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?
• 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?’
• New Living Translation (NLT)Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

Context of Matthew 20:15

13“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” 17Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and 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

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 learned, and revealed them to little children.
• Exodus 33:19And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
• Deuteronomy 7:6For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
• 1 Chronicles 28:4“Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the tribe of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel.
• Jeremiah 27:5With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.
• John 17:2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
• Romans 9:15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
• Romans 11:5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
• 1 Corinthians 4:7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
• Ephesians 1:11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
• Ephesians 2:1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
• James 1:18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
• Matthew 6:23But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
• Deuteronomy 15:9Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.
• Deuteronomy 28:54Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children,
• Proverbs 23:6Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave 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