Matthew 20:6

Matthew 20:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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?
• New International Version (NIV)About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
• English Standard Version (ESV)And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
• New King James Version (NKJV)And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’

Context of Matthew 20:6

4So the master said to these men, “You also go and work in my field. I will pay you the right amount of money.” 5So the workers went to the master's field and started to work. The master went out again at noon, and he went again three hours after that. Both times he sent men to his field to work. Two hours later, at five o'clock, he went out again. He found more men who were standing there. And they had no work to do. The master asked them, “Why are you standing here all day and you are not working?” 7The men said to the master, “Nobody has asked us to work for him.” So the master said to them, “You also go now and work in my field.” 8Then the evening came. The master of the field spoke to the man who had authority over the workers. He said to him, “Tell the workers to come here. Pay them their money. Begin with the workers who started to work at the end of the day. Finish with the workers who started first.”

Matthew 20:6 word by word

περὶ δὲ τὴν ἑνδεκάτην ἐξελθὼν εὗρεν ἄλλους ἑστῶτας καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· τί ὧδε ἑστήκατε ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἀργοί;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andδέde · thenG1161
• aboutπερίperi · aboutG4012
• theὥραhōra · hourG5610
• eleventhἑνδέκατοςhendekatos · eleventhG1734
• he went outἐξέρχομαιexerchomai · to go outG1831
• and foundεὑρίσκωheuriskō · to find/meetG2147
• othersἄλλοςallos · anotherG243
• standingἵστημιhistēmi · to standG2476
• idleἀργόςargos · idleG692
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• unto themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• Whyτίςtis · which?G5101
• hereὧδεhōde · hereG5602
• allὅλοςholos · allG3650
• the dayἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250

Cross-references for Matthew 20:6

• Ecclesiastes 9:10Use all your strength to do the work that you are doing. One day you will die and you will go into your grave. Then you will not have any work, or ideas, or knowledge or wisdom. So do your work well while you are alive.
• Luke 23:40But the bad man on the other cross told him that he should be quiet. He said, ‘You should be more afraid of God. We will die here, as well as him.
• John 9:4While it is still day, we must continue to work. God has sent me and we must do his work. We must work now because it will be night soon. Then nobody can work.
• Proverbs 19:15A lazy person cannot wake up from sleep. If he does no work, he will always be hungry.
• Ezekiel 16:49Listen to me! This is the wicked thing that your sister Sodom did: She and her daughters were very proud. They had plenty of food to eat and they enjoyed life. But they did not help people who were poor and weak.
• Acts 17:21(The people of Athens liked to talk about new ideas. So did the foreign people who lived there. They all wanted to hear new things and to talk about them. They seemed to do this all the time.)
• Hebrews 6:12Then you will not be slow to learn. Instead, you will copy the example of those people who continue to trust God. They continue to be patient when trouble happens to them. People like that receive what God has promised to his people.

Commentaries on Matthew 20:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Eleventh - Five o'clock in the evening, when there was only one hour before the end of the Jewish day, which, in matters of labor, closed at six.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6The eleventh hour - About five o‘clock in the afternoon, or when there was but one working hour of the day left.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. 66. And about the eleventh hour--but one hour before the close of the working day; a most unusual hour both for offering and engaging and found others standing idle, and saith, Why stand ye here all the day idle?--Of course they had not been there, or not been disposed to offer themselves at the proper time; but as they were now willing, and the day was not over, and "yet there was room," they also are engaged, and on similar terms with all the rest.Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 20:6

• Aged
• Contracts
• Employee
• Gospel
• Hours
• Idleness
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Labor
• Penny
• Reward
• Servant
• Vineyard
• Wages
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Choose
• Condemn
• Drink
• Hireling
• Idle
• Prepare
• Ransom
• Wages
• 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