Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 12:1

"And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country." — Mark 12:1 (ASV)

Mark does not identify who Jesus’ hearers were, though they were probably the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders (cf. 11:27). The description in v.1 reflects the language of Isa 5:1–2, where the vineyard symbolizes Israel (cf. Psalms 80:8–16; Isaiah 5:7; Jeremiah 2:21). The details mentioned here are known to anyone who has traveled in Israel.

When the vineyard had been completely prepared, its owner rented it to tenants and went on a journey. This detail reflects a condition that actually prevailed in Galilee in Jesus’ time, namely, that much of the land was in the hands of absentee landowners who contracted with tenants on a crop-sharing basis.