New International Version
Matthew 20:6
6About 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?’
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?
- 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?’
- New Living Translation (NLT)“At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
Context of Matthew 20:6
4He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 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?’ 7“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
Read all of Matthew 20Matthew 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 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
- Luke 23:40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
- John 9:4As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
- Proverbs 19:15Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.
- Ezekiel 16:49“ ‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
- Acts 17:21(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
- Hebrews 6:12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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