Matthew 20:10

10 so the workers who came first expected they would get more, but each of them also received just a denarius.

Matthew 20:10 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 20:10

But when the first came
Who were early hired into the vineyard; and design either the first saints that were in the world; or the Jews that first believed in Christ, either really or nominally; or such, who were called by grace in their early days:

they supposed,
or "hoped", as the Syriac version renders it,

that they should have received more;
than a penny, a greater reward: not that they could expect it on the foot of their agreement, or on account of their work; but because they observed, that they that came last into the vineyard, had as much as they agreed for; and therefore hoped, from the goodness of their Lord to them, that they should receive more:

and they likewise received every man a penny;
the selfsame privileges of the Gospel, and a title to the selfsame reward of free grace, the selfsame glory and happiness.

Matthew 20:10 In-Context

8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, `Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and ending with the first.'

9 The workers who came an hour before sunset each received a denarius,

10 so the workers who came first expected they would get more, but each of them also received just a denarius.

11 On receiving their wages, they began grumbling to the farmer,

12 `These latecomers have worked only one hour, while we have borne the brunt of the day's work in the hot sun, yet you have put them on an equal footing with us!'