20:10a–c

So … But … : In 20:10, something unexpected happens. The first workers expected to receive more than the last workers, but they did not.

In some languages, it will be natural to indicate this unexpected event with a word or phrase at the beginning of 20:10. The Berean Standard Bible has done this with the conjunction So.

In other languages, it will be natural to indicate this unexpected event only at the beginning of 20:10c. For example:

aWhen the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, bthey thought they would be paid more than the others. cBut each one of them also received one coin. (New Century Version)

20:10a

the original workers came: In Greek, this clause is more literally “when the first ones came.” The word original is not in Greek.

This clause refers to the men who were the first ones to start working. They started early in the morning. They had worked for twelve hours at the agreed wage of one denarius.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

When the men who started to work first came
-or-
When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay (New Century Version)

20:10b

they assumed: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as assumed indicates that these men expected or assumed something. For example:

they expected (New International Version)
-or-
they thought (English Standard Version)

they would receive more: This phrase means that these men thought that they would receive more money than the last workers. It is true that at the beginning of the day, they had agreed to work for a denarius. But men who worked only part of a day got one denarius. So these men thought that it was only fair that they would receive more than one denarius.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

that they would receive more ⌊money⌋ ⌊than the other workers⌋
-or-
they would be given more than the others (Contemporary English Version)

20:10c

But: In 20:10c, something unexpected happens. The Berean Standard Bible introduces this unexpected event with the conjunction But.

Here is another way to introduce this unexpected event:

However

each of them also received a denarius: If possible, translate this whole clause so that it is a surprising result. For example:

even they received a denarius

-or-

they also received only one denarius

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