Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Text and Content

This parable of Jesus appears only in Matthew 20:1–16. It begins, "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard."

Early in the morning the householder agrees with the laborers on a wage of one denarius for the day and sends them into his vineyard. He goes out to the marketplace again at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours and sends in those he finds standing idle. When evening comes, the owner has his steward pay the wages, beginning with the last to arrive, and even those who worked only one hour receive a denarius. Those who came first expect to receive more, and when they receive the same wage, they murmur against the householder. The owner answers in three ways: he has done them no wrong, since he paid what he promised; he is free to do as he wishes with what is his own; and he asks, "Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" The parable concludes, "So the last shall be first, and the first last" (Matthew 20:16).

The parable is immediately preceded by the account of the rich young man. This is followed by Peter's question about what the disciples, who had left everything to follow Jesus, would receive (Matthew 19:27), and Jesus' reply ends (19:30) with the same saying as the parable's final verse. The parable thus continues Jesus' answer to that question.

Background

• Time: Jews counted the hours from about sunrise. Accordingly, the third hour is commonly explained as about 9 a.m., the sixth hour as about noon, the ninth hour as about 3 p.m., and the eleventh hour as about 5 p.m.
• Wages: The denarius was a Roman silver coin and is generally understood to have been the usual daily wage of a day laborer. The Law commands that a hired worker's wages be paid before sundown (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14–15).
• Marketplace: This was where people looking for work gathered. Those who came at the eleventh hour explain, "Because no man hath hired us" (20:7).
• "Is thine eye evil": This phrase, retained in the KJV, renders the Greek literally ("Is your eye evil?"). The expression is understood to refer to an envious heart.
• Manuscript differences: Some manuscripts, followed by the King James Version, add at the end of 20:16, "for many be called, but few chosen." The New Korean Revised Version includes this saying only at 22:14.

Significance in the Wider Biblical Context

In this parable, the reward of the kingdom of God is not a wage proportional to the work done but flows from the goodness of the owner. This connects with the New Testament theme of salvation by grace. Paul likewise contrasts the wages owed to one who works with grace in Romans 4:1–5.

The murmuring of the first laborers is often compared with the complaint of the elder son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The parable is followed by Jesus' third prediction of his passion and by his teaching on service (Matthew 20:28).

Interpretations and Issues

• Grace-centered interpretation: This is the most common interpretation in Protestant preaching. It emphasizes grace given apart from merit.
• Jews and Gentiles: This reading sees the parable as depicting Israel or the Pharisees, who were called first, refusing to accept the Gentiles or the tax collectors and sinners who came in later.
• Allegorical interpretation: In the ancient and medieval church, some interpreted the hours at which the laborers were called as stages of human life or as eras of salvation history.
• The question of rewards: Some hold that, because all receive the same denarius, all the saved receive the same portion. Others hold that the parable speaks only of salvation itself and does not rule out differing rewards. The latter view appeals to 1 Corinthians 3:8, among other passages.
• Socioeconomic interpretation: Some modern interpreters note that a day's wage was what a person needed for subsistence. They read the parable in connection with questions of labor and fairness.

Interpreters also commonly add details that the text does not state. The text does not say that those who came late were lazy. The explanation that the eleventh hour represents a deathbed conversion, linked with the thief on the cross (Luke 23:40–43), is also widespread, but it is an application rather than the direct content of the text. Likewise, the view that the denarius signifies eternal life is only one interpretation among others.