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Passage Research

Matthew 20 — Sermon Preparation

The parable of the vineyard workers, the third passion prediction, James and John's ambitious request, and two blind men restored. Below is a research summary for Matthew 20, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

34
verses
539 / 172
Greek words / lemmas
43
classic sermon excerpts
9
preachers & commentators

Matthew 20 in the Greek

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

GreekTransliterationStrong'sCountKJV renderings
ἀμπελώνampelṓnG2905vineyard
υἱόςhuiósG52077child, foal, son
ἔσχατοςéschatosG20785ends of, last, latter end, lowest
θέλωthélōG23096desire, be disposed, intend, list
δηνάριονdēnárionG12204pence, penny
πρῶτοςprōtosG44135before, beginning, best, chief
ὥραhṓraG56104day, hour, instant, season

How preachers through history handled this text

43 public-domain excerpts on Matthew 20, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Aquinas19Spurgeon7Matthew Henry5J. C. Ryle4Alexander MacLaren3Chrysostom2Ambrose1+2 more

“The direct object of this parable seems to be, to show that though the Jews were first called into the vineyard, at length the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and they should be admitted to equal privileges and advantages with the Jews. The parable may also be applied more generally, and shows, 1. That God is debtor to no man. 2. That many who begin last, and promise little in religion, sometimes, by the blessing of God, arrive at a great deal of knowledge, grace, and usefulness. 3. …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Matthew 20:1–16 (Public Domain)

Places in the text

Based on ancient-geography data

  • Jerusalem— Matt 20:17
  • Jericho 2— Matt 20:29

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