Matthew 20:16

Matthew 20:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So the last will be first, and the first last."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

Context of Matthew 20:16

14Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “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, 18“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death

Matthew 20:16 word by word

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοιRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• the lastἔσχατοςeschatos · last/leastG2078
• shall beεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• firstπρῶτοςprōtos · firstG4413
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• calledκλητόςklētos · calledG2822
• butδέde · thenG1161
• fewὀλίγοςoligos · little/fewG3641
• chosenἐκλεκτόςeklektos · selectG1588

Cross-references for Matthew 20:16

• Matthew 8:11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
• Matthew 19:30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
• Matthew 21:31“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
• Mark 10:31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
• Luke 7:47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
• Luke 13:28“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
• Luke 15:7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
• Luke 17:17Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
• John 12:19So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
• Romans 5:20The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
• Romans 9:30What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
• Matthew 7:13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
• Matthew 22:14“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
• Luke 14:24I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”
• Romans 8:30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:13And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

Commentaries on Matthew 20:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16So the last shall be first, and the first last - The Gentiles, who have been long without the true God, shall now enjoy all the privileges of the new covenant; and the Jews, who have enjoyed these from the beginning, shall now be dispossessed of them; for, because they here rejected the Lord, he also hath rejected them. Many are called, etc. - This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. Bishop Pearce thinks it is an…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16So the last shall be first … - This is the moral or scope of the parable. “To teach this it was spoken.” Many that, in the order of time, are brought last into the kingdom, shall be first in the rewards. Higher proportionate rewards shall be given to them than to others. “To all justice shall be done.” To all to whom the rewards of heaven are promised they shall be given. Nothing shall be withheld that was promised. If, among this number who are called…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16See Matthew 5:19 and Matthew 8:11–12.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. So the last shall be first, and the first last--that is, "Take heed lest by indulging the spirit of these murmurers at the penny given to the last hired, ye miss your own penny, though first in the vineyard; while the consciousness of having come in so late may inspire these last with such a humble frame, and such admiration of the grace that has hired and rewarded them at all, as will put them into the foremost place in the end." for many be called…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 20:16

• Chosen, or Elected
• Contracts
• Gospel
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Predestination
• Reward
• Vineyard
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Choose
• Condemn
• Drink
• Idle
• Prepare
• Ransom
• Wrong
• Bible, the
• Eschatology of the New Testament

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