Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 20:8

"And when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first." — Matthew 20:8 (ASV)

Laborers were customarily paid at the end of each day (cf. Leviticus 19:13). The foreman is told to pay each worker the standard day-laborer’s wage. Who gets paid first is crucial: it is only because the last hired receive a full day’s wage that those first hired expect to get more than they bargained for. They “grumble against” the owner because he has been generous to others and merely just to them. They have borne “the heat of the day” (v.12, either direct sunlight or hot wind), which could drive workers from the field; and, though fairly paid, they feel unfairly treated because others who worked much less received what they did.