• Parables In The Bible And Their Meanings
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The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

32For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. 3334When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit.…

Berean Study Bible · Download

Song of Solomon 8:11
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.
Isaiah 5:1
I will sing for my beloved, a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
Isaiah 5:2
He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!
Matthew 20:1
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
Matthew 21:28
'But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
Matthew 25:14
For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
Matthew 25:15
To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent--each according to his own ability. And he promptly went on his journey.
Mark 12:1
Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: 'A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
Luke 20:9
Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: 'A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.
John 15:1
I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.

Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and dig a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to farmers, and went into a far country:

Hear.

Matthew 13:18
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

1 Kings 22:19
And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

Isaiah 1:10
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

There.

Psalm 80:8-16
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it…

Song of Solomon 8:11,12
Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver…

Isaiah 5:1-4
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: …

husbandmen.

Matthew 23:2
Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

Deuteronomy 1:15-17
So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes…

Deuteronomy 16:18
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

went.

Matthew 25:14,15
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods…

Mark 13:34
For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

Luke 19:12
He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

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Miracles:

The Water Turned Into Wine

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus was called and His disciples to the marriage, etc,

Q. WHAT do you here understand by a marriage in Cana of Galilee?

A. By a marriage in Cana of Galilee, according to the literal sense of the above history, is to be understood what is literally expressed; but according to the spiritual sense, by the marriage here spoken of, is to be understood a spiritual marriage, which is such a marriage as that mentioned in the parable, and to which the kingdom of heaven is compared, where it is said, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king which made a marriage for his son. This marriage is the marriage of goodness and truth, thus the marriage of the lord with His church, and with every individual composing the church, and therefore whether we speak of the lord's church, or of a marriage, it is the same thing, since, as the conjunction of goodness and truth is truly and properly a marriage, in like manner the same conjunction truly and properly constitutes what is called the church. When therefore it is said, There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, the words spiritually relate to the establishment of the church among the Gentles, for by Cana of Galilee is meant a Gentile city, agreeable to what is written in the prophet, where it is said, By the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations [or Gentiles,] (Isai. 9:1).

Q. But it is written concerning this marriage, That the mother of Jesus was there, and does Jesus was called and His disciples to the marriage — how do you understand these words?

A. These words, like all other parts of this divine history, have both a literal and a spiritual meaning, and according to their literal meaning they imply what they literally express; but according to their spiritual meaning, they involve in them an internal sense, which lies concealed within the letter, as the soul is concealed within its body. Agreeable, therefore, to this internal sense, by the mother of Jesus being there, or at the marriage, is to be understood that the affection of good was there, this affection being always dignified in the sacred Scriptures by the venerable title of mother, inasmuch as all things in the church are derived from that affection; again, when it is added, That both Jesus was called and His disciples to the marriage, the words imply, that in this establishment of the church, conjunction was sought with the divine being through the humanity which he assumed, and conjunction also with all the several orders of good and of truth derived from that being, and represented by His disciples.

Q. And what do you understand by the words which follow, where it is written, That when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine?

A. These words also, according to their literal sense, mean what is literally expressed, and have relation only to the material liquor called wine; but according to their spiritual sense, they have a deeper and more interior meaning, having relation to spiritual wine, or to that wine of which Jesus Christ speaks in another place, where He says, Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, (Matt. 9:17); and again, I will not drink now on of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom, (Matt. 26:29). The wine then here referred to, and called new wine, is nothing else than the interior spiritual sense of the Jewish law and ritual, opened by the incarnate God; in other words, it is that interior apprehension of the divine truth contained in the. sacred Scriptures, which Jesus Christ in another place calls His blood, and also the blood of the New Testament, as being distinct from that external apprehension of the same truth which before prevailed, and which He calls old wine. That wine in the sacred Scriptures is spoken of according to a spiritual signification, is evident from the following passages amongst many others, In the hand of the lord there is a cup, and the wine is red, (Psalm 75:8). And again, Come buy wine and milk without money, and without price, (Isaiah 55:1). According then to this spiritual interpretation, by their wanting wine, or, as it might be more properly expressed, When the wine was finished, is to be understood that there was no longer any spiritual apprehension of truth in the church; and by the mother of Jesus saying to him, They have no wine, is further to be understood that this was perceived by the affection of good in the church.

Q. But it follows, that Jesus said to her? Woman, what have I to do with you? Pizzicato five sweet soul revue. mine hour is not yet come — what do you conceive to be the import and meaning of these words?

A. When the blessed Jesus, on this occasion, applied the term woman, and not mother, He designed to teach the instructive and important lesson, that He was no longer her son, but by nativity, as well as by conception, was the son of god, thus was jehovah manifest in the flesh. It is further to be understood, that in the process of His glorification, or of making His humanity divine, He successively put off the infirm humanity which He received from the mother, and in the same degree put on a humanity-from the father, which He finally made a divine humanity. It is further observable, that in addressing His mother at the time of His crucifixion, He again calls her woman, (John 19:26), to denote a second time that He was no longer her son.

Q. And what do you understand by the words applied on this occasion, What have I to do with you? mine hour is not yet come.

A. The former part of these words is not expressed in agreement with the original Greek, which might be more properly rendered, What (is it) to me and to you? Still however it is difficult to discover the precise purport of these. words, as applied by the blessed Jesus. Their most probable design appears to be this, that by an apparent refusal to attend to His mother's importunity, He might put her faith to a trial, in like manner, as He afterwards put to trial the faith of His apostle Philip, by the question, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? (John 6:5), on which occasion it is added in the verse which follows, And this he said to prove Him, for He Himself knew what He would do. In the present case, therefore, it is not improbable that He might intend to prove His mother, and consequently those represented by His mother, when yet he himself knew what He would do. It is accordingly added, mine hour is not yet come, because by His hour not being yet come, is to be understood that His humanity was not yet fully glorified, or made divine, and thus that He was not yet in a state to confer on His church all that blessing which He came to confer, by opening the minds of men to an interior or spiritual apprehension of the heavenly truths contained in His holy word.

Q. But it is written in the next verse, that His mother says to the servants, Whatsoever He says to you, do — how do you understand these words?

A. According to the sense of the letter, these words contain an instruction from the mother of Jesus to the servants attendant at the marriage, to do whatever Jesus required them to do; but according to the spiritual sense above referred to, they contain a dictate from the affection of good in the church to the lower principles of the natural mind, to submit themselves in all things to the order, authority, and precept of the incarnate god. For the church in general may be regarded as an individual house or family, in which goodness and truth are as the husband and wife, whilst the affections of goodness and truth are the sons and daughters, and natural delights with their several sciences are the men-servants and maid-servants. The servants therefore here spoken of are to be regarded according to this spiritual idea.

Q. And how do you understand the words which follow, And there were set there six water-pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece?

A. By the six water-pots of stone, set according to the purifying of the Jews, are spiritually to be understood those things in the holy word, and thence in the Jewish church and its worship, which were representative and significative of divine things in the lord and from the lord, which contained internal things; on which account also they were six and of stone, because the number six signifies all, and is predicated of truths; stone also signifies truth; and the purifying of the Jews signifies purification from sins, thus all things of the Jewish church, for the church regards purification from sins as all that belongs to it, since in proportion as any one is purified from sins, in the same proportion lie is a church.

Q. And what do you conceive to be the purport of the next verse, where it is written, Jesus says to them, Fill the water-pots with water, and they filled them up to the brim?

A. According to the literal sense of this, history, the above words mean what is literally expressed; but according to the spiritual sense, they have a deeper and more edifying meaning. For according to the spiritual idea, by the water-pots here spoken of are signified, as was above observed, all those things in the word, and thence in the Jewish church and its worship, which were representative and significative of divine things in the lord and from the lord. When the lord then says of these water-pots, Fill them with water, it is to be understood, agreeable to the above spiritual interpretation, that it is the divine will and intention, that the representatives and significatives of the Jewish church should be regarded as the continents of all divine and heavenly truths, and should thus be filled in the minds of all true believers with that living watery of which Jesus Christ speaks in another place, where He says, Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life, (John 4:14). And again, when it is added, that they filled them up to the brim, it is to be understood that the will and intention of the lord was fulfilled by a devout acknowledgement in the church, that all representatives and significatives in the holy word are full of his life, because they have relation to Him and to the things of His eternal kingdom.

Q. How then do you understand the words which follow, And He says to them, Dram out now, and bear to the governor of the feast?

A. According to the spiritual interpretation above given of this history, by the command, Draw out now, is to be understood divine requirement that instruction from the word should be given agreeable to the idea above suggested of its spiritual contents; and by bearing to the governor of the feast, is further to be understood divine requirement that this instruction shall be imparted to all those who are principled in the knowledges of truth, all such being represented and signified by the governor of the feast; and lastly, by its being added, they bare, is to be understood, that this requirement was fulfilled by those whose office it was to instruct.

Q. But it is written further, that when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was; but the servants which drew the water knew; the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and says to him, Every man at the beginning does set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but you have kept the good wine until now — how do you understand these words?

A. By the water here said to be made wine, is to be understood spiritually the truth of the external church, such as was the truth of the Jewish church, converted by divine presence and agency into the truth of the internal church, such as is the truth of the Christian church: hence by the lord making water wine is spiritually signified, that He made the truths of the external church truths of the internal church, by opening the internal things which lay concealed in them; and by the ruler of the feast tasting this water made wine, is to be understood that they, who were principled in the knowledges of truth, had a perception of this extraordinary change; and by his not knowing whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, is further signified that the cause of this change in the apprehension of truth was not known to those who were in the knowledges of truth, but only to those who were instructors in truth; and lastly, by his calling the bridegroom, and saying to him. Every man at the beginning does set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but you have kept the good wine until now, is to be understood that every church commences from truths derived from good, but closes in truths not of good, and that even now in the end of the church, truth derived from goody or genuine truth, is given, namely, from the lord, who is the true bridegroom. For by the beginning is meant the commencement of a church; and by good wine, the truths derived from good which are then taught in that church; and by that which is worse, truths not originating in good, but received and taught under the influence of self love and the love of the world, at the end of the church; and by the good wine kept until now, the truths derived from good which will again be opened by the lord for the establishment of a new church.

Q. And how do you understand the concluding words of this history, where it is written, This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed on Him?

A. By beginning is here to be understood, not only precedency in regard to time, but also in regard to importance, and therefore it here implies, agreeable to the spiritual idea above-mentioned, that the conversion of water into wine, or what amounts to the same thing, a spiritual apprehension of the word of god implanted in the place of a natural one, is the first and chief of miraculous agency; and by manifesting forth His glory on this occasion, is further to be understood the revelation of the internal spiritual sense of His most holy word, this sense constituting what is properly called glory, as in the following passages, The glory which You gave Me I have given them, (John 17:22); and again, father, I will that they also whom You have given Me may he with me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, (John 5:24); and again, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth: lastly, by His disciples believing on Him, is to be understood their faith in His sole and supreme divinity, as resulting from the manifestation of His glory, or, from the revelation of the interior truths of His holy word, since all faith properly so called is the result of the reception of interior truth seen in its connection with its divine source, the great lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

Q. What then is the general instruction which you derive from this miracle?

A. By the literal sense of this miracle I am taught again to adore the divinity and omnipotence of my god and saviour, so wonderfully displayed in the act of turning water into wine, whilst by its spiritual sense I am taught an additional edifying lesson both of instruction and of comfort. For from its spiritual sense I learn that the blessed Jesus is ever in the act of turning water into wine in the minds of all His true disciples, by raising them out of natural and external views of the truths of His holy word, into spiritual and internal views, and by thus enabling them to see, that His holy word throughout, with all its representatives and significatives, both under the Jewish and Christian dispensation, has respect to Himself, and to the interior spiritual things of His eternal kingdom. Lastly, I learn that every church, at its commencement, is founded on truths derived from heavenly good of love and charity, but that in the process of its decay, those truths are separated from their heavenly source, and are thus deprived of their life, being received and taught under the influence of self-love and the love of the world, I am resolved therefore, through divine assistance, to profit by the above instruction, and for this purpose to keep my eye constantly fixed on the incarnate god, whenever I am admitted to the high honour and happiness of hearing and reading His holy word, that so I may discover that He is the very life and soul of all its sacred truths, and that every type and figure points to him and His kingdom as the great realities in which they originate. Thus may I hope to see my water turned into wine, and in that conversion to behold a new manifestation of my saviour's glory, which may conduct me finally to the blessed privilege of ranking among those happy ones of whom it is said, That they believed on Him. amen.

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Spiritual Meaning of

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Wine

That wine denotes love toward the neighbor and the good of faith, may be seen from what has been shown in respect to the bread and wine in the Holy Supper (AC 2165, 2177, 3464, 4581, 5915), namely, that the bread is the good of celestial love, and that the wine is the good of spiritual love. This may be seen also from the meat-offering and the drink-offering in the sacrifices, in which the meat-offering signified the good of love, and the drink-offering the good of faith, the meat-offering consisting of such things as signified the good of love, and the drink-offering of wine which signified the good of faith; moreover the very sacrifices were called bread (AC 2165). That a drink-offering of wine was employed in the sacrifices may be seen in (Exod. 29:40; Lev. 23:12, 13, 18, 19; Num. 15:2-15; 28:6, 7, 18; 29:1-7).

[3] That wine signifies love toward the neighbor and the good of faith, is plain also from Isaiah:--

Everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isa. 55:1);

everyone must know that they were not to buy wine and milk, but that which is signified by wine and milk, that is, love toward the neighbor and faith; these are given by the Lord without silver and without price.

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[4] And in Hosea:--

The threshing-floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall deceive them. Ephraim shall return into Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria. They shall not pour out wine to Jehovah; and their sacrifices shall not be pleasing unto Him (Hosea 9:2-4);

here also in the internal sense are meant the good of love and the good of faith, that they ceased; the good of love is the threshing-floor, from the grain there and the bread that comes from it; and the good of faith is the winepress, the new wine, and the libation of wine: that Ephraim shall return into Egypt denotes that the intellectual should consult memory-knowledges with respect to the secrets of faith; they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria denotes that which results from the consequent reasoning. Ephraim is the intellectual of the church, (AC 5354, 6222, 6238, 6267); also Egypt is memory-knowledge, (AC 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5702); and Assyria reasoning, (AC 1186). Moreover the very connection shows that there is more in the words than appears in the letter; for in the internal sense there is coherence, but not in the external; as when it is said that the threshing-floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and that the new wine shall deceive them, and presently that Ephraim shall return into Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria; and moreover without the internal sense what could be meant by Ephraim returning into Egypt, and by their eating what is unclean in Assyria?

[5] The cessation of mutual love and of the good of faith is also described by a winepress and wine in Jeremiah:--

Upon thy vintage hath the waster fallen; whence gladness was gathered, and joy from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, for I have caused wine to cease from the winepresses; he will not tread hedad (Jer. 48:32, 33).

[6] That wine signifies the good of mutual love and of faith, is plain also in John:--

I heard a voice out of the midst of the four animals saying, Hurt not the oil and the wine (Rev. 6:6);

where oil is the good of celestial love; and wine, the good of spiritual love.

[7] The like is meant by oil and wine in the Lord's parable about the Samaritan, in Luke:--

A certain Samaritan as he journeyed, and seeing him who had been wounded by thieves, was moved with compassion, wherefore coming to him he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine (Luke 10:33, 34);

where pouring in oil and wine signifies that he performed the works of love and of charity. Oil denotes the good of love, (AC 886, 3728). The like was meant by the ancients pouring oil and wine upon a pillar when they sanctified it (Gen. 35:14); (AC 4581, 4582).

[8] That wine denotes the good of love and of faith, is plain from the Lord's words which He said of wine when He instituted the Holy Supper:--

I say to you that I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine until that day when I shall drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom (Matt. 26:29; Luke 22:17, 18);

everyone can see that He would not drink wine there, but that there is signified the good of love and of faith, which He would give to those who are of His kingdom. The like is signified by wine in (Isa. 24:9, 11; Lam. 2:11, 12; Hos. 14:7; Amos 9:13, 14; Zech. 9:15, 17; Luke 5:37-39).

[9] As wine signifies the good of love and of faith, therefore in the supreme sense it signifies the Divine truth from the Divine good of the Lord, for from this by influx the man who receives it has the good of love and of faith.

Parables In The Bible And Their Meanings

[10] As most expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense, so also has wine, In which sense wine signifies falsity from evil, as in Isaiah:--

Woe unto them that rise up in the morning under the dawn, and follow strong drink; that tarry into the twilight, that wine may inflame them! Woe to the heroes to drink wine, and to men of strength to mingle strong drink (Isa. 5:11, 22).