Matthew 20:5

Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Again	πάλιν palin	G3825	(adverbially) anew · adverb
he went out	ἐξελθὼν exelthōn	G1831	to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
about	περὶ peri	G4012	properly · preposition
the	ὥραν hōran	G5610	an "hour" (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
sixth	ἕκτην hektēn	G1623	sixth · adjective — accusative singular feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
ninth	ἐνάτην enatēn	G1766	ninth · adjective — accusative singular feminine
hour	ὥρα hṓra	G5610	an "hour" (literally or figuratively)
and did	ἐποίησεν epoiēsen	G4160	to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
likewise	ὡσαύτως. hōsautōs	G5615	as thus · adverb

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Joshua 24:2-3 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even…
Mark 15:33-34 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Luke 23:44-46 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Acts 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
Hebrews 11:24-26 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Genesis 12:1-4 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will sh…
2 Chronicles 33:12-19 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 20:5

Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour--about noon, and about three o'clock in the afternoon. and did likewise--hiring and sending into his vineyard fresh laborers each time.

John Gill on Matthew 20:5

Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour,.... About twelve o'clock, or at noon, and three o'clock in the afternoon. These three last mentioned seasons of the day, were the hours of prayer; see Acts 2:15 and did likewise: seeing others in the same place, and posture, he called them, and sent them into his vineyard, to labour there, giving them the same promise he did to others.

John Calvin on Matthew 20:1-16

Matthew 20:1-16 Matthew 20:1-16 1. For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder, who went out at break of day to hire laborers into his vineyard. 2. And having made an agreement with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3. And having gone out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the market-place. 4. And he said to them, Go you also into the vineyard, and whatever shall be right I will give you. 5. And they went away. And again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and acted in the same manner. 6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and said to them, Why stand you here all the day idle? 7. They say to h…

Read the whole note in the console

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 20:1-16

This parable is similar to the parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32). In both, God’s grace is shown to two parties while one grumbles about unjust treatment.

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

(ubi sup.) The sixth hour is that from Abraham to Moses, the ninth that from Moses to the coming of the Lord.
— Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Hireling — A labourer employed on hire for a limited time (Job 7:1; 14:6; Mark 1:20). His wages were paid as soon as his work was over (Lev. 19:13). In the time of our Lord a day’s wage was a “penny” (q.v.)…
Hour — First found in Dan. 3:6; 4:19, 33;5:5. It is the rendering of the Chaldee shaah, meaning a “moment,” a “look.” It is used in the New Testament frequently to denote some determinate season (Matt.…
Wages — Rate of (mention only in Matt. 20:2); to be punctually paid (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14, 15); judgements threatened against the withholding of (Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5; comp. James 5:4); paid in money…
Aged · Gospel invitation to — Gospel invitation to
Contracts · 21:2-6; — 21:2-6;
Day · Later subdivided into twelve hours — Later subdivided into twelve hours
Employee · CHARACTER OF UNRIGHTEOUS — CHARACTER OF UNRIGHTEOUS
Hours · Twelve, in the day — Twelve, in the day
Kingdom Of Heaven · .To a househol — .To a househol
Labor · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Parables · Parables of christ: Labourers hired — Parables of christ: Labourers hired
Penny · Worth one day’s wages — Worth one day’s wages
Reward · 8:33;