When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.
Parallel Translations
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When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.
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Then came the fyrst supposyng that they shuld receave moare: and they likewyse receaved every man a peny.
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Nowe when the first came, they supposed that they should receiue more, but they likewise receiued euery man a penie.
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Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 But when the first came, they supposed that…
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Ver. 10. They supposed that they, &c.] Good works are mercatura regni coelestis, saith Bellarmine. But God is no such merchant. Cerium gratis non accipiam, I will not have heaven for nothing, saith Vega. Thou shalt never have it therefore; I will give thee that gift.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And when they had received it,.... The external privileges…
And when they had received it,.... The external privileges of the Gospel dispensation, an inheritance among them that are sanctified, and a right unto it, on the foot of free grace,
they murmured against the good man of the house; who had been so kind and liberal, to those who came last into the vineyard, and had done no injury to them, but gave them a full reward. So the Jews that first believed in Christ, were at first uneasy at the Gospel being preached to the Gentiles, at the calling of them, and their partaking of the same privileges in a Gospel church state with them, without submitting to the ceremonies of the law, as they had done; just as the Pharisees, in Christ's time, murmured against him; for receiving sinners, and eating with them: though in the latter day, the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and in the ultimate glory there will be no murmuring at each other's happiness.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The first supposed they should have received more -…
The first supposed they should have received more - Probably the first here may mean the Jews, who supposed they should always be preferred before the Gentiles.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 20:10-12. When the first came, they supposed that…
Mat 20:10-12. When the first came, they supposed that they should have received more — The first, here seems to mean the Jews, who always supposed that they should, in every thing, be preferred before the Gentiles, and were provoked to jealousy by the admission of the Gentiles into the gospel church, and to the free enjoyment of the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, which they considered as being confined to their nation. As the elder brother, in the parable of the prodigal, repined at the reception of the younger brother, and complained of his father’s generosity to him; so these labourers first called in, found fault with their master, not because they had not enough, but because others were made equal to them. Thou, say they, hast made them equal to us — So indeed St. Peter says, Act 15:9, God hath put no difference between us (Jews) and them, (Gentiles,)
purifying their hearts by faith. And not only are believing Gentiles admitted to equal privileges with believing Jews in the Christian Church on earth, but those who become equally holy here, whenever they were called, will be equally happy hereafter. Who have borne the burden, &c. — Who have long toiled under the grievous yoke of the ceremonial law, obeyed its numerous precepts, and performed the various difficult duties and services required by it: fifty expressed by bearing the burden and heat of the day.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain They supposed that they should have received more -…
They supposed that they should have received more - They had worked longer - they had been in the heat; they supposed that it was his intention to pay them, not according to contract, but according to the time of the labor.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain But when the first came, they supposed that they…
But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more--This is that calculating, mercenary spirit which had peeped out--though perhaps very slightly--in Peter's question (Mat 19:27), and which this parable was designed once for all to put down among the servants of Christ.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) But when the first came, they supposed that…
(10) But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more.—Up to this time we may think of the disciples as having listened with an eager interest, yet only half-perceiving, if at all, the drift of the parable, looking, it may be, for some payment to the first-called labourers proportionate to the duration of their service. Now, unless they were altogether blind, they must have seen their own thoughts reflected in the parable. They too, as their question showed, had been expecting to receive more. Eternal life was not enough for them, without some special prerogative and precedence over others. The fact that the first labourers were paid their wages gives a touch of gentleness to what would otherwise have seemed the severity of the parable. The presence of a self-righteous, self-seeking spirit mars the full blessedness of content; but if the work has been done, it does not deprive men altogether of their reward. The labourers who murmured are, in this respect, in the same position as the elder son in the parable of the Prodigal, who was told, in answer to his complaints, that all that his father had was his (Luk_15:31).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain They supposed that they should have received more. The…
They supposed that they should have received more. The text varies between pleion (plus, Vulgate) and pleiona , the former implying "a greater sum" than the stated hire, the latter hinting indefinitely at "more" things, more in number. Seeing the liberal payment given to the others, they expected some increase in the wages offered to themselves, or an additional remuneration of some kind.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10, 11, 12. They murmured. Those who had worked…
10, 11, 12. They murmured. Those who had worked all day. Like the elder brother (Luke 15:28–30).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.