08 · Jesus' Parable

The Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1–16

Läs på svenska
Workers gather in a vineyard at the end of the day while a landowner distributes coins to them.

Workers who started at different times receive the same pay at the end of the day.

Is equal pay for all unfair?

Choose a perspective

There is no score – choose the perspective you find closest and discuss why.

Discuss: Why can generosity to others feel unfair when we receive no less?

After your discussion: compare with our assessment

Our assessment

B and C are closest to our understanding. B reflects the landowner's explicit defense: the first workers receive exactly what they agreed to. C captures the larger tension. The landowner is generous toward the last workers without reducing the first workers' wage. The conflict arises through comparison.

08 · Matthew 20:1–16

Go deeper

Text & context

Full translation

1 For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the workers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 Going out around the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4 He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went. 5 He went out again around the sixth and ninth hours and did the same. 6 Around the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing there. He said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” 7 They answered him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and continuing to the first.” 9 Those who had come around the eleventh hour came forward and each received a denarius. 10 When the first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner, 12 saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.” 13 But he answered one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go. I choose to give to this last worker the same as to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.

Translated from the Greek text – SBLGNT

What is happening here?
A landowner hires workers at several times throughout the day. The first group agrees to a denarius for the day. The final workers are hired around the eleventh hour. When wages are paid, everyone receives one denarius. Those who worked all day protest because the last workers have thereby been made equal to them. The landowner replies that he kept his agreement and defends his right to be generous.
Notice this

The first workers lose nothing when the last receive a denarius. Yet their experience of their own wage changes when they compare it with someone else's. The story explicitly states that the first workers agreed to a denarius. The landowner therefore has not broken his promise. The first workers were willing to work for a denarius. Their dissatisfaction begins after they see what the others receive and expect more. When asked why they are standing there, they reply, "No one has hired us." The story does not say they deliberately avoided work. Jesus compares the story with the kingdom of heaven. It should therefore not automatically be turned into an economic rule for wage policy. Immediately before the parable Jesus says that many who are first will be last and the last first. The parable ends with the same thought. Peter has also asked what the disciples will receive after leaving everything to follow Jesus.

Language & translation

From the Greek

δηνάριον -- dēnarion

denarius A denarius was a common Roman silver coin and functions here as the agreed daily wage.

ἐγόγγυζον -- egongyzon

grumbled The first workers begin grumbling when they discover that they receive the same amount as the last.

ἴσους ἡμῖν αὐτοὺς ἐποίησας

you made them equal to us The complaint concerns more than money. The last workers are being treated as their equals.

ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρός

your eye is evil The expression can carry associations of envy, begrudging generosity, or greed.

ἀγαθός -- agathos

good / generous The landowner describes himself as good. In context, this goodness is expressed through generosity toward the last workers.

Translation note

Independent English translation from the Greek text, using SBLGNT as the primary Greek edition.

Compare for yourself

Read the card's full biblical passage and pay attention to what Jesus says and does before the story moves on. Which details in the text lie behind the card's main question and A/B/C options? Try to formulate your own interpretation from the passage before reading our assessment.

    Continue the conversation

    Discuss further
    1. Why do you think the first workers expected more?
    2. Can someone be treated fairly even when someone else receives more generous treatment?
    3. Why can comparison change how we experience something we were previously satisfied with?
    4. What does it mean that the landowner "made them equal"?
    5. How does the story change when we notice that the last workers say no one had hired them?
    6. What might "the last will be first, and the first last" mean?
    Parallel passages
    • Matthew 19:27–30
    • Luke 15:25–32
    Sources
    • The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (SBLGNT), Matthew 20:1–16
    • Standard Greek lexical resources for dēnarion, gongyzō, isos, ponēros, and agathos