20:9a

In 20:9 the foreman began to carry out his master’s orders. In some languages, it will be natural to begin this verse with a conjunction such as “So” or “Then.” In other languages, no conjunction is necessary here. You should connect 20:8 to 20:9 in a way that is natural in your language.

workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came: As in 20:6a, the phrase the eleventh hour refers to eleven hours after sunrise. It was about five o’clock in the afternoon. Translate the time here in the same way you did there.

These were the very last people hired. They had worked only about an hour before the workday was over. The verb came means that they responded to the foreman’s call and came to be paid.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

when those men hired about five o’clock came
-or-
Those who had started work an hour before sunset came forward (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Those who started working about 5 p.m. came (God’s Word)

20:9b

each: This word indicates that there was more than one worker. Each of the workers received the same wage.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

and each man (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

received a denarius: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as denarius also occurs in 20:2a. You should translate it the same way in both places. For example:

received one denarius

-or-

received one coin

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