Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 20
Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary
Matthew 20
Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary
Matthew 20
"For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard." — Matthew 20:1 (ASV)
The normal working day was ten hours or so, not counting breaks. The landowner in the parable finds his first set of workers at about 6 A. M. and agrees to pay each one a denarius—the normal wage for a foot soldier or day laborer.
"And when he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a day, he sent them into his vineyard." — Matthew 20:2 (ASV)
The normal working day was ten hours or so, not counting breaks. The landowner in the parable finds his first set of workers at about 6 A. M. and agrees to pay each one a denarius—the normal wage for a foot soldier or day laborer.
"And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing in the marketplace idle;" — Matthew 20:3 (ASV)
There were twelve “hours” from dawn to sundown. The third hour (v.3) would be about 9:00 A. M., the sixth about 12:00 noon., and the eleventh about 5:00 P. M. The marketplace would be the central square, where all kinds of business was done and casual labor hired. The third-hour workers are promised “whatever is right”; and, trusting the landowner’s integrity, they work on that basis. The last group were standing around because no one had hired them.
"and to them he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way." — Matthew 20:4 (ASV)
There were twelve “hours” from dawn to sundown. The third hour (v.3) would be about 9:00 A. M., the sixth about 12:00 noon., and the eleventh about 5:00 P. M. The marketplace would be the central square, where all kinds of business was done and casual labor hired. The third-hour workers are promised “whatever is right”; and, trusting the landowner’s integrity, they work on that basis. The last group were standing around because no one had hired them.
"Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise." — Matthew 20:5 (ASV)
There were twelve “hours” from dawn to sundown. The third hour (v.3) would be about 9:00 A. M., the sixth about 12:00 noon., and the eleventh about 5:00 P. M. The marketplace would be the central square, where all kinds of business was done and casual labor hired. The third-hour workers are promised “whatever is right”; and, trusting the landowner’s integrity, they work on that basis. The last group were standing around because no one had hired them.
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