Matthew 20:5
in Matthew 20So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.
KJV
Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
⋯
This verse in Matthew 20
Commentary
18 notes on this verse(ubi sup.) The sixth hour is that from Abraham to Moses, the ninth that from Moses to the coming of the Lord.
This site's exposition
standing idle in the marketplace
on Matthew 20:3-5
Standing idle in the marketplace at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours describes real day-laboring practice, men without their own land or trade gathering each morning hoping to be hired, and the bench reads their idleness as involuntary, no man hath hired us, rather than laziness. To these later groups the householder gives no fixed sum, only whatsoever is right I will give you, a promise resting entirely on his own fairness rather than a negotiated wage. The bench notes the parable is already dividing its hearers by how much they trust the householder's word without a contract to secure it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Chapter 20, Verse 1 onwards: The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing to pay them the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out again at about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.' So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did the same.
Or, all that were called of old envy the Gentiles, and are pained at the grace of the Gospel.
The Master of the household is Christ, whose house are the heavens and the earth; and the creatures of the heavens, and the earth, and beneath the earth, His family. His vineyard is righteousness, in which are set divers sorts of righteousness as vines, as meekness, chastity, patience, and the other virtues; all of which are called by one common name righteousness. Men are the cultivators of this vineyard, whence it is said, Who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. For God placed His righteousness in our senses, not for His own but for our benefit. Know then that we are the hired labourers. But as no man gives wages to a labourer, to the end he should do nothing save only to eat, so likewise we were not thereto called by Christ, that we should labour such things only as pertain to our own good, but to the glory of God. And like as the hired labourer looks first to his task, and after to his daily food, so ought we to mind first those things which concern the glory of God, then those which concern our own profit. Also as the hired labourer occupies the whole day in his Lord's work, and takes but a single hour for his own meal; so ought we to occupy our whole life in the glory of God, taking but a very small portion of it for the uses of this world. And as the hired labourer when he has done no work is ashamed that day to enter the house, and ask his food; how should not you be ashamed to enter the church, and stand before the face of God, when you have done nothing good in the sight of God? For in this world men live by buying and selling, and gain their support by defrauding each other. Or; The idle are not sinners, for they are called dead. But he is idle who works not the work of God. Do you desire to be not idle? […]
Avoiding ambition, the Lord speaks about another householder, being himself the householder and the regulator of the kingdom of heaven. By "day" he means the whole age during which at different moments since the transgression of Adam he calls just individuals to their pious work, defining rewards for them for their actions. And so "around the first hour" are those at the time of Adam and Enoch; "at the third hour" those in the time of Noah and Shem and the righteous descending from them, for the second time is also the second calling, when the laws were also different. The workers called "at the sixth hour" are those in the time of Abraham, the time of the institution of the circumcision; those "at the eleventh hour" are those just before Christ's advent. In their time alone the question is asked, "What are you doing standing the whole day idle?" for they do not have the hope of the Lord. They were godless in the world and idle in every good work; they are like those "standing idle in the market place," not groping in search of anything at all but running through their whole life to no purpose. The Lord admonishes them, "Why do you stand idle?" They answer, "No one has hired us; for neither Moses nor any of the holy men spoke to the Gentiles but to Jerusalem alone." Nevertheless the lord sends them too into the vineyard. There are five callings so that he may show that at each time there were sensible people and aimless ones, like the five wise virgins and the five foolish ones, according to their particular times. Some were found worthy, and some in their folly thought little of the coming age. The householder should be considered the Father using the Son as manager, not as a subsidiary but as colleague; for he orders and regulates everything through him, whatever he wishes.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 64 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
"For the kingdom of Heaven," He said, "is like to a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with them for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard." "And at the third hour he saw others standing idle, and to them too he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And about the sixth and ninth hours he did likewise. And about the eleventh hour, he saw others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? But they say unto him, No man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into my vineyard, and whatsoever is right, ye shall receive." "So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. And the first supposed that they should receive more, and they received likewise every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us that have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last also, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? Thus the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen." What is to us the intent of this parable? For the beginning doth not harmonize with what is said at the end, but intimates altogether the contrary. […]
11 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour. According as the day is called the age of the world, so the sixth hour was from Abraham to David, and the ninth from David to Christ. But why does he join two …
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 …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour,.... About twelve o'clock, or at noon, and three o'clock in the afternoon. These three last mentioned seasons of the day, were the hours of prayer; see Act 2:15 and did likewise: seeing others in the same place, and posture, he called them, and sent them into his vineyard, to labour there, giving them the same promise he did to others.
There is hope for old sinners; for if, in sincerity, they turn to God, they shall doubtless be accepted; true repentance is never too late. There is hope of old sinners, that they may be brought to true repentance; nothing is too hard for Almighty grace to do, it can change the Ethiopian's skin, and the leopard's spots; can set those to work, who have contracted a habit of idleness.
); and here it will be asked, as usual, [1.] Who hires them? A man that is a householder. God is the great Householder, whose we are, and whom we serve; as a householder, he has work that he will have to be done, and servants that he will have to be doing; he has a great family in heaven and earth, which is named from Jesus Christ ( Eph. iii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The Nineteenth Century6 voices
There are undeniable difficulties in the parable contained in these verses. The key to the right explanation of them must be sought in the passage which concludes the last chapter. There we find the apostle Peter asking our Lord a remarkable question: “We have forsaken all and followed thee! What shall we have therefore?” There we find Jesus giving a remarkable answer. He makes a special promise to Peter and his fellow disciples: they should one day sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
WE have frequently observed that we do not think it right to neglect the context of Scripture. We have no right to tear passages of Scripture from their context and make them to mean what they were not intended to teach. And therefore I have, in the reading given you, according to my ability, what I think to be the immediate design of the present parable.
There are undeniable difficulties in the parable contained in these verses. The key to the right explanation of them must be sought in the passage which concludes the last chapter. There we find the apostle Peter asking our Lord a remarkable question: “We have forsaken all and followed thee! What shall we have therefore?” There we find Jesus giving a remarkable answer. He makes a special promise to Peter and his fellow disciples: they should one day sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.He makes a general promise to all who suffer loss for his sake: they “should receive a hundred fold and inherit everlasting life.” Now we must bear in mind that Peter was a Jew, and like most Jews he had probably been brought up in much ignorance as to God’s purposes respecting the salvation of the Gentiles. In fact we know from the Acts that it required a vision from heaven to take that ignorance away ( Acts 10:28 ). Furthermore, we must bear in mind that Peter and his fellow-disciples were weak in faith and knowledge. They were probably apt to attach a great importance to their own sacrifices for Christ’s sake, and inclined to self-righteousness and self conceit. Both these points our Lord knew well. He therefore speaks this parable for the special benefit of Peter and his companions. He read their hearts. He saw what spiritual medicine those hearts required, and supplied it without delay. In a word, he checked their rising pride, and taught them humility. In expounding this parable, we need not inquire closely into the meaning of the “penny,” the “marketplace,” the “steward” or the “hours.” Such inquiries often darken counsel by words without knowledge. Well says a great divine, “the theology of parables is not argumentative.” The hint of Chrysostom deserves notice.
WE have frequently observed that we do not think it right to neglect the context of Scripture. We have no right to tear passages of Scripture from their context and make them to mean what they were not intended to teach. And therefore I have, in the reading given you, according to my ability, what I think to be the immediate design of the present parable. It is a rebuke to those who fall into a legal spirit and begin calculating as to what their reward ought to be in a kingdom where the legal spirit is entirely out of place since its reward is not of debt, but of Divine Grace. I think I may now, without any violation of propriety, dwell upon one very distinct fact in connection with the parable. It is not right to violate the drift of the parable, but having already observed it and made it as clear as we can, we believe that we are now authorized to make use of one of the main circumstances mentioned in it. This morning I intend to call your attention to the fact that the laborers were hired at different periods of the day, by which doubtless we are taught that God sends His servants into His vineyard at different times and seasons. Some are called in early youth and others are not led to enter into the service of the Master until declining years have brought them almost to the eventide of life. I must, however, ask you to remember that they were all called—by the mention of which the Savior would teach us that no man comes into the kingdom of Heaven of himself. Without exception, every laborer for Jesus has been called in one sense or another and he would not have come without being so called. They are all called. Were a man what he should be, he would need no pressing and invitation to come to the Gospel of Christ.
The sixth hour - Twelve o’clock. Ninth hour - three o’clock in the afternoon.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The sixth and ninth hour - That is, about twelve o’clock and three o’clock.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| πάλιν | palin | [5] Again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἐξελθὼν | exelthon | having gone out | G1831 → | 216 times |
| περὶ | peri | about [the] | G4012 → | 332 times |
| ἕκτην | hekten | sixth | G1623 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐνάτην | enaten | ninth | G1766 → | 10 times |
| ὥραν | horan | hour | G5610 → | 106 times |
| ἐποίησεν | epoiesen | he did | G4160 → | 569 times |
| ὡσαύτως. | hosautos | likewise. | G5615 → | 17 times |
πάλιν[5] Again
palinG3825 →139 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
ἐξελθὼνhaving gone out
exelthonG1831 →216 times
περὶabout [the]
periG4012 →332 times
ἕκτηνsixth
hektenG1623 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐνάτηνninth
enatenG1766 →10 times
ὥρανhour
horanG5610 →106 times
ἐποίησενhe did
epoiesenG4160 →569 times
ὡσαύτως.likewise.
hosautosG5615 →17 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 3:1One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
it leads to
- Psalms 55:17
Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.
- Acts 10:3
One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
- Acts 4:13
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
- Luke 1:10
And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.
- Luke 24:53
praising God continually in the temple.
- Psalms 55:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Matthew
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 664: “Early And Late” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENT 226; Gregory the Dialogist, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 64; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.