Mar 12:1 A [certain] man planted a vineyard...
Mar 12:1 A [certain] man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about [it], and digged [a place for] the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
Alternative: A man planted a vineyard and set around [it] a defensive wall and dug a trench to receive the wine and built up a defensive tower and surrendered it to wine-growers and went abroad.
Wordplay: Many of the key terms used here have secondary meanings in warfare relating to creating defensive structures. Even the word used for digging the place to receive the wine has an inference of digging a defensive trench.
Hidden meaning: Elsewhere Christ describes the kingdom of heave, or, as we prefer here, the universal kingdom, as a man going to a far country, leaving his servants in charge. The strong suggestion is that the kingdom of heaven is not the far country, but this world of abundant resources which God's own and sets the rules for but which we are given control over in His absence.
In complex sentences like this one, Christ usually uses three or four verbs in the pattern of three plus one, where the three temporal dimensions (physical, mental, emotional/relationship) are contrast with the eternal. Here, we have an even more complex pattern of seven verbs: planted, set around, dug up, built up, let out, and went to. In this pattern, the physical portion is repeated three time. Planted is the spiritual portion, following Christ's usual parallel of the beginning and seeds with the founding spirit. Set, dug and built are the physical portion. Letting out is the mental portion. Went to a far country is the emotional/relationship portion.
The repetition of the three physical actions are a mini-cycle of the physical, mental, and emotional. Notice how the "physical" verbs are all acts of creation, creating the wall, the wine-trench, and the tower. The wall symbolizes a defensive separation which is an emotional/relationship). Wine is Christ's symbol in the cycle of liquids for the mind, so the wine-trench symbolizes the mind. Seeing is Christ's symbol of the physical world symbolized by the watchtower.
Thematically and Linguistically Related Verse(s): Mat 21:33 is the parallel verse from Matthew. Mat 25:14 describes the kingdom of heaven like a man traveling to a far country as well.
Vocabulary:
"A man" is from anthrôpos (anthropos), which "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.
"Planted" is from phuteuô (phyteuo), which means "to plant," "to produce," "to set-up," and specifically, "to plant with trees."
"Vineyard" is from ampelôn, (ampelon) which means simply "vineyard."
"Set about" is from peritithêmi (peritithomi), which means "to place," "to put around," "to put on," "to bestow," and "to confer upon."
"Hedge" is from phragma (phragmos), which means "fence," "breastwork," "screen," "protection," "defense," and "means of defense."
"Digged" is from orussô (oryss?), which means "to dig," "to trench," "to dig up," "to dig through," and "to bury."
"Winefat" is from hupolênion (hypolenion), which is "the vessel placed under a press to receive the wine or oil."
"Build" is from oikodomeô, (oikodomeo which means "to build a house," "to fashion" and is a metaphor meaning "to build upon" or "to build up."
"Watchtower" is from purgos (pyrgos), which means "tower," "tower of defense," "movable tower (for storming towns," and "a dice cup."
"Rented" is from ekdidômi (ekdidomi), which "to give up," "to surrender," "to give out of one's house," "to farm out," "to give out for hire," "to give in charge of another," "to lend out money," and "to put out." It means literally, "to give out."
"Husbandmen" is from geôrgos (georgos), which means "husbandman," "vine dresser," "gardener," and "peasant."
"Went to a far country" is from apodêmeô (apodemeo), which means "to be far from home," "to be abroad," "to be on one's travels," and "to go abroad."
