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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 20:2 - 20:7
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The hiring:
v. 2. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
v. 3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market-place,
v. 4. and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
v. 5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did likewise.
v. 6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
v. 7. They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Some laborers he managed to find at early dawn, and he could hire them so that they were able to go to work at once, the Jewish working-day lasting from six in the morning to six in the evening. Mark well: The word "hire" is emphasized in the parable, since its point is also to bring out the necessity of being actively engaged in labor in the kingdom of God. For a denarius a day the householder hired the workmen; that was the usual day's wage, about fifteen cents in American money, apparently small, until one considers that the value of money was much greater in those days than at the present time. The Roman soldiers received even less. The householder and the laborers agreed on the basis of a penny, or denarius ; he offered the sum, and they agreed, the contract thus becoming binding upon both parties Since they were now in his employ, he sent them out to his vineyard. Three hours later the householder fared forth again, at nine o'clock. At the market-place, the public square in the center of the town, where the unemployed workmen gathered and waited for some master to hire them, he found others standing without employment. In hiring these men, a definite coin or sum was not stipulated, his promise being merely that he would do the right and just thing by them; he would give them what he considered fair wages. Also you, he says; a fair number he had secured at the beginning of the day, but he could use more to advantage. These men agreed to the conditions and went out to work in the vineyard. At high noon and at three o'clock in the afternoon the same process was repeated, with the same contract agreed to in the same way. But the last hiring-trip of the day was especially noteworthy. It was five in the afternoon when it became evident that the work on hand ought to be finished that very evening and that a sufficient number of willing hands might be able to accomplish the task. So once more the master hiked himself to the market-place. There he found still others patiently standing. They were without employment, they had wanted work and had not been able to get it. With all possible haste he sends them into his vineyard: You go too, though it be so late. He specifies no reward, no wages. Willingness and speed were essential.