And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’
Parallel translations
- WEB About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’
- KJV And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
- BSB About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.
- NKJV And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’
- NLT “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Even at the eleventh hour the landowner finds idle men and asks why they have stood unemployed all day. His concern reaches even those called at the very end.
Overview
The eleventh hour (around 5 p.m.) is nearly the end of the workday, yet the master still seeks laborers. His question opens the way for these last workers to be brought in. This pictures the breadth of God's grace, which calls even those who come late, leaving none who will respond beyond his reach.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- John 9:4I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
- Heb 6:12that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.
- Acts 17:21Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
- Prov 19:15Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- Luke 23:40–43But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
- Eccl 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
- Ezek 16:49“‘“Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 20:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.