Eleventh hour should be translated the same as it was in verse 6, although if translators used “about” in the translation, as in “about five o’clock,” then that word will probably be inappropriate in this verse.

Many translators will follow Good News Translation and expand came to “came to be paid” or “came to receive their wages.”

For denarius see comment at Matthew 20.2. Barclay has “a normal full day’s wage.”

Received is formulated as a passive in Good News Translation: “were paid.” Some languages will require a complete restructuring of the sentence; for example, “So the foreman paid a silver coin to each of the men who had begun to work at five o’clock in the afternoon” or “… paid the full day’s wages to each of the men….”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .