Labourers in the Vineyard

The words

Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)

1. Agreed

   The householder settles a penny for a day’s work with the first laborers before sending them into the vineyard. When they later complain, he returns to that agreement in his answer.

   Matthew 20:2, 10–13 (opens a new tab)

2. Borne

   The first workers say they have borne the day’s burden and heat, unlike those who worked only one hour. Their complaint follows receiving the same pay as the group hired last.

   Matthew 20:9–12 (opens a new tab)

3. Chosen

   The KJV closes with the few chosen contrasted with the many called, after the saying that the last will be first. This final phrase belongs to the KJV wording of the conclusion.

   Did you know?

   The King James Version follows later manuscripts here; many modern Bibles, following older ones, read differently or put these words in a footnote. The NET ends with the first-and-last saying.

   Matthew 20:16 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab) · Terry: Matthew 20:16 textual note (opens a new tab)

4. Eleventh Hour

   The householder’s final hiring round comes about the eleventh hour, rendered about five o’clock that afternoon in the NET. At payment, these late workers receive a penny before those hired first.

   Matthew 20:6–10 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)

5. Goodman

   Householder or landowner.

   The goodman is the householder against whom the first workers complain after receiving their wages. He answers one of them by recalling the agreed penny and his wish to give the last worker the same.

   Matthew 20:11–14 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)

6. Heat of the Day

   The heat forms part of the first workers’ complaint about equal payment. They contrast the burden of their longer working day with the final group’s single hour, before the householder recalls their agreed wage.

   Matthew 20:12–13 (opens a new tab)

7. Idle

   The householder finds people waiting without work in the marketplace. When he asks the last group why they have stood idle all day, they answer that no one has hired them.

   Matthew 20:3, 6–7 (opens a new tab)

8. Labourers

   The householder hires workers for his vineyard early in the morning and returns for more at later hours. At evening, he orders payment from the last hired back to the first.

   Matthew 20:1–8 (opens a new tab)

9. Marketplace

   Matthew places the people awaiting work in the marketplace when the householder returns about the third hour. He sends this next group into the vineyard with a promise to pay what is right.

   Matthew 20:3–4 (opens a new tab)

10. Ninth Hour

    The ninth hour is another hiring round, after the morning agreement and the third-hour visit. The NET renders it about three o’clock that afternoon; the householder does as he has done before.

    Matthew 20:2–5 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)

11. Penny

    A denarius, the Roman silver coin named in this passage.

    A penny is the agreed daily wage for the first workers and the amount paid to each late worker. The equal payment prompts the first group’s complaint, which the householder answers by recalling their agreement.

    Matthew 20:2, 9–13 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)

12. Steward

    Manager of the household or estate.

    At evening, the vineyard’s owner tells his steward to call the workers and pay them. The owner specifies the order: those hired last are to be paid before those hired first.

    Matthew 20:8–10 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)

13. Third Hour

    The third hour marks the first return to hire more workers after the early-morning agreement. The NET renders it about nine o’clock in the morning; this group is promised whatever payment is right.

    Matthew 20:1–4 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)

14. Vineyard

    The vineyard is the workplace to which the householder sends each group he hires. At evening he directs the steward to pay them, and the scene turns from recruitment to the dispute over equal wages.

    Matthew 20:1–14 (opens a new tab)

15. Wrought

    Worked; here, for one hour.

    The first workers say the final group has worked only one hour, yet has been made equal to them in pay. Wrought belongs to their complaint, which contrasts that hour with their own longer toil.

    Matthew 20:9–12 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 20:1–16 (opens a new tab)