translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: MAT

label: NET study note

text: The exact location of the village of Bethphage is not known. Most put it on the southeast side of the Mount of Olives and northwest of Bethany, about 1.5 miles (3 km) east of Jerusalem.


text: “Mountain” in English generally denotes a higher elevation than it often does in reference to places in Palestine. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 30 meters (100 ft) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.


text: The custom called angaria allowed the impressment of animals for service to a significant figure.


text: A quotation from Ps 118:25-26 .


text: A quotation from Isa 56:7 .


text: A quotation from Jer 7:11 . The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.


text: A quotation from Ps 8:2 .


text: Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were – hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them (“ We do not know ”). The point of Matt 21:23-27 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question, they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.


text: Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.


text: See the note on tax collectors in 5:46 .


text: The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart ). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.


text: The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT ( Isa 5:1-7 ). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24 .


text: The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.


text: The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.


text: The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.


text: Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.


text: A quotation from Ps 118:22-23 .


text: See the note on Pharisees in 3:7 .