Matthew 20:16 Commentary, explanation, study verse by verse

“ So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. ”

• Matthew 20:16 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

  So the last shall be first ... - This is the moral or scope of the parable. “To teach this it was spoken.” Many that, in the order of time, are brought last into the kingdom, shall be first in th...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

  Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard. It is possible (as it is necessary) to distinguish two interpretations of this splendid parable, ( a) that intended by Jesus, ( b) that suggested by the...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

  So, &c. See note on Matthew 19:30 , which precedes the parable, as this concludes it.

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• Matthew 20:16 - Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

  16. So the first shall be last. He does not now compare the Jews to the Gentiles, (as in another passages) nor the reprobate, who swerve from the faith, to the elect who persevere; and there...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. So the last shall be first, and the first last - The Gentiles, who have been long without the true God, shall now e...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

  For many are called, &c.— A proverbial expression, which, as it is here stated, imports that the Jews should all be called by the Apostles and first preachers to receive the Gospel;—"They shall...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. So the last shall be first, and the first last: - q.d., 'Take heed lest by indulging the spirit of these "m...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

  The Labourers in the Vineyard. The Journey to Jerusalem 1-16, Parable of the labourers in the vineyard (peculiar to St. Matthew). This difficult parable is closely linked with what goes before, an...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

  So the last shall be first. — This, then, is the great lesson of the parable, and it answers at once the question whether we are to see in it the doctrine of an absolute equality in the blessedness...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

  Chapter 15 Last Days in Peraea - Matthew 19:1-30 - Matthew 20:1-16 THERE were two main roads from Galilee to Jerusalem. One passed through Samaria, on the west of the Jordan, the other throug...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

  the Bargaining Spirit Rebuked Matthew 20:1-16 This parable originated in Peter's question. He had seen the rich young man go away sorrowful, because he could not meet the test which had been pu...

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• Matthew 20:16 - G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

  One great principle of rewards is laid down in this parable. It is that they will be given, not according to length or amount of service, but according to fidelity to opportunities. The Master was n...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary

  "So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen." See the Note on Matthew 22:14 .

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• Matthew 20:16 - James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

  THE REFORM OF THE IDLER ‘Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us.’ Matthew 20 part Matthew 20:6-7 This parable is one of the most difficult in the...

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• Matthew 20:16 - John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

  So the last shall be first, and the first last ,.... As he had asserted in Matthew 19:30 and which is clearly illustrated by this parable, as it may be applied to Jews or Gentiles, or to nominal a...

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• Matthew 20:16 - John Trapp Complete Commentary

  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Ver. 16. So the last shall be first, &c. ] This is the purport of the preceding parable. Application is the...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

  So the last shall be first, and the first last The Gentiles last called, and last in advantages and privileges, not having been favoured in that respect as the Jews were, and despised and looked do...

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• Matthew 20:16 - L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

  The principle of the first and the last is now illustrated in a most penetrating parable of the kingdom of heaven. The householder goes out early in the morning to hire labourers to work in his viney...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

  The Labourers in the Vineyard.       1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

  Ver. 1-16. We find this parable only recorded by St. Matthew; nor have any thing to guide us in understanding the scope of our Saviour in it, but Acts 20:16 , So the last shall be first, and the...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

  ‘So the last will be first, and the first last.' And thus the story tells us that because of God's goodness and graciousness, and because our spirits can so easily become jealous and hardened, it is...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

  CRITICAL NOTES Matthew 20:1 . For , etc.—The division of the Chapter s is here singularly unfortunate, as separating the parable both from the events which gave occasion to it and from the teach...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

  Matthew 20:1-2 . For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labour...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

  Matthew 20:1 . A householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers for the work of his vineyard, the time, the most important time of the vintage being understood. It was the cust...

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• Matthew 20:16 - The Biblical Illustrator

  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard: The labourers in the vineyard 1. This story is on...

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• Matthew 20:16 - The Complete Pulpit Commentary

  EXPOSITION Matthew 20:1-40 Parable of the labourers in the vineyard . (Peculiar to St. Matthew.) Matthew 20:1 For . The following parable is intended to illustrate the apophthegm...

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• Matthew 20:16 - The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann

  The master's answer:

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• Matthew 20:16 - Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

  1 Thessalonians 2:13 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:13 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:14 ; James 1:23-25 ; John 12:19-22 ; Luke 13:28-30 ; Luke 14:24 ; Luke 15:7 ; Luke 17:17 ; Luke 17:18 ; Luke 7:47 ; Mark 10...

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• Matthew 20:16 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes

  So the last shall be first, and the first last — Not only with regard to the Jews and Gentiles, but in a thousand other instances. For many are called — All who hear the Gospel; but few chosen — On...

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