Bible Strands
Matthew 20:9
The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The vineyard owner has directed his foreman to distribute wages beginning with the last hired, and this verse records the arrival and payment of those workers hired at the eleventh hour.
The words — The text uses peri (about) and hendekatēn (eleventh) to mark the approximate timing of the workers' arrival rather than an exact schedule.
The thread — The denarius payment links directly to the initial hiring agreement in Matthew 20:2, while the distribution of unearned provision parallels the credited righteousness in Romans 4:3 and the unmerited salvation in Ephesians 2:8.
Why it lands — The verse states that late workers receive the same wage as early workers, requiring readers to confront the factual disparity between calculated merit and granted provision.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Cross-references
- Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
- Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Matthew 20:2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
- Matthew 20:6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.
- Luke 23:40 But the other one rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment?
- Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
- Romans 5:20 The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
- 1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.