Matthew 20:13

13 But he answering said to one of them, [My] friend, I do not wrong thee. Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?

Matthew 20:13 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 20:13

But he answered one of them
Who was the forwardest and loudest in his complaints, and represented the rest;

and said, friend, I do thee no wrong;
by giving all alike, the same privileges and blessings to the last, as to the first, since nothing was withheld from him. And indeed the Lord does no wrong to any, by the distinction which he makes among his creatures: he is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works: he does no injury to the evil angels, by choosing the good angels, and confirming them in the estate in which they were created; when the others are reserved in chains of darkness, to the judgment of the great day; or by choosing fallen men, in Christ, and making provisions of grace for them, and not devils: and so there is no unrighteousness in him, nor does he do any wrong to any, when, like the potter, out of the same clay, he makes one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour; any more than when, in a providential way, he gives riches and wealth to some, and withholds them from others; or sends his Gospel, the means of grace to one, and not to another: and still less can he be thought to do wrong to the sons of men, by giving to them alike the same grace and privileges here, and the same happiness and glory hereafter; since neither have any right to what they have, or shall enjoy, and no one has the less for what is given to the other.

Didst thou not agree with me for a penny?
That is, to labour in the vineyard all the day for a penny; yea, this agreement was made personally with him, not with a servant, or messenger of his; though if it had, it ought, according to the Jewish canons, to have been abode by, which run thus ^F2:

``A man says to his messenger, or servant, go and hire workmen for me for three pence; he goes and hires them for four pence: if the messenger says to them, your wages be upon me, he gives them four pence, and takes three pence of the master of the house; he looses one out of his own purse: if he says to them, your hire be upon the master of the house, the master of the house gives them according to the custom of the province: if there are one in the province that hired for three pence, and others that are hired for four pence, he gives them but three pence, "and the murmuring" is against the messenger; in what things? When the work is not known, but when the work is known, and it is worth four pence, the master of the house gives them four pence; but if his messenger does not say to them four pence, they do not labour and do what deserves four pence. The householder says to him, hire me for four pence, and the messenger goes and hires for three pence, though the work deserves four pence, they have but three pence; because that (Nmue le wlbq) , "they took it upon themselves", (i.e. they agreed for so much,) and their murmuring is against the messenger.''

Thus the argument in the parable proceeds upon the agreement, which ought to be abode by.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Maimon. Hilch, Shecirut, c. 9. sect. 3.

Matthew 20:13 In-Context

11 And on receiving it they murmured against the master of the house,

12 saying, These last have worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.

13 But he answering said to one of them, [My] friend, I do not wrong thee. Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?

14 Take what is thine and go. But it is my will to give to this last even as to thee:

15 is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs? Is thine eye evil because *I* am good?