Matthew 20:15

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

13“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? 14Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?’ 16“So the last will be first, and the first last.” 17While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way,

Matthew 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• ·ἤē · orG2228
• Is itἔξεστι, ἐξόνexesti · be permittedG1832
• notοὐou · noG3756
• for meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• to doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• whatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• I willθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• withἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• mine ownἐμόςemos · mineG1699
• ·εἰei · ifG1487
• Isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• thineσύsu · youG4771
• eyeὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• evilπονηρόςponēros · evil/badG4190
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• goodἀγαθόςagathos · goodG18

Cross-references for Matthew 20:15

• Matthew 11:25At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.
• Exodus 33:19He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
• Deuteronomy 7:6For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
• 1 Chronicles 28:4“Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me out of all my father’s family to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah, my father’s family, and from my father’s sons, he was pleased to make me king over all Israel.
• Jeremiah 27:5“By my great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please.
• John 17:2since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.
• Romans 9:15For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
• Romans 11:5In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.
• 1 Corinthians 4:7For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it?
• Ephesians 1:11In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will,
• Ephesians 2:1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
• James 1:18By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
• Matthew 6:23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
• Deuteronomy 15:9Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty.
• Deuteronomy 28:54The most sensitive and refined man among you will look grudgingly at his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children,
• Proverbs 23:6Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread, and don’t desire his choice food,

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

• Contracts
• Employee
• Employer
• Gospel
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Labor
• Reward
• Servant
• Vineyard
• Wages
• Wicked (People)
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Choose
• Condemn
• Drink
• Evil eye
• Eye
• Idle
• Prepare
• Ransom
• Wrong

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