the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Hire
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or HIRE.—‘Hire’ (μισθός) occurs in two passages as the regular payment given for service rendered. In the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:8) it is spoken of the day’s wage, the denarius, owing by agreement to the workers. The proverbial phrase, ‘The labourer is worthy of his hire’ (Luke 10:7), is used by Christ in connexion with the mission of the Seventy. In Matthew 10:10 τροφή, ‘food,’ is substituted for μισθός. The latter Greek word occurs again (John 4:36) as the wages of the reaper. It is used in a good sense as the reward of devotion and service to God (Matthew 5:12; Matthew 6:1; Matthew 10:41, Mark 9:41, Luke 6:23), as well as to describe the ‘empty popularity’ attaching to the religious ostentation of the hypocrites (Matthew 6:2; Matthew 6:5; Matthew 6:16). It is employed (Revelation 22:12) of Christ’s reward to His faithful followers: ‘My reward is with me.’
The term ‘hired servant’ or ‘hireling’ (μισθωτός) is used in speaking of Zebcdee’s servants (Mark 1:20), and of the false shepherd who deserts his flock at the approach of danger (John 10:12-13). A similar derivative (μίσθιος) describes the father’s servants in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:19). The verb ‘to hire’ (μισθόω) occurs (Matthew 20:1) of the householder who engaged the labourers for his vineyard. See also next article.
C. H. Prichard.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Hire'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/h/hire.html. 1906-1918.
