__NOTOC__ The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (also called the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard or the Parable of the Generous Employer) is a parable of Jesus which appears in chapter 20 of the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. It is not included in the other

canonical gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sense ...

s. It has been described as a difficult parable to interpret.

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Interpretations

Rembrandt - Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

The parable has often been interpreted to mean that even those who are converted late in life earn equal rewards along with those converted early, and also that people who convert early in life need not feel jealous of those later converts. An alternative interpretation identifies the early laborers as

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, some of whom resent the late-comers (

Gentiles ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites, groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsider ...

) being welcomed as equals in God's Kingdom. Both of these interpretations are discussed in

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a British Nonconformist and Presbyterian minister and author who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition o ...

's 1706 Commentary on the Bible. An alternative interpretation is that all Christians can be identified with the eleventh-hour workers. Arland J. Hultgren writes: "While interpreting and applying this parable, the question inevitably arises: Who are the eleventh-hour workers in our day? We might want to name them, such as deathbed converts or persons who are typically despised by those who are longtime veterans and more fervent in their religious commitment. But it is best not to narrow the field too quickly. At a deeper level, we are all the eleventh-hour workers; to change the metaphor, we are all honored guests of God in the kingdom. It is not really necessary to decide who the eleventh-hour workers are. The point of the parable—both at the level of Jesus and the level of Matthew's Gospel—is that God saves by grace, not by our worthiness. That applies to all of us."Arland J. Hultgren,
The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary
', Eerdmans, 2002, , p. 43. A

USCCB The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Co ...

interpretation is that the parable's "close association with Mt 19:30 suggests that its teaching is the equality of all the disciples in the reward of inheriting eternal life." The USCCB interpret Mt 19:30 as: " l who respond to the call of Jesus, at whatever time (first or last), will be the same in respect to inheriting the benefits of the kingdom, which is the gift of God." In giving himself via the

beatific vision In Christian theology, the beatific vision () refers to the ultimate state of happiness that believers will experience when they see God face to face in heaven. It is the ultimate direct self-communication of God to the angel and person. A perso ...

, God is the greatest reward. Some commentators have used the parable to justify the principle of a " living wage",

William Sloane Coffin William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 – April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ. In his young ...

,
The collected sermons of William Sloane Coffin: the Riverside years, Volume 1
', Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, , p. 109. though generally conceding that this is not the main point of the parable. An example is

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

in the 19th century, who quoted the parable in the title of his book ''

Unto This Last ''Unto This Last'' is an essay critical of economics by John Ruskin, who published the first chapter between August and December 1860 in the monthly journal ''Cornhill Magazine'' in four articles. Its stated aim is to define wealth and show that th ...

''. Ruskin did not discuss the religious meaning of the parable but rather its social and economic implications. In Islam, there is a report of a similar parable in which the three groups appear interpreted to be the Jews, Christians, and Muslims in that order.

Parallels

Many details of the parable, including when the workers receive their pay at the end of the day, the complaints from those who worked a full day, and the response from the king/landowner are paralleled in a similar parable found in tractate Berakhot in the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

: :To what can Rebbi Bun bar Ḥiyya be likened? To a king who hired many workers and there was one worker who was exceptionally productive in his work. What did the king do? He took him and walked with him the long and the short. In the evening, the workers came to receive their wages and he gave him his total wages with them. The workers complained and said: we were toiling the entire day and this one did toil only for two hours and he gave him his total wages with us! The king told them: This one produced in two hours more than what you produced all day long. So Rebbi Bun produced in Torah in 28 years what an outstanding Or, with the Arabic ותֹיק “constant, resolute”. student cannot learn in a hundred years. (Jerusalem Berakhot 2.8)

References

{{Authority control Workers in the Vineyard, Parable of the Gospel of Matthew Labor literature Fair division

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