complete verse (Matthew 20:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 20:9:

  • Uma: “‘The people who worked beginning at five in the afternoon came, they each received wages of one silver coin.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the people who had been fetched in the afternoon went there and they were paid wages worth for a whole day.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And those who had started to work when the sun was about to set, he paid each one of them a piece of silver.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘So then the ones who began to work at five o’clock came, and they were salaried one-denario -each.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for those who were put to work when the sun was getting low, what was paid to them was the (usual) wage for a whole day’s work.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Wages were given to the workers who had begun working at five o’clock. Each one was given a money of a denario.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 20:9

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 .