3409. misthoó

Lexical Summary

misthoó: To hire, to rent

Original Word: μισθόω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: misthoó
Pronunciation: mis-tho'-o
Phonetic Spelling: (mis-tho'-o)
KJV: hire
NASB: hire, hired
Word Origin: [from G3408 (μισθός - reward)]

1. to let out for wages
2. (middle voice) to hire

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

hire.

From misthos; to let out for wages, i.e. (middle voice) to hire -- hire.

see GREEK misthos

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from misthos
Definition
to let for hire, to hire
NASB Translation
hire (1), hired (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 3409: μισθόω

μισθόω: (μισθός); 1 aorist middle ἐμισθωσάμην; to let out for hire; to hire (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 38, 3): τινα, Matthew 20:1, 7. (Herodotus, Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plato, others; the Sept. for שָׂכַר, Deuteronomy 23:4; 2 Chronicles 24:12.)

Topical Lexicon

Strong’s Greek 3409 — misthoō

Usage in Scripture

The verb appears only in the Parable of the Vineyard Workers (Matthew 20:1, 7). There the landowner “went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard” and later the idle laborers explain, “Because no one has hired us.” The setting is the marketplace where day-laborers await employment; the action frames the entire parable, from first dawn to the eleventh hour, underscoring the sovereignty of the landowner in recruiting, deploying, and compensating his workforce.

Literary Context in Matthew 20

1. Opening Movement (Matthew 20:1–2) — The kingdom is likened to a vineyard owner who hires at dawn and agrees on “a denarius for the day.”
2. Progressive Hiring (20:3–7) — Additional groups are engaged at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours. The repetitive hiring magnifies divine initiative rather than human merit.
3. Evening Settlement (20:8–15) — Equal payment to all exposes the grumbling of the first-hired, revealing misplaced assumptions about entitlement.
4. Climactic Saying (20:16) — “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The motif of hiring culminates in a kingdom reversal that exalts grace.

Historical Background

• Daily Wage Economy — Day-labor was common in agrarian Judea; a denarius matched subsistence needs for one family unit. Workers depended on early hiring for survival; missing the window meant hardship.
• Marketplace Practice — Landowners themselves (or stewards) often negotiated wages in person, giving immediacy to Jesus’ imagery.
• Eleventh-Hour Workers — Late hiring was not laziness but lack of opportunity; they remained willing yet overlooked. The parable thus speaks to social marginalization as well as spiritual calling.

Theological Significance

1. Sovereign Grace — Hiring originates with the landowner; likewise entrance into the kingdom originates with God. The verb misthoō highlights divine initiative.
2. Equality of Reward — Uniform payment illustrates salvation as gift, not wage. While service varies, eternal life is imparted equally to every believer.
3. Reversal Ethic — Misthoō frames the paradox: those hired last receive first. God’s economy overturns human calculus of seniority and productivity.
4. Assurance for Late Responders — The eleventh-hour invitation assures that repentance, even late in life, secures full standing in the kingdom.

Pastoral Applications

• Guarding Against Envy — Ministry veterans must resist resentment toward new believers who share the same grace.
• Motivation for Evangelism — Repeated hiring trips exhort the church to pursue the unreached persistently throughout the “workday” of history.
• Valuing Every Laborer — All who heed the Master’s call, irrespective of tenure, deserve honor and just provision within the believing community.

Related Concepts

Misthos (reward, wage) — Romans 4:4; 1 Timothy 5:18.

Charis (grace) — Ephesians 2:8–9.

Kletos (calling) — Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:26.

See Also

Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14–15 — Mosaic commands on timely wages.

James 5:4 — Prophetic indictment of withheld pay, reflecting kingdom justice that the parable upholds.

Forms and Transliterations

εμισθούντο εμισθωσάμην εμισθώσαντο εμισθωσατο εμισθώσατο εμισθώσατό ἐμισθώσατο μεμίσθωμαι μεμίσθωται μισθούμενοι μισθωσάμενοι μισθωσασθαι μισθώσασθαι emisthosato emisthōsato emisthṓsato misthosasthai misthōsasthai misthṓsasthai

Englishman's Concordance

Matthew 20:1 V-ANM
GRK: ἅμα πρωὶ μισθώσασθαι ἐργάτας εἰς
NAS: in the morning to hire laborers
KJV: early in the morning to hire labourers
INT: in [the] morning to hire workmen for

Matthew 20:7 V-AIM-3S
GRK: οὐδεὶς ἡμᾶς ἐμισθώσατο λέγει αὐτοῖς
NAS: no one hired us.' He said
KJV: Because no man hath hired us. He saith
INT: no one us has hired He says to them

Strong's Greek 3409
2 Occurrences

ἐμισθώσατο — 1 Occ.
μισθώσασθαι — 1 Occ.