. Kimball III

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BBR 3:1 (1993) p. 77

Jesus’ Exposition Of Scripture In Luke 20:9-19: An Inquiry In Light Of Jewish Hermeneutics

Charles A. Kimball III

Howard Payne University
Corpus Christi, Texas

A revision of a paper presented to the 1991 southwest regional meeting of the Institute for Biblical Research in Dallas, Texas, on 16 March 1991.

The exposition of the OT formed the basis of Jesus’ teachings and of many of his debates with his religious opponents. His exposition of Isaiah 5 in Luke 20:9-19, more commonly known as the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, is one of eight pericopes in Luke in which Jesus expounds explicit OT quotations.1 In this exposition Jesus explicitly pronounced a judgment on his religious opponents and implicitly gave a christological lesson.

In this essay, the Lukan form of the expository Parable of the Wicked Tenants will be analyzed in light of the exegetical methods of first-century Judaism by examining (1) the pertinent introductory problems, (2) the text-form of the OT citation, (3) the passage exegetically, and (4) the literary form of the exposition.2

Introduction

Jesus’ exposition of Isaiah 5 appears in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matt 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19)3 and in the Gospel of

BBR 3:1 (1993) p. 78

Thomas 65-66.4 Apart from Luke 20:18 (=. Matt 21:44), Luke’s version is more abbreviated than its Synoptic parallels, and Matthew’s is the fullest of the three. Luke’s parable shares several details with Matthew’s that are absent in Mark (e.g., the expulsion of the son before his death [15], the listeners’ response to Jesus’ question [16], and the second stone saying [18]), which suggests that they used a Q tradition in addition to the common triple tradition.5

Because this parable is undeniably an allegory in its synoptic form and because it contains an OT quotation and several allusions, scholars debate its original form and its authenticity.

A. Jülicher in reaction to the arbitrary and elaborate allegorical interpretations of the patr...

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