Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 20].
pay off the last first and paid each one a denarius according to
agreement. False hopes had been raised in those who came first
who got only what they had agreed to receive.
20:11 {They murmured} (\egogguzon\). Onomatopoetic word, the
meaning suiting the sound. Our words murmur and grumble are
similar. Probably here inchoative imperfect, began to grumble. It
occurs in old Ionic and in the papyri.
20:12 {Equal unto us} (\isous autous h•min\). Associative
instrumental case \h•min\ after \isous\. It was a regular protest
against the supposed injustice of the householder. {The burden of
the day and the scorching wind} (\to baros t•s h•meras kai ton
kaus•na\). These last "did" work for one hour. Apparently they
worked as hard as any while at it. A whole day's work on the part
of these sweat-stained men who had stood also the sirocco, the
hot, dry, dust-laden east wind that blasted the grain in
Pharaoh's dream (Ge 41:6), that withered Jonah's gourd (Jon
4:8), that blighted the vine in Ezekiel's parable (Eze 17:10).
They seemed to have a good case.
20:13 {To one of them} (\heni aut•n\). Evidently the spokesman of
the group. "Friend" (\hetaire\). Comrade. So a kindly reply to
this man in place of an address to the whole gang. Ge 31:40; Job
27:21; Ho 13:15. The word survives in modern Greek.
20:14 {Take up} (\aron\). First aorist active imperative of
\air•\. Pick up, as if he had saucily refused to take it from the
table or had contemptuously thrown the denarius on the ground. If
the first had been paid first and sent away, there would probably
have been no murmuring, but "the murmuring is needed to bring out
the lesson" (Plummer). The \d•narius\ was the common wage of a
day labourer at that time. {What I will} (\ho thel•\). This is
the point of the parable, the _will_ of the householder. {With
mine own} (\en tois emois\). In the sphere of my own affairs.
There is in the _Koin•_ an extension of the instrumental use of
\en\.
20:15 {Is thine eye evil?} (\ho ophthalmos sou pon•ros estin?\)
See on ¯6:22-24 about the evil eye and the good eye. The
complainer had a grudging eye while the householder has a liberal
or generous eye. See Ro 5:7 for a distinction between \dikaios\
and \agathos\.
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