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

13But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16So the last shall be first, and the first, last.” 17As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the road He said to them,

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

• Is it not lawfulἔξεστι, ἐξόνexesti · be permittedG1832
• for me to doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• whatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• I wantθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• with whatὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• is my ownἐμόςemos · mineG1699
• Orἤē · orG2228
• eyeὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• enviousπονηρόςponēros · evil/badG4190
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• I amεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• generousἀγαθόςagathos · goodG18

Cross-references for Matthew 20:15

• Matthew 11:25At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants.
• Exodus 33:19And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.”
• Deuteronomy 7:6For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
• 1 Chronicles 28:4Yet, the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all the household of my father to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.
• Jeremiah 27:5‘I have made the earth, mankind, and the animals which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight.
• John 17:2just as You gave Him authority over all mankind, so that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
• Romans 9:15For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will show compassion to whomever I show compassion.”
• Romans 11:5In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.
• 1 Corinthians 4:7For who considers you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
• Ephesians 1:11In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will,
• Ephesians 2:1And you were dead in your offenses and sins,
• James 1:18In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
• Matthew 6:23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
• Deuteronomy 15:9Be careful that there is no mean-spirited thought in your heart, such as, ‘The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,’ and your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you.
• Deuteronomy 28:54The man who is refined and very delicate among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife he cherishes, and toward the rest of his children who are left,
• Proverbs 23:6Do not eat the bread of a selfish person; Or desire his delicacies;

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