Friday in Easter Week
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Read the Bible
Revised Standard Version
Matthew 20:16
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedParallel Translations
“So the last will be first, and the first last.”
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many bee called, but fewe chosen.
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
So the last will be first, and the first last."
"So the last shall be first, and the first, last."
"So those who are last now will someday be first, and those who are first now will someday be last."
"So those who are last [in this world] shall be first [in the world to come], and those who are first, last."
So the last shalbe first, and the first last: for many are called, but fewe chosen.
"So the last shall be first, and the first last."
So the last shall be first, and the first last."
So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Jesus then said, "So it is. Everyone who is now first will be last, and everyone who is last will be first."
Thus the last ones will be first and the first last."
Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called ones, but few chosen ones.
"So those who are last now will be first in the future. And those who are first now will be last in the future."
Even so the last shall be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen.
And Jesus concluded, "So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last."
Thus the last will be first and the first last."
So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few chosen.
So the last shall be first, and the first last.
So the last will be first, and the first last.
So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen."
In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last. For many are called, but few are chosen."For many are called, but few are chosen">[fn]Matthew 19:30; 22:14;">[xr]
Thus the last shall be first, and the first last; for many are the called, but few the chosen.
Thus the last shall be first, and the first last: for the called are many, but the chosen are few.
So the last, shalbe the first, & the first [shalbe] last: For many be called, but fewe [be] chosen.
So the last shall be first, and the first last.
So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen."
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen.
"So the last shall be first, and the first last."
So the laste schulen be the firste, and the firste the laste; `for many ben clepid, but fewe ben chosun.
So the last shall be first, and the first last.
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen.
So the last will be first, and the first last."
So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen." [fn]
"So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last."
So those who are last will be first and the first will be last."
So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Thus, shall be - The last first, and the first last.
So shall the last be first and the first last. For many are called but few chosen.
Soo the laste shalbe fyrste and the fyrste shalbe laste. For many are called and feawe be chosen.
So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, and few chosen.'
So the last shalbe the first, & the first the last. For many are called, but few are chosen.
thus the last shall be first, and the first last: for though many are invited, few have precedence.
"Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."
"The last to ride with me will be the first to enter the gate and the first will enter last."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the last: Matthew 8:11, Matthew 8:12, Matthew 19:30, Matthew 21:31, Mark 10:31, Luke 7:47, Luke 13:28-30, Luke 15:7, Luke 17:17, Luke 17:18, John 12:19-22, Romans 5:20, Romans 9:30
for: Matthew 7:13, Matthew 22:14, Luke 14:24, Romans 8:30, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:14, James 1:23-25
Reciprocal: Numbers 4:48 - General Judges 7:3 - twenty Esther 2:4 - let the maiden Isaiah 48:12 - my called Jeremiah 38:7 - Ethiopian Ezekiel 48:1 - Dan Matthew 7:14 - and few Mark 15:43 - and went Luke 7:39 - would Luke 12:32 - little Luke 13:23 - are Luke 13:30 - General Luke 23:43 - To day John 4:30 - General Acts 8:6 - with one Acts 17:34 - certain Romans 10:20 - I was made Romans 16:13 - chosen 2 Timothy 4:11 - for
Cross-References
But God came to Abim'elech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man's wife."
Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this."
Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
So Abim'elech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told them all these things; and the men were very much afraid.
Then Abim'elech called Abraham, and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done."
and said to the servant, "Who is the man yonder, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself.
So Abim'elech warned all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death."
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.
Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
So the last shall be first, and the first last,.... As he had asserted in Matthew 19:30 and which is clearly illustrated by this parable, as it may be applied to Jews or Gentiles, or to nominal and real Christians:
for many be called; externally, under the ministration of the Gospel, as the Jews in general were, by Christ and his apostles; but
few chosen; in Christ from all eternity, both to grace and glory; and in consequence, and as an evidence of it, but few among the Jews; as also in the Gentile world, comparatively speaking: and even but a few of those that are outwardly called, are inwardly and effectually called by the powerful grace of God, out of darkness into marvellous light, into the grace and liberty of the Gospel, into communion with Christ, and to the obtaining his kingdom and glory, according to the eternal purpose of God. It is a saying of R. Simeon ben Jochai d
"I have seen the children of the world to come (elsewhere e it is, of the chamber), ××× ×××¢×××, "and they are few".''
Though he vainly thought, that if those few were but two, they were himself and his son.
d T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 13. 4. e T. Bab. Succa, fol. 45. 2. & Sanhedrim, fol. 97. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
So the last shall be first ... - This is the moral or scope of the parable. âTo teach this it was spoken.â Many that, in the order of time, are brought last into the kingdom, shall be first in the rewards. Higher proportionate rewards shall be given to them than to others. âTo all justice shall be done.â To all to whom the rewards of heaven are promised they shall be given. Nothing shall be withheld that was promised. If, among this number who are called into the kingdom, I choose to raise some to stations of distinguished usefulness, and to confer on them special talents and higher rewards, I injure no other one. They shall enter heaven, as was promised. If, amid the multitude of Christians, I choose to signalize such men as Paul, and Martyn, and Brainerd, and Spencer, and Summerfield - to appoint some of them to short labor but to wide usefulness, and raise them to signal rewards, I injure not the great multitude of others who live long lives less useful and less rewarded. All shall reach heaven, and all shall receive what I promise to the faithful.
Many be called, but few chosen - The meaning of this, in this connection, I take to be simply this: âMany are called into my kingdom; they come and labor as I command them; many of them are comparatively unknown and obscure; yet they are real Christians, and shall all receive the proper reward. A few I have chosen for higher stations in the church. I have endowed them with apostolic gifts or with superior talents, and suited them for wider usefulness. They may not be as long in the vineyard as others; their race may be sooner run; but I have chosen to honor them in this manner, and I have a right to do it. I injure no one, and have a right to do what I will with my own.â Thus explained, this parable has no reference to the call of the Gentiles, nor to the call of aged sinners, nor to the call of sinners out of the church at all. It is simply designed to teach that in the church, among the multitudes who will be saved, Christ makes a difference. He makes some more useful than others, without regard to the time which they serve, and he will reward them accordingly. The parable teaches one truth, and but one; and where Jesus has explained it, we have no right to add to it, and say that it teaches anything else. It adds to the reason for this interpretation, that Christ was conversing about the rewards that should be given to his followers, and not about the numbers that should be called, or about the doctrine of election. See Matthew 19:27-29.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Matthew 20:16. So the last shall be first, and the first last — The GENTILES, who have been long without the true God, shall now enjoy all the privileges of the new covenant; and the Jews, who have enjoyed these from the beginning, shall now be dispossessed of them; for, because they here rejected the Lord, he also hath rejected them.
Many are called, c.] This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. Bishop PEARCE thinks it is an interpolation from Matthew 22:14. The simple meaning seems to be: As those who did not come at the invitation of the householder to work in the vineyard did not receive the denarius, or wages, so those who do not obey the call of the Gospel, and believe in Christ Jesus, shall not inherit eternal life.
This place seems to refer to the ancient Roman custom of recruiting their armies. Among this celebrated people, no one was forced to serve his country in a military capacity and it was the highest honour to be deemed worthy of thus serving it. The youth were instructed, almost from their cradle, in military exercises. The Campus Martius was the grand field in which they were disciplined: there, they accustomed themselves to leaping, running, wrestling, bearing burdens, fencing, throwing the javelin, c., and when, through these violent exercises, they were all besmeared with dust and sweat, in order to refresh themselves, they swam twice or thrice across the Tyber! Rome might at any time have recruited her armies by volunteers from such a mass of well-educated, hardy soldiers but she thought proper, to use the words of the Abbe Mably, that the honour of being chosen to serve in the wars should be the reward of the accomplishments shown by the citizens in the Campus Martius, that the soldier should have a reputation to save; and that the regard paid him, in choosing him to serve, should be the pledge of his fidelity and zeal to discharge his duty. The age of serving in the army was from seventeen to forty-five, and the manner in which they were chosen was the following: -
After the creation of consuls, they every year named twenty-four military tribunes, part of whom must have served five years at least, and the rest eleven. When they had divided among them the command of the four legions to be formed, the consuls summoned to the capitol, or Campus Martius, all the citizens who, by their age, were obliged to bear arms. They drew up by tribes, and lots were drawn to determine in what order every tribe should present its soldiers. That which was the first in order chose the four citizens who were judged the most proper to serve in the war; and the six tribunes who commanded the first legion chose one of these four, whom they liked best. The tribunes of the second and third likewise made their choice one after another; and he that remained entered into the fourth legion. A new tribe presented other four soldiers, and the second legion chose first. The third and fourth legions had the same advantage in their turns. In this manner, each tribe successively chose four soldiers, till the legions were complete. They next proceeded to the creation of subaltern officers, whom the tribunes chose from among the soldiers of the greatest reputation. When the legions were thus completed, the citizens who had been called, but not chosen, returned to their respective employments, and served their country in other capacities. None can suppose that these were deemed useless, or that, because not now chosen to serve their country in the field, they were proscribed from the rights and privileges of citizens, much less destroyed, because others were found better qualified to serve their country at the post of honour and danger. Thus many are called by the preaching of the Gospel, but few are found who use their advantages in such a way as to become extensively useful in the Church-and many in the Church militant behave so ill as never to be admitted into the Church triumphant. But what a mercy that those who appear now to be rejected may be called in another muster, enrolled, serve in the field, or work in the vineyard? How many millions does the long-suffering of God lead to repentance!
