American Standard Version
Matthew 20:15
15Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Matthew 20:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
- New International Version (NIV)Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- English Standard Version (ESV)Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'
- New King James Version (NKJV)Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’
Context of Matthew 20:15
13But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a shilling? 14Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16So the last shall be first, and the first last. 17And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart, and on the way he said unto them,
Read all of Matthew 20Matthew 20:15 word by word
ἢ οὐκ ἔξεστίν μοι ὃ θέλω ποιῆσαι ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς; ἢ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρός ἐστιν ὅτι ἐγὼ ἀγαθός εἰμι;Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Matthew 20:15
- Matthew 11:25At that season Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes:
- Exodus 33:19And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
- Deuteronomy 7:6For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
- 1 Chronicles 28:4Howbeit Jehovah, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be prince; and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel;
- Jeremiah 27:5I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me.
- John 17:2even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him, he should give eternal life.
- Romans 9:15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
- Romans 11:5Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
- 1 Corinthians 4:7For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? but if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?
- Ephesians 1:11in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will;
- Ephesians 2:1And youdid he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
- James 1:18Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
- Matthew 6:23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!
- Deuteronomy 15:9Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
- Deuteronomy 28:54The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he hath remaining;
- Proverbs 23:6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties:
Commentaries on Matthew 20:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Is it not lawful for me - As eternal life is the free gift of God, he has a right to give it in whatever proportions, at whatever times, and on whatever conditions he pleases. Is thine eye evil - An evil eye among the Jews meant a malicious, covetous, or envious person. Most commentators have different methods of interpreting this parable. Something was undoubtedly designed by its principal parts, besides the scope and design mentioned at the conclusion…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Is thine we evil because I am good? - The Hebrews used the word evil, when applied to the eye, to denote one envious and malicious, Deuteronomy 15:9; Proverbs 23:6. The eye is called evil in such cases, because envy and malice show themselves directly in the eye. No passions are so fully expressed by the eye as these. “Does envy show itself in the eye? is thine eye so soon turned to express envy and malice because I have chosen to do good?”Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-16This parable is like the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11–32). In both, God shows grace to two groups, but one complains about unfair treatment.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?--that is, "You appeal to justice, and by that your mouth is shut; for the sum you agreed for is paid you. Your case being disposed of, with the terms I make with other laborers you have nothing to do; and to grudge the benevolence shown to others, when by your own admission you have been honorably dealt with, is both unworthy envy of your neighbor, and…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 20:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries