All the details of the story that Jesus tells about being a tenant and owning a vineyard would have been familiar facts to the people who heard him tell it. I have on several occasions seen the vineyards of Israel, which are surrounded by a stone wall. On top of the wall is placed brambles that keep the wild animals from coming into the vineyard. They also protect the vineyard from thieves climbing over the stone wall. Many of the vineyards that I saw had a wine-press located right on the spot. A tower was usually built with the stones that were picked up to clear the vineyard, and that tower served as a place for a watchman to stand and observe the grapes as they were ripening, as well as a place to live for those who worked in the vineyard.

The behavior of the owner of this vineyard that …