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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 20:7 They told him, Because noone has hired us

A parable comparing the realm of the skies to hiring workers throughout the day.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 20:7 λέγουσιν αὐτῷ Ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἡμᾶς ἐμισθώσατο: λέγει αὐτοῖς Ὑπάγετε καὶ ὑμεῖς εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα

KJV Verse

Matthew 20:7 They told him, Because noone has hired us. He told them, Go also into the vineyard; and your shall receive whatever is right.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 20:7  ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

What His Listeners Heard:

They say to him, "Because no one hired us for themselves." He says to them, "Go down also, you yourselves,  into the vineyard."

Lost In Translation:

This verse is the first time in the parable that the laborers have spoken. Earlier verbs in the parable were in the "at that point in time" tense of Greek, which is has been translated as the past. The verbs in this verse, except for "hired," are in the present tense. This switch of tenses gives the story a more intimate, "homier" feel, more like a folk tale in English, as though the listener has been brought up in time to the present, but this is a gimmick. The parable continues after this.

There is a formal "you pronoun" in the statement at the end by the employer. The "go" is a command, that needs no "you" pronoun in Greek or English, but after the "also" this pronoun appears, emphasizing that him means the laborers with a "your yourselve."

Note that the workers do not say that they have been idle all day, but that no one has hired them. They are wise enough not to challenge the housemaster's mistaken assumptions.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

 They told(WT) him, Because noone has(WT) hired us. He told(WT) them, Go (MW) also into the vineyard; [and your shall receive whatever is right(OS)].

KJV List (See full page for word-by-word analysis):
For analysis of each word of original Greek and biblical verses, click here.

Constantly Updated

My analysis standards and methods are constantly improving. New information on each verse is provided as articles are updated. It requires approximately two years for me to work through updating each of Jesus's verses.

What Jesus's Listeners Heard

The everyday meanings of the Greek words Jesus used were different than the definitions they have been given over time in biblical translation. The word translations here are based upon documents of his time such as the Greek Septuagint, not ideas unknown in his time.

About this Site

See what Jesus said in Greek and see how his words are changed in English translation. My goal is to translate Jesus's words as they were heard when he taught, not the way they are interpreted today. The work here resurrects the humor and cleverness of Jesus's words lost in translation.

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Each article provides detailed information on all the Greek words in each verse with links simplifying your own research. It compares the Greek to popular translations to show where words are confused, changed, left out, and added. This site offers research available nowhere else, such as how often Jesus uses a specific Greek word and links to a list of every verse in which he uses a given word.