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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 20:3 And he went out about the third hour...

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

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 20:3 καὶ ἐξελθὼν περὶ τρίτην ὥραν εἶδεν ἄλλους ἑστῶτας ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἀργούς:

KJV Verse

Matthew 20:3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

NIV Verse:

Matthew 20:3 About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

What His Listeners Heard:

And, going out around a third hour, he saw others standing in the marketplace unemployed.

Lost In Translation:

This verse has several uncommon words, including "marketplace" and "idle/doing nothing."  The Greek word for "doing nothing" is the punchline. coming last as a sound-alike anagram of the Greek word for "marketplace," which is the previous word.

The third hour means three "hours" after sunrise in the system of antiquity, but these "hours" were not all of equal length throughout the year. Instead, the hours of daylight were divided into twelve equal parts every day, a longer period in the summer and shorter in winter. The assumption here is that there are three such periods after the first workers went out to work at sunrise.

Note that the verse doesn't mention any need on the part of the owner of the vineyard. The cause mentioned is that the people were standing idle, doing nothing. There is a strong sense here that everyone should have work to do, that they should be producing something of value with the time.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And he went(WF) out about the(IW) third hour, and(IW) saw others standing(WT) idle in the marketplace,

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.