What Does Matthew 20:13 Mean in the King James?
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The worker’s claim rests on a word that means “two voices sounding together”: the agreed wage is already a shared utterance.
THE MEANING
The owner answers the worker as a companion and asks whether he has honored their agreed denarius. The promised amount stands as a concrete measure of the exchange, even as the story leaves room for generosity beyond it. The reader hears the complaint set beside what was actually agreed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Someone else receiving more does not, by itself, mean your agreed payment has been withheld or made unjust.
THE ROOT
συμφωνέω
symphōneō
GROWS FROM
φων
phon-
Voice, sound
The verb συμφωνέω (symphōneō, “agree”) joins σύν (syn, “together”) with the sound-root φων (phon-). The agreement is pictured as voices sounding together: the wage is a shared word between the owner and worker.
ALSO GROWS
phōnē: Voice, sound
φωνή
This branch makes the sound inside “agree” audible: the agreement has been spoken between them.
symphōnos: Harmonious, in accord
σύμφωνος
The same sound-root describes being in accord, illuminating the shared terms the owner points back to.
ἀδικέω
adikeō
GROWS FROM
δικ
dik-
Right, justice, what is due
The Greek verb ἀδικέω (adikeō, “do wrong”) belongs to the δικ (dik-) family of justice and right order. The owner frames the question as whether he has put the exchange out of alignment by withholding what was promised.
ALSO GROWS
adikia: Injustice, wrongdoing
ἀδικία
This branch names the disorder the owner denies: the agreed payment has not been withheld.
dikaios: Just, right
δίκαιος
This branch shows the family’s positive side: the question is whether the exchange remains aligned with what was agreed.
THE PATTERN
What is due by agreement and what is freely given are different measures.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.THE THREAD
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.Both verses use συμφωνέω (symphōneō, “agree”), the verb built on the idea of voices sounding together. In this verse, that shared voice sets the wage; in Matthew 18, it joins two people in a request.
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