Matthew 20:2 - Exposition

When he had agreed with the labourers. With those first hired he makes a special agreement for the pay of the day's work; with the others he acts differently. For a penny a day ( ἐκ ηηναρι ì ου τηραν ). The denarius (always translated "a penny" in our version) was a silver coin about equal in value to the French franc, but of course in its buying capacities worth in those days a great deal more. We learn from Tacitus ('Annal.,' 1.17) that it was the usual pay of a Roman soldier. It was equivalent to the Greek drachma, which Tobit (5:14) offered to Azarias as daily wages. Our rendering of "a penny" conveys a very erroneous impression to unlearned hearers, both in this passage and in other places where it occurs.