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)

vineyard

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “vineyard” in English is translated in Noongar as boodjer-djildjiyang, lit. “land for fruit.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

parable

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The Greek that is usually translated as “parable” in English is translated in other languages in a number of ways:

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “tell-a-story” and “compare.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Parable” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as analogy because “the Greek word has the sense of tossing down something alongside something else. Hence an analogy.”

See also image and figures of speech.

complete verse (Luke 20:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 20:9:

  • Noongar: “Then Jesus told people this parable. ‘A man planted fruit on his land. Other people gave him money to use the land and this man went far away.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that, Yesus spoke to the people, saying this parable to them: ‘There was a person who planted his field/garden with grapes, after that he gave his field to be worked to several people, and he went to a far town, and he stayed there a long time.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then Isa told the people this parable, ‘There was,’ he said, ‘a person who made an enclosure with grape vines and he told the people to take care of it for sharing the proceeds of the plants. And then he left going to a far country and he was there for a long time.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Jesus told the people a parable, because he wanted them to know how God was doing things. He said, ‘There is a person who had a field, and he planted it with the vines called paras. He had some people take care of it for him and he left for a far place and stayed there a long time.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then Jesus related this parable to the many-people. He said, ‘There was a person who planted many grapes. He caused-them-to-be-taken-care-of by other farmers, and then he went to a far country and was a long-time there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus faced the crowd again and gave an illustration, saying, ‘There was a person who planted ubas plants in his field. After he’d planted them, he left his ubas plantation in the charge of some people who were field-workers, for he went to another place and was a long time there.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 20:9

Exegesis:

ērxato de pros ton laon legein tēn parabolēn tautēn lit. ‘he began to tell the people this parable.’ For archomai with infinitive, cf. on 4.21; here it refers to a new turn in Jesus’ activity, cf. “He went on to tell” (New English Bible). pros ton laon is emphatic by position and brings out a change in Jesus’ audience after vv. 1-8, cf. “then he turned to the people” (Phillips). For parabolē cf. on 4.23.

exedeto auton geōrgois ‘he let it to tenants.’

ekdidomai ‘to lease,’ ‘to let (out).’

geōrgos ‘farmer,’ here ‘tenant.’

apedēmēsen chronous hikanous ‘he went abroad for a considerable time.’ For apodēmeō cf. on 15.13. chronous hikanous is accusative of duration. chronoi in the plural denotes a longer period.

Translation:

Parable, see on 8.4.

Planted a vineyard. The verb ‘to plant’ in some languages may only take ‘plant(s)’ or ‘tree(s),’ or the name of a specific plant/tree as object, but not ‘vineyard’ or ‘garden’; hence, ‘made (or, laid out) a vineyard’ (Javanese, Willibrord); in Bahasa Indonesia the technical term is ‘to open,’ referring primarily to the clearing of the jungle, then also to the laying-out of a garden in the area cleared. — Vineyard, or, ‘field/garden with vines,’ ‘grape garden’ (Thai), ‘place-for-grapes’ (Tzeltal), ‘wine (fruit) garden’ (several Indonesian languages); cf. also ‘a man possessed a field; he planted vines (a transliterated term) in it’ (Fon). Where a cultural equivalent for ‘wine’ (for which see on 1.15) is used, it may be possible to employ a term connected with the beverage chosen, e.g. ‘field/garden of palmwine-trees.’ Such a rendering, however, requires careful consideration, because it must fit the concomitant features mentioned in the parallel passages (Mt. 21.33, Mk. 12.1). Thus is Medumba, where ‘wine’ is rendered by ndu’, i.e. the fermented juice of the raffia-palm (nkùà), the translator may feel that he cannot say ‘field of nkùà’ (since such a field has neither a wall or hedge, nor a tower) but must coin a descriptive phrase, ‘plantation of ndu’ trees.’

Let it out to tenants, or, “leased it (or, rented it out) to tenants” (An American Translation, Good News Translation), ‘left it to be taken care of by renters-of-land’ (Tzeltal). What is probably meant here is a long lease, and payment in kind, either a fixed amount of the product, or a third or fourth part of it. Renderings of tenants may be rather generic (as is the Greek), e.g. ‘farmers’ (Shona), ‘field-workers’ (Batak Toba), ‘gardeners’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘those who hoe’ (Fulah, Balinese); or more specific, referring to the men’s having the vineyard in lease, e.g. “tenants” (Revised Standard Version, similarly Sranan Tongo, Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘caretakers’ (Ekari), or to their job, e.g. “vine-growers” (New English Bible, similarly Bible de Jérusalem).

Went into another country for a long while, or ‘went to another (or, a far/foreign) country (or, to the country of other/foreign/ far-away people) and stayed there for a long time.’

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.