Wim J.C. Weren, «The Use of Isaiah 5,1-7 in the Parable of the Tenants (Mark 12,1-12; Matthew 21,33-46)», Vol. 79 (1998) 1-26

This article attempts to prove the following theses. The parable of the tenants in Mark 12,1-12 has been constructed on the basis of the vineyard song in Isa 5,1-7. There are connections with the Hebrew text as well as with the LXX version. The later exegesis of Isa 5,1-7 as it is found in the Targum and in 4Q500 has also left traces in the parable. The connections with Isaiah were already present in the original form and they are enlarged in the subsequent phases of the tradition. Matthew has taken almost all references from Mark but he additionaly made links to Isa 5,1-7 which he did not derive from Mark.

verb and the corresponding object have changed places in three cases out of four, compared to the LXX ²⁶:

Mark:                                         order:       LXX:

1 a0mpelw~na ... e0fu/teusen      <--->      e0fu/teusa a1mpelon swrhx

2 perie/qhken fragmo/n            <--->       fragmo\n perie/qhka

3 w1rucen u9polh/nion               <--->      prolh/nion w1ruca

4 w0|kodo/mhsen pu/rgon               =          w0|kodo/mhsa pu/rgon

      Beentjes calls this an "inverted quotation". He has collected a number of examples of such quotations. This phenomenon occurs in the Hebrew bible, the LXX, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament and also in texts originating from different periods in Antiquity. On the basis of these examples Beentjes assumes that this is a fixed literary procedure, to which he attributes the following function: "[...] in an existing formulation [...] the author reverses the sequence. And by this deviating model he attains a moment of extra attention in the listener (or the reader), because the latter hears something else than the traditional words" ²⁷. The double inversion of the order in Mark 12,1 indicates that a statement about Isa 5 is going to be made that differs from the original gist of that text ²⁸.

      Stimulated by the quotation in Mark 12,1 the reader will be on the look-out for further references to Isaiah's song of the vineyard. I observe the following similarities. The word a0gaphto/j in Mark 12,6 is reminiscent of a0gaphto/j and h0gaphme/noj in Isa 5,1 ²⁹. The