The Meaning of Mark 12:7 Explained

Mark 12:7

KJV: But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

YLT: and those husbandmen said among themselves -- This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and ours shall be the inheritance;

Darby: But those husbandmen said to one another, This is the heir: come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours.

ASV: But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  those  husbandmen  said  among  themselves,  This  is  the heir;  come,  let us kill  him,  and  the inheritance  shall be  ours. 

What does Mark 12:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Mark 12:1-27 - Jesus Silences His Enemies
Our Lord reviews the history of the theocracy. He recounts the long roll of God's servants who had been persecuted and misused from the first to the last, including Himself. In doing so, He openly implied that He was the Son of God and made the Pharisees realize how clearly He foresaw the fate which they were preparing for Him. They were accustomed to apply Psalms 118:22 to the Messiah, and recognized at once what Jesus meant, when He claimed it as an emblem of His own rejection.
How admirably our Lord defined the relations of His Kingdom to the civil power! If we accept Caesar's protection and ordered government we are bound to maintain it by money payment and such other service as conscience permits. This indeed is part of our duty to God; and with equal care we must give Him the dues of the spiritual world.
Jesus silenced the Sadducees by a quotation from the Pentateuch, whose authority they admitted. God could not be the God of persons not in existence. Therefore since He used the present tense of His relationship with the patriarchs in speaking to Moses three hundred years after their death, they must have been still in existence. [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 12

1  Jesus tells the parable of the tenants
13  He avoids the snare of the Pharisees and Herodians about paying tribute to Caesar;
18  convicts the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection;
28  resolves the scribe, who questioned of the first commandment;
35  refutes the opinion that the scribes held of the Christ;
38  bidding the people to beware of their ambition and hypocrisy;
41  and commends the poor widow for her two mites, above all

Greek Commentary for Mark 12:7

Among themselves [προς εαυτους]
This phrase alone in Mark. Luke 20:14 has “with one another” (προς αλληλους — pros allēlous), reciprocal instead of reflexive, pronoun. [source]
Those husbandmen []
Lit., they the husbandmen. Wyc., tenants. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 12:7

Mark 16:10 She [ἐκείνη]
An absolute use of the pronoun unexampled in Mark. See also Mark 16:11, Mark 16:13. It would imply an emphasis which is not intended. Compare Mark 4:11; Mark 12:4, Mark 12:5, Mark 12:7; Mark 14:21. [source]
Luke 20:14 That the inheritance may be ours [ινα ημων γενηται η κληρονομια]
That the inheritance may become Here Matthew 21:39 has σχωμεν — schōmen “let us get, ingressive aorist active subjunctive.” Cf. εχωμεν — echōmen present subjunctive of the same verb εχω — echō in Romans 5:1; Mark 12:7 has “and it will be ours” (εσται — estai). [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 12:7 mean?

Those however - farmers to themselves said - This is the heir come let us kill him and ours will be the inheritance
Ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οἱ γεωργοὶ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἶπαν ὅτι Οὗτός ἐστιν κληρονόμος δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτόν καὶ ἡμῶν ἔσται κληρονομία

Ἐκεῖνοι  Those 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἐκεῖνος  
Sense: he, she it, etc.
δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
οἱ  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
γεωργοὶ  farmers 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: γεωργός  
Sense: a husbandman, tiller of the soil, a vine dresser.
ἑαυτοὺς  themselves 
Parse: Reflexive Pronoun, Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἑαυτοῦ  
Sense: himself, herself, itself, themselves.
εἶπαν  said 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
ὅτι  - 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
Οὗτός  This 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
κληρονόμος  heir 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: κληρονόμος  
Sense: one who receives by lot, an heir.
δεῦτε  come 
Parse: Verb, Imperative, 2nd Person Plural
Root: δεῦτε  
Sense: come hither, come here, come.
ἀποκτείνωμεν  let  us  kill 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: ἀποκτείνω 
Sense: to kill in any way whatever.
ἡμῶν  ours 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
ἔσται  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
κληρονομία  inheritance 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: κληρονομία  
Sense: an inheritance, property received (or to be received) by inheritance.