Matthew 20
Matthew 20:1
For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
Isaiah says,
For the vineyard of HaShem of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
Isaiah 5:7
Midrash Mishle, the Midrash on Proverbs, comments,
“R. Simeon ben Yohai said: Why was Israel likened to a vineyard? In the case of a vineyard, in the beginning one must hoe it, then weed it, then erect supports when he sees the clusters [forming]. Then he must return to pluck the grapes and press them in order to extract the wine from them. So also Israel – each and every shepherd who oversees them must tend them [as he would tend a vineyard.] Where in Scripture is Israel called a vineyard? In the verse For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel, and the seedlings he lovingly tended are the men of Judah (Isa. 5:7).”
Midrash on Proverbs, Chapter 19 translated by Burton L. Visotzky, Yale University Press, pg. 89
Matthew 20:2
When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Matthew 20:3
He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.
Matthew 20:4
To them he said, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went their way.
Matthew 20:5
Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.
Matthew 20:6
About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, Why do you stand here all day idle?
Matthew 20:7
They said to him, Because no one has hired us. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.
Matthew 20:8
When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.
Matthew 20:9
When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.
Matthew 20:10
When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.
Matthew 20:11
When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household,
Matthew 20:12
saying, These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!
Matthew 20:13
But he answered one of them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius?
Matthew 20:14
Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.
Matthew 20:15
Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?
Matthew 20:16
So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.
Matthew 20:17
As Yeshua was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,
Matthew 20:18
Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,
Matthew 20:19
and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify, and the third day he will be raised up.
Matthew 20:20
Then the mother of the sons of Zavdai came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
Matthew 20:21
He said to her, What do you want? She said to him, Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.
Matthew 20:22
But Yeshua answered, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be immersed with the immersion that I am immersed with? They said to him, We are able.
Matthew 20:23
He said to them, You will indeed drink my cup, and be immersed with the immersion that I am immersed with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.
Matthew 20:24
When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.
Matthew 20:25
But Yeshua summoned them, and said, You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
“Shemayah and Avtalyon received from them. Shemayah said, “Love work, and hate domination, and make not yourself close to the government.”
Pirkei Avot 1:10
Matthew 20:26
It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
Matthew 20:27
Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,
Matthew 20:28
even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:29
As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
Matthew 20:30
Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Yeshua was passing by, cried out, Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!
Matthew 20:31
The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!
Matthew 20:32
Yeshua stood still, and called them, and asked, What do you want me to do for you?
Matthew 20:33
They told him, ‘Lord, that our eyes may be opened.’
