What Does Matthew 20:14 Mean?
Lift up what is yours, and go your way. I will give this last one the same as you.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.THE KEY
The person at the far edge of the line receives from the same open hand, and their place does not diminish what is yours.
THE MEANING
What is yours remains yours even as another receives the same measure. The verse holds the giver’s freedom alongside the agreed payment: the last person’s place in line does not set a lesser measure of generosity.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A person’s share must be greater if they have worked longer or stand higher in the line.
THE ROOT
τῷ ἐσχάτῳ
tō eschatō
GROWS FROM
ἐσχατ-
eschat-
Last, farthest, at the outermost point.
“last” in this verse is tō eschatō. The Greek word places this person at the end of the line, but the ending does not make them lesser in the giver’s eyes. The verse holds the farthest position and the same measure of giving together.
ALSO GROWS
eschaton: The last or ultimate thing.
ἔσχατον
The same word family can describe the end of a sequence, echoing the worker who arrives at the end of the day.
ta eschata: The ends or farthest parts.
τὰ ἔσχατα
This form carries the image of what lies at the outermost reach, like the person at the end of the line.
δοῦναι
dounai
GROWS FROM
δο-/δω- (do-/dō-)
To give or grant.
The verse frames the payment through the giver’s act: “I will give.” Even with an agreed wage, the last person’s position does not determine a smaller measure.
ALSO GROWS
dosis: Giving or a gift.
δόσις
It keeps the focus on the act of giving, which the verse places in the speaker’s hands.
doma: A gift or present.
δόμα
This related word makes visible the giving within the payment, without erasing the agreement that precedes it.
THE PATTERN
The giver’s generosity does not measure a person’s worth by rank, appearance, or standing.
So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are picked out.But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.For there is no drawing apart between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich toward all who call upon him.THE THREAD
So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are picked out.“The last” here and “the last” in verse 16 share the Greek root ἐσχατ- (eschat-), meaning last or farthest. Verse 16 turns the line itself around: position at the end does not define a person’s standing with the giver.
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