Matthew 20:10

10 When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, they thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one coin.

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 "At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, 'Call the workers and pay them. Start with the last people I hired and end with those I hired first.'

9 "When the workers who were hired at five o'clock came to get their pay, each received one coin.

10 When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, they thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one coin.

11 When they got their coin, they complained to the man who owned the land.

12 They said, 'Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us who worked hard all day in the hot sun.'