When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But those tenants said to one another, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. (Mark 12: 2-8)

Jesus takes the well-known story of the vineyard and introduces tenants. In Isaiah the grapes were the people of Judah. The problem in Isaiah was the quality of the grapes. The grapes are not a problem in this new rendition of the old story.

Tenants - the Greek is georgos - have been put in place. Other translations call these vine-growers. Husbandman or farmer would not be incorrect. But the literal meaning of the Greek is "worker of the earth."

Isaiah told us who owned the vineyard and who the grapes represented. Who works the earth? Who cares for the grapes and the vineyard in the owner's absence? Jesus is not explicit. But given his setting and audience, he probably intends the Temple priests to be understood as the georgos.

Above is an illustration from a Medieval version of the Georgics by Vergil. From the Lateran Museum.