Marcos 12

ARC · Chapter 12/16

1E começou a fallar-lhes por parabolas: Um homem plantou uma vinha, e cercou-a de um vallado, e fundou n'ella um lagar, e edificou uma torre, e arrendou-a a uns lavradores, e partiu para fóra da terra;

2E, chegado o tempo, mandou um servo aos lavradores para que recebesse, dos lavradores, do fructo da vinha.

3Mas elles, apoderando-se d'elle, o feriram e o mandaram embora vasio.

4E tornou a enviar-lhes outro servo; e elles, apedrejando-o, o feriram na cabeça, e o mandaram embora, tendo-o affrontado.

5E tornou a enviar-lhes outro, e a este mataram, e outros muitos, e feriram uns, e mataram outros.

6Tendo elle pois ainda um seu filho amado, enviou-o tambem a estes por derradeiro, dizendo: Ao menos terão respeito ao meu filho.

7Mas aquelles lavradores disseram entre si: Este é o herdeiro; vamos, matemol-o, e a herança será nossa.

8E, pegando d'elle, o mataram, e o lançaram fóra da vinha.

9Que fará pois o Senhor da vinha? Virá, e destruirá os lavradores, e dará a vinha a outros.

10Ainda não lestes esta Escriptura: A pedra, que os edificadores rejeitaram, esta foi posta por cabeça da esquina:

11Isto foi feito pelo Senhor, e é coisa maravilhosa aos nossos olhos?

12E buscavam prendel-o, mas temiam a multidão, porque entendiam que contra elles dizia esta parabola: e, deixando-o, foram-se.

13E enviaram-lhe alguns dos phariseos e dos herodianos, para que o apanhassem n'alguma palavra.

14E, chegando elles, disseram-lhe: Mestre, sabemos que és homem de verdade, e de ninguem se te dá, porque não olhas á apparencia dos homens, antes com verdade ensinas o caminho de Deus: é licito dar o tributo a Cesar, ou não? Daremos, ou não daremos?

15Então ele, conhecendo a sua hypocrisia, disse-lhes: Porque me tentaes? trazei-me uma moeda, para que a veja.

16E elles lh'a trouxeram. E disse-lhes: De quem é esta imagem e inscripção? E elles lhe disseram: De Cesar.

17E Jesus, respondendo, disse-lhes: Dae pois a Cesar o que é de Cesar, e a Deus o que é de Deus. E maravilharam-se d'elle.

18Então os sadduceos, que dizem que não ha resurreição, approximaram-se d'elle, e perguntaram-lhe, dizendo:

19Mestre, Moysés nos escreveu que, se morresse o irmão de alguem, e deixasse mulher e não deixasse filhos, seu irmão tomasse a mulher d'elle, e suscitasse semente a seu irmão.

20Ora havia sete irmãos, e o primeiro tomou mulher, e morreu sem deixar semente;

21E o segundo tambem a tomou e morreu, e nem este deixou semente; e o terceiro da mesma maneira;

22E tomaram-n'a todos os sete, sem, comtudo, deixarem semente. Finalmente, depois de todos, morreu tambem a mulher.

23Na resurreição, pois, quando resuscitarem, de qual d'estes será a mulher? porque os sete a tiveram por mulher.

24E Jesus, respondendo, disse-lhes: Porventura não erraes vós, porque não sabeis as Escripturas nem o poder de Deus?

25Porquanto, quando resuscitarem dos mortos, nem casarão, nem se darão em casamento, mas serão como os anjos que estão nos céus.

26E, ácerca dos mortos que houverem de resuscitar, não tendes lido no livro de Moysés como Deus lhe fallou na sarça, dizendo: Eu sou o Deus de Abrahão, e o Deus de Isaac, e o Deus de Jacob?

27Ora Deus não é dos mortos, mas sim Deus dos vivos. Por isso vós erraes muito.

28E, approximando-se d'elle um dos escribas que os tinha ouvido disputar, sabendo que lhes tinha respondido bem, perguntou-lhe: Qual é o primeiro de todos os mandamentos?

29E Jesus respondeu-lhe: O primeiro de todos os mandamentos é: Ouve, Israel, o Senhor nosso Deus é o unico Senhor.

30Amarás, pois, o Senhor teu Deus de todo o teu coração, e de toda a tua alma, e de todo o teu entendimento, e de todas as tuas forças: este é o primeiro mandamento.

31E o segundo, similhante a este, é: Amarás o teu proximo como a ti mesmo. Não ha outro mandamento maior do que estes.

32E o escriba lhe disse: Muito bem, Mestre, e com verdade disseste que ha um só Deus, e que não ha outro além d'elle;

33E que amal-o de todo o coração, e de todo o entendimento, e de toda a alma, e de todas as forças, e amar o proximo como a si mesmo, é mais do que todos os holocaustos e sacrificios.

34E Jesus, vendo que havia respondido sabiamente, disse-lhe: Não estás longe do reino de Deus. E já ninguem ousava perguntar-lhe mais nada.

35E, fallando Jesus, dizia, ensinando no templo: Como dizem os escribas que o Christo é filho de David?

36Porque o mesmo David disse pelo Espirito Sancto: O Senhor disse ao meu Senhor: Assenta-te á minha direita até que eu ponha os teus inimigos por escabello dos teus pés.

37Pois, se David mesmo lhe chama Senhor, como é logo seu filho? E a grande multidão o ouvia de boa vontade.

38E, ensinando-os, dizia-lhes: Guardae-vos dos escribas, que gostam de andar com vestidos compridos, e das saudações nas praças,

39E das primeiras cadeiras nas synagogas, e dos primeiros assentos nas ceias;

40Que devoram as casas das viuvas, e isso com pretexto de largas orações. Estes receberão mais grave condemnação.

41E, estando Jesus assentado defronte da arca do thesouro, observava a maneira como a multidão lançava o dinheiro na arca do thesouro; e muitos ricos deitavam muito.

42E, chegando uma pobre viuva, deitou duas pequenas moedas, que valiam quatro réis.

43E, chamando os seus discipulos, disse-lhes: Em verdade vos digo que esta pobre viuva deitou mais do que todos os que deitaram na arca do thesouro,

44Porque todos ali deitaram do que lhes sobejava, mas esta, da sua pobreza, deitou tudo o que tinha, todo o seu sustento.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus tells the parable of the wicked tenants, answers about paying tribute to Caesar, refutes the Sadducees regarding the resurrection, sums up the law in loving God and neighbor, raises the question of the Messiah being the son of David, and praises a poor widow's humble offering.

Explanation

The parable of the tenants who mistreat the servants and kill the vineyard owner's son is a clear allegory of the historical rejection of Israel's prophets and, ultimately, of Jesus himself by the religious leaders of the time. The answer about tribute to Caesar, 'render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's,' avoids the political trap of choosing between loyalty to Rome or to the Jewish people, pointing instead to a greater principle of right priorities. The greatest commandment, joining love for God and love for neighbor, was a synthesis already debated among Jewish teachers of the time, but Jesus presents it with a clarity and authority that impresses even a scribe present. The poor widow's offering, two small low-value coins, is praised by Jesus not for the amount, but for the sacrificial proportion in relation to the little she had, contrasting with the larger but proportionally smaller donations of the rich.

Fun facts

  • The widow's two coins were 'lepta,' the smallest monetary unit in circulation in Judea at the time, and together they were worth only a Roman quadrans — the smallest practical fraction of currency used in daily trade.
  • The 'stone the builders rejected' quoted by Jesus comes from Psalm 118, a messianic text that the early Christians would use repeatedly to explain Jesus' rejection and exaltation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Marcos 12:1The elements of this parable, hedge, winepress, tower, come almost directly from an ancient song by the prophet Isaiah about a vineyard, an image already familiar to the crowd as a symbol of Israel.
  2. Marcos 12:2Leasing land and expecting part of the harvest as payment was a common arrangement when the owner lived far away. The scene describes a real agricultural practice of the time, not just a plot detail.
  3. Marcos 12:3The tenants' first reaction already sets the tone of the story: instead of paying, they beat the messenger and send him away empty-handed.
  4. Marcos 12:4The violence escalates with the second servant, wounded in the head and treated with disrespect, raising the tension of the account.
  5. Marcos 12:5The repetition of servants killed or beaten represents, in the reading of the time, a long history of prophets rejected and mistreated throughout history.
  6. Marcos 12:6The owner's naive hope, "they will reverence my son", deliberately contrasts with the brutal outcome that follows.
  7. Marcos 12:7The tenants' logic is twisted: they treat the owner's absence as if it were final abandonment, imagining that killing the heir would secure them ownership of the land.
  8. Marcos 12:8Killing the son and throwing him out of the vineyard almost exactly foreshadows what will happen to Jesus: killed and cast out of the city of Jerusalem.
  9. Marcos 12:9Jesus answers His own rhetorical question, and His listeners understand it as a prediction about the fate of the religious leadership that rejected His authority.
  10. Marcos 12:10The quotation comes from Psalm 118 and was already used as a reference to someone rejected by leaders who later becomes central, a text the early Christians applied directly to Jesus.
  11. Marcos 12:11The continuation of the same psalm reinforces the idea that this reversal, from rejected to essential, is God's doing, something surprising in human eyes.
  12. Marcos 12:12Once again, fear of the crowd's reaction prevents an immediate arrest. The leaders understand perfectly that the parable was about them, but choose to hold back for now.
  13. Marcos 12:13Pharisees and Herodians unite against Jesus once more, the same unusual alliance that had already appeared earlier, in chapter 3.
  14. Marcos 12:14The exaggerated flattery at the start of the question is bait for a trap: the tribute to Caesar was a politically explosive topic, tied to recent revolts against the Roman tax.
  15. Marcos 12:15The Roman coin used to pay taxes bore the emperor's image, considered offensive by many Jews under the law against carved images. Asking whether it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar was a trap: saying yes angered the people, saying no was sedition against Rome, and Jesus' answer turns the question back without falling into either side.
  16. Marcos 12:16The Roman coin carried the emperor's image and, in many versions, an inscription that practically declared him divine, something offensive to Jewish religious sensibility, which gave extra weight to the question of paying tribute with it.
  17. Marcos 12:17The answer avoids both possible traps: saying yes would look like collaboration with Rome, saying no would be sedition. Jesus turns the question back without landing on either side.
  18. Marcos 12:18The Sadducees were a religious group that only accepted the first five books of the Bible as authority and rejected newer ideas like resurrection, which explains why this particular question comes from them.
  19. Marcos 12:19The law of Moses required that, if a man died without children, his brother should marry the widow to produce an heir in the dead man's name, a custom meant to protect the family line and the widow herself. The Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection, use an extreme example of this law to try to show that life after death made no practical sense.
  20. Marcos 12:20The scenario of the seven brothers is built on the levirate marriage law cited in the previous verse, taken to an extreme to sound absurd.
  21. Marcos 12:21The repetition of the same fate for the second and third brothers builds up the exaggeration of the story before reaching the final question.
  22. Marcos 12:22After going through all seven brothers with no children, even the woman herself dies, closing the hypothetical cycle set up by the Sadducees.
  23. Marcos 12:23The final question is the logical trap: if the resurrection were real, whose wife would the woman be, having had seven husbands? The intent was to make the idea sound absurd.
  24. Marcos 12:24Jesus goes straight to the root of the error: they were misjudging both the Scriptures and the power of God, not just making a simple logical slip.
  25. Marcos 12:25The answer completely changes the picture: life after the resurrection would not simply continue earthly relationships, including marriage, but would be something of a different nature altogether.
  26. Marcos 12:26The bush refers to the burning bush where God appeared to Moses, one of the best-known episodes of that tradition. Jesus uses the way God describes Himself there, in the present tense, as the God of patriarchs who had died centuries earlier, as an argument that they were still somehow alive to God.
  27. Marcos 12:27The conclusion follows directly from the previous quotation, about God identifying Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the present tense. For Jesus, that alone was proof enough that they were, in some way, still alive to God.
  28. Marcos 12:28This scribe approaches in a different tone from the other hostile questions in the chapter, acknowledging that Jesus had answered the previous questions well.
  29. Marcos 12:29Jesus' answer opens by quoting the Shema, the central declaration of Jewish faith recited daily: "The Lord our God is one Lord".
  30. Marcos 12:30The rest of the quotation calls for loving God with everything, heart, soul, mind, and strength, a total devotion, not a partial one.
  31. Marcos 12:31The second commandment, loving one's neighbor as oneself, comes from another book of the law and is placed by Jesus side by side with the first, as a summary of what the whole law asks.
  32. Marcos 12:32The scribe not only agrees but repeats and reinforces Jesus' answer, a rare moment of agreement between them amid so many confrontations in the chapter.
  33. Marcos 12:33The scribe goes further, concluding on his own that loving God and neighbor matters more than all the temple sacrifices, an idea already found in ancient prophets as a criticism of empty ritual.
  34. Marcos 12:34Jesus acknowledges the wisdom of the answer with a rare compliment for a religious authority, and this moment marks the end of the chapter's string of hostile questions. No one else dares to challenge Him after this.
  35. Marcos 12:35After answering everyone else's questions, it is now Jesus who poses a riddle to the scribes about the identity of the Christ.
  36. Marcos 12:36The quotation comes from Psalm 110, attributed to David speaking by the Spirit, one of the texts most used by early Christians to explain who the Messiah was.
  37. Marcos 12:37The riddle points to something greater than a mere descendant: if David himself calls this Christ "Lord", He would be more than just a son in his line, and the crowd, unlike the leaders, hears this with delight.
  38. Marcos 12:38Long robes and seats of honor in synagogues and dinners were visible marks of social and religious status that the scribes actively sought. Jesus criticizes not the position itself, but the taste for appearance and privilege combined with the abuse of trust against widows, defenseless people in that society.
  39. Marcos 12:39The criticism of the scribes continues with two more habits: seeking the best seats in synagogues and at banquets, visible marks of status they cultivated.
  40. Marcos 12:40The most serious accusation comes here: using long prayers as a religious front while financially exploiting widows, one of the most vulnerable groups in that society.
  41. Marcos 12:41The temple treasury sat in an area with trumpet-shaped receptacles, where people dropped in monetary offerings. Jesus watches this activity seated facing the spot.
  42. Marcos 12:42The two small coins were the smallest copper coin in circulation, together worth very little; the text explains they amounted to only a few cents. What impresses Jesus is not the amount, but the proportion: the rich gave out of their surplus, she gave everything she had to live on that day.
  43. Marcos 12:43Jesus' statement flips the expected math: in His eyes, the value of the poor widow's offering outweighs that of everyone else who gave far more in absolute terms.
  44. Marcos 12:44The difference lies in proportion: the others gave out of their surplus without feeling the loss, while she gave everything she had to live on, a direct contrast with the criticism of the scribes who exploited widows, made only two verses earlier.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.