What Does Matthew 20:4 Mean in the King James?
And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
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 word translated “right” shares a Greek root with “alignment”: the promised wage is measured by what is just, even though its amount is not named.
THE MEANING
You are invited into work whose return is not named in advance. The giver promises that what is given will be just; the measure remains unseen, but the standard is spoken. Uncertainty and assurance stand together in the verse.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that fairness exists only when the amount is settled first: here, the promise is of just giving, though the amount is not named.
THE ROOT
δίκαιον
dikaion
GROWS FROM
δικ-
dik-
just, right, fitting
The verse says the giver will give what is δίκαιον (dikaion), what is just or fitting, rather than naming a sum. This word belongs to the same family as alignment and setting right, so the promise carries a quality of right order beyond the amount.
ALSO GROWS
dikaiosynē: alignment
δικαιοσύνη
This related word names a state of right order, showing that “right” belongs to a family concerned with alignment.
dikaioō: justify, declare right
δικαιόω
This related verb describes recognizing someone as right or just, extending the root from what is fitting to the act of setting something in right standing.
THE PATTERN
A promised outcome can precede its visible measure and still set movement in motion.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.THE THREAD
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.Matthew’s “right” (δίκαιον, dikaion, just or fitting) shares the δικ- root with “righteousness” here (δικαιοσύνη, dikaiosynē, alignment) and “just” (δίκαιος, dikaios, just). The shared root opens “whatsoever is right” as part of the language of alignment, not merely a question of amount.
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