Matthew 20

Matthew 20:1

If you do not perfectly understand what was last said, (of the last shall be first, &c.,) then a resemblance of it (and in that of all God’s dealing with men in the church) you may have in a man of an estate, managing it himself, by the manner of his dealing with his hired labourers; first, he went out as soon as it was light (answerable to Christ’s calling and sending the twelve at the beginning of men’s receiving the faith, ch. ix. 38, and ch. x. 1,) into the marketplace, where day-labourers were wont to stand, expecting employment, to hire labourers for his vineyard.

Matthew 20:2

And having agreed with a certain number for a set determinate wages of seven-pence halfpenny a day—

Matthew 20:6

And about five in the evening he went out again, and found others looking for work; willing to be employed, but not entertained by any, and saith—

d See ver. 4.

beginning first with those that came in latest, and so ascending to them that came in first.

Matthew 20:9

And when they came to be paid that had entered last upon their work, he gave them a whole day’s hire, upon their good discharge of that one hour in the vineyard.

[a] Hosanna] The word Hosanna is contracted of הוֹשִׁיעָה נָא, σῶσον δή, Save I beseech thee, a form of acclamation which the Jews

were wont to use in their feast of tabernacles, in which also they used

to carry boughs in their hands, (see Nehem. viii. 15, 1 Mac. xiii. 5,

Matthew 20:10

But when they came which were hired first, and wrought from the morning all day, they thought that they should have more than they which had been less time in the vineyard, but they were mistaken in their expectation, and had no more than the sum for which they were hired.

Matthew 20:12

[a] wrought] The word ποιεῖν in the New Testament, when it is joined with words that denote time, is to be rendered, to stay, or to spend. So Acts v. 34. βραχύ τι ποιῆσαι, to stay a little while. So Acts

[b] tables] The word τράπεζα, table, here, is that from which those that dealt in returning moneys, or in bills of exchange, and made advantage and gain by so doing, are called τραπεζίται, Matth. xxv. 27,

Matthew 20:14

Be thou content with that which comes to thy share, according to agreement; this man that came last to work (it being not his fault that he came not sooner, but his not being sooner called, ver. 7, and he having laboured honestly and cheerfully ever since he came,) shall by me, who accept the will for the deed, be rewarded with the same reward that thou hast.

Matthew 20:15

And sure thou hast no reason to complain. What reason is there that my bounty to others should be matter of envy and discontent to thee? or that thou shouldst be the judge, how I am to deal with thy brother? Many reasons there may be, which thou knowest not, why they that came in last to the vineyard, if they were not sooner called, or not so powerfully as others, should be rewarded as liberally as they that have longer laboured; for a few acts of the will, if they be more intense and heroical, may in equitable estimation countervalue the work of a far longer time; as the thief’s confessing Christ

when he was on the cross, when his apostles had forsaken him; and so Paul, called last, was in labour

more abundant, and so ranked with the first; and so many that came in to Christ in the cool of the day, when persecution was over, might yet be as cordially intense and affectionate in his service as they that

suffered for him; and so some that come to repentance more aged than others; and those that at Christ’s

preaching came in to Christianity, compared with those that had lived in the Jewish church all their time, see note [b].

[b] good] The word ἀγαθός, good, hath a peculiar notion in this and some other places, and signifies bounty or liberality, as when works of mercy are called ἀγαθὰ ἔργα, good works; Acts ix. 36, ἀγαθοποιεῖν, doing good, Matt. xii. 12; καρποὶ ἀγαθοί, good fruits, James iii. 17; and ordinarily in the church-writers ἀγαθοεργίαι, working good. Thus ἀγαθὸν ἐργάζεσθαι, to work good, Gal. vi. 9, and πᾶν ἀγαθὸν ἔργον, every good work, 2 Cor. ix. 8, appear by the context to belong to works of mercy. Thus Rom. v. 7, where the good man is so particularly distinguished from the righteous man, and Tit. ii. 6, where the elder women are commanded to be ἀγαθοί, good, that is, merciful or kind to those of their family. Thus when Hesychius mentions the word χάσιος, (which is, as hath been said, the Hebrew חביר, or Syriac חבי, with the Greek termination, which signifies bountiful or merciful,) he explains it by ἀγαθός, χρηστὸς, making these three words to have the same signification, and so doth the Targum render the Hebrew חביר by טוב sometimes, that is, good. And so in this place the master is said to be good, because he gave to him that had been in the vineyard but an hour as much as was the wages of the whole day: this, though it were not matter of injury to them that had laboured all day, because they had the full hire, for which they had contracted, is yet matter of murmuring there, ver. 11, and indeed hath somewhat of difficulty in it, how to reconcile it with God’s rewarding every man according to his works or actions, (which is every where said of God,) and his giving a more liberal harvest to him that soweth plentifully, than to any that soweth less plentifully, 2 Cor. ix. 6. The way of clearing this difficulty will be by observing that this parable here used by Christ was a parable used among the Jews, and therefore if any part of it were here unmentioned by Christ, and briefly referred to by him, the sure way will be to supply it by the authors among them, by whom it is fully set down. Now this is done by Gemara Hierosol. Cod. Berachoth. Of a king, and labourers hired by him, and one of them paid for a little time the whole day’s hire, whereupon the rest of them grieve and murmur, and say, “We have laboured all day, and this man” לא יגע, &c. “hath not laboured above two hours of the day, and,” say they, יטול שכרו משלם, “he hath received his hire in peace,” that is, the full hire of a day for that small time; to these the king’s answer there is, “He in that two hours hath laboured as much as you have done all the day.” Here it is evident, the account of the business is laid upon the superabundant diligence and earnestness of those that came late in, which God (though not tied by contract, as with the other, but only by promise of giving them what shall be meet, ver. 47, that is, dealing equitably with them) thinks fit to reward, through his merciful interpretation and acceptance of it,

Matthew 20:16

And thus that which was said before, ch. xix. 30, is evident, that some that come after you in time may prove as richly rewardable as you; for the

known saying is very true, that they that have favours done them by God beyond others (as, to be first

called, was a special favour to the disciples, of which no reason can be given but God’s will) do not always exceed all others in labour and Christian diligence,

(as the apostle St. Paul, called long after, and therefore by himself styled less than the least, and born

out of due time, as called after Christ’s being gone to heaven, yet did labour more abundantly than all the twelve,) nay some of them apostatize, and fall off from the called are many, but the choice or elect few.

ᵍ to the sanhedrim there, who though they have not power to put any man to death, yet shall pass that sentence against him, that he is guilty of death.

[c] called] What the word κλητὸς signifies here, and how it differs from ἱκλεκτος, is worth examining at large now once for all, which therefore I shall set about. The words κλῆσις and κλητὸς in the New Testament are proportionable one to the other, and will mutually help to the understanding one the other. If we look on them in the Apocrypha, as we meet with them both in one place of the third book of the Maccabees, it will prove a useful rise; there κλητοὶ signifies guests invited to a feast, ἀθρόους τοὺς κλητοὺς ἰδών, (as in human authors, ὅταν πῆ κληθῶμεν καὶ λαμπρῶς συνενωχώμβα, Heraclitus περὶ ἀπιστ. λβ’, to which is opposed ἀκλητοι in Homer, and invocati in Plautus,) and κλῆσις the office of inviting and entertaining them; and Judith xii. 11, a banquet or invitation. So ὁ πρὸς ταῖς κλίσεσι τεταγμένος, is he that was to invite and entertain (κλήτωρ, invitator, in the Gloss, and δεικνόκλητωρ, see note [d].) In the Greek translation of the canonical books of the Old Testament the word hath another notion; as when those that were pitched on as special men by Adonijah to be of his party are called οἱ κλητοὶ τοῦ Ἀδωνίου, 1 Kings i. 49, and ver. 41, the called of Adonijah, not because they had been invited by him to a feast, but such as were called by his name, that is, such as adhered to him. For so they that Absalom had picked out in the same manner to be his confidents are called κλητοί, two hundred called men, 2 Sam. xv. 11. So that hitherto κλητοὶ signifies those that are pitched on either to receive special favours, or over and above to be employed in special trusts, and the latter the special meaning of the word. So Aristotle in his Economics, l. 2, in the passage of Antimenes Rhodius, where we find τεχνίτας

Matthew 20:19

And shall press the Roman judge to put him to death after their manner of punishing the basest malefactors: and the third—

Matthew 20:20

Upon this mention of his resurrection, which they presumed to be the time of his taking all greatness upon him, the mother of James and John, being put upon it by them, came with them to Jesus, and falling down to him, made a petition (see Power of Keys, ch. v. §. 13,) to him.

ᵇ Of that dignity which thou hast promised thy disciples, ch. xix. 28, proportionable to that of being heads among the tribes of the Jews, grant that my two sons, James and John, may have the first places, as Joseph and Judah had among them.

Matthew 20:22

Then Jesus told the two disciples they begged they knew not what. All the dignity, saith he, that is to be had by being nearer to me than others, is that of suffering inwardly and outwardly; can you prepare yourselves for that?

¹ It is true indeed, the sufferings that befall me shall befall you also, afflictions and persecutions, wherein you may rejoice that you are made partakers with me; but for any privilege of honour or dignity above others, they to whom my Father hath designed shall have it; and I shall not go about to change his designation, or assign it to any others, upon any absolute unconditionate will or favour of mine, to gratify you or satisfy your importunity, but dispose of it according to those rules and conditions and qualifications, which my Father hath set down, and I from him have revealed to you.

ᵃ delivered up, vapabothorras.

Matthew 20:26

But prelacy and preeminence among you must bring along with it offices of burden and humility, and not be after the manner of Gentile princes. must be the servant of all the rest, (for so the governors of the church are to be.)

Matthew 20:28

Even as Christ’s kingdom here is not administered in that way, which might bring in splendour or profit to him, but in a way of charity, serving, relieving, providing, and dying for his people, instead of requiring such offices from them.

Matthew 20:29

And whosoever shall for my sake part with any of the advantages and possessions of this life, whatsoever it is, he shall be so far from being a loser by it, that he shall in this very life be by that means abundantly more richly provided for; in the same proportion that he which in the harvest hath the most plentiful returns to his seed and painstaking, (ch. xiii. 8.)

[e] hundredfold] There is a saying in the Alcoran very agreeable to this, Qui opes suas erogunt in via Dei, similes sunt grano, quod septem spicas germinavit, “They that lay out their riches in the way of God, are like a grain of corn which hath shot out seven stalks.” Now supposing every of those stalks or ears to have ten corns in it, that will be the seventyfold spoken of, Matt. xiii. But supposing fourteen or fifteen in each, (as in the most fruitful places and years it is,) then it amounts to an hundredfold, and so the hundredfold being the proportion of the most fruitful messuage, is here set down as the harvest of the Christian (that suffers or gives for Christ’s sake) and that in this life.

[d] In this place, after ver. 28, there is a large addition in the ancient Greek and Latin MSS. thus: Ὑμεῖς δὲ ζητεῖτε ἐκ μικροῦ ἀδῆσαι, καὶ ἐκ

K 2

Matthew 20:30

But though you have advantage of other men in being thus early in discipleship, yet it is very possible that some that come after you in time (as Paul) may labour as fervently, deserve as much, and consequently be as richly rewarded as you. (Upon which follows the parable of ch. xx. 1.) ### CHAP. XX.