Matthew 20:12

Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. SAYING, THESE LAST HAVE WROUGHT [BUT] ONE HOUR, AND THOU HAST MADE THEM EQUAL UNTO US, WHICH HAVE BORNE THE BURDEN AND HEAT OF THE DAY - `the burning heat' [ kausoona (G2742)] - who have worked not only longer but during a more trying period of the day....

1-16 The direct object of this parable seems to be, to show that though the Jews were first called into the vineyard, at length the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and they should be admitted to equal privileges and advantages with the Jews. The parable may also be applied more generally, and shows, 1. That God is debtor to no man. 2. That many who begin last, and promise little in religion, sometimes, by the blessing of God, arrive at a great deal of knowledge, grace, and usefulness. 3. That the recompense of reward will be given to the saints, but not according to the time of their conversion. It describes the state of the visible church, and explains the declaration that the last shall be first, and the first last, in its various references. Till we are hired into the service of God, we are standing all the day idle: a sinful state, though a state of drudgery to Satan, may...

THE BURDEN AND HEAT OF THE DAY - The burden means the heavy labor, the severe toil. We have continued at that toil in the heat of the day. The others had worked only a little while, and that in the cool of the evening, and when it was fax more pleasant and much less fatiguing....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 20:1 _Parable of the labourers in the vineyard_._ _(Peculiar to St. Matthew.) MATTHEW 20:1 FOR. The following parable is intended to illustrate the apophthegm at the end of the last chapter, which is repeated almost in the same words at the close, "Many that are first," etc., and "The last shall be first," etc. It taught the apostles a lesson in answer to Peter's question (Matthew 19:27), "What shall we have therefore?" and the primary lesson was that the reward of the kingdom is not of debt, but of grace. There are many difficulties in the parable, which may be better noticed after we have expounded it

SAYING, THESE LAST HAVE WROUGHT BUT ONE HOUR,.... Thinking it hard, that they should have the same reward for the service of one hour, others had for the service of many. This is grudged by the Jews x; "Bath Kol", a voice from heaven, went out and said, "Ketiah bar Shallum", is prepared for the life of the world to come; Rabbi wept, and said, there is that obtains his world (or the world to come for himself) בשעה אחת, "in one hour"; and there is that obtains it in many years.'' The same observation is also made by the same person, on account of R. Eleazar ben Durdia y. So in the parable of the Jews above mentioned, which is the broken remains of a common proverb among them like z this; it is observed, that there being one labourer among those that were hired, who did his work better than all the rest, and who was taken notice of by the king; that when "at even the labourers came to ta...

Matthew 20:1. _For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard._ That was the usual wage of the time, the daily pay of a Roman soldier. Matthew 20:3. _And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way._ You notice that the first labourers made a bargain with the householder, he agreed with them for a penny a day, and then sent them into his vineyard. So our Lord seemed to say to Peter, «If you are going to make a bargain concerning

8. THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD. The Healing of the Two Blind Men. CHAPTER 20 _ 1. The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. (Matthew 20:1 .) 2. The Third Prediction of His Death and Resurrection. (Matthew 20:17 .) 3. The Ambitiousness of the Disciples. (Matthew 20:20 .) 4. The Healing of the Two Blind Men. (Matthew 20:29 .)_ The Lord had spoken about the rewards to be given at the time when the kingdom is to be established on the earth in power and glory, the time of regeneration. His last word in the nineteenth chapter was the statement, “many that are first shall be last;

PARABLE OF THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. It is possible (as it is necessary) to distinguish two interpretations of this splendid parable, (_a)_ that intended by Jesus, (_b)_ that suggested by the evangelist. To Mt. the vineyard is the Christian community: those who joined it early and those who join it late may expect the same reward. There will be no distinction between them at the Parousia. It is probable that we should omit Matthew 20:16 as well as the words Many (the Jewish nation) are called, but few (the Christian community) chosen. But what Jesus meant to teach was that the eternal life is the result not of work but of grace; God is no mere timekeeper; the laws which govern admission to the Kingdom are not those which prevail in ordinary business transactions (_cf._ Isaiah 55:8 f.). A

"For the situation in the Kingdom of Heaven is like what happened when a householder went out first thing in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. When he had come to an agreement with them that they would work for 4 pence a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out again about nine o'clock in the morning, and saw others standing idle in the market-place. He said to them, 'Go you also into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' And they went. He went out again about twelve o'clock midday, and about three o'clock in the afternoon, and did the same. About five o'clock in the evening he went out and found others standing there, and said to them, 'Why are you standing here the whole day idle?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'Go you also to the vineyard.' When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call th...

THESE. That these. Greek. _hoti,_ putting their words between quotation marks. See note on Luke 23:43. HAVE WROUGHT BUT ONE HOUR. made one hour.. Hebraism. Compare Ruth 2:19, "Where wroughtest thou to-day? "(Hebrew. _'anah 'asitha)._ So, in the sense of making or spending time (Acts 15:33; Acts 18:23; 2 Corinthians 11:25); used for continuing, as suggested in Authorized Version margin. But it is the same word rendered "made" in the next clause. MADE THEM. done to them. HEAT. scorching heat....