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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 20:2 And when he had agreed with the labourers...

Parable of the Laborers

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 20:2 συμφωνήσας δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἐργατῶν ἐκ δηναρίου τὴν ἡμέραν ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα αὐτοῦ.

KJV Verse

Matthew 20:2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 20:2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

What His Listeners Heard:

Agreeing, however, with the workmen on a silver that day, he sent them into that vineyard of his.

Lost In Translation:

As part of a parable, the verse is straightforward with no real wordplay. The main point here is that people are free to agree about what is fair. Here, the price, "a penny a day" is based on an outdated translation. The actual amount is the fair daily pay for a worker at the time.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And(WW) when(IW) he had(WT) agreed with the labourers for(CW) a penny(CW) a day, he sent them into his (MW) vineyard.

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.