What is the significance of the third, sixth, and ninth hours in Matthew 20:5? Canonical Context The parable of the workers (Matthew 20:1-16) is framed around five hiring moments: “early in the morning,” “about the third hour,” “about the sixth hour,” “about the ninth hour,” and “about the eleventh hour.” Matthew 20:5 records the middle three: “So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.” These clock-markers are not arbitrary. In first-century Judea daylight was divided into twelve equal “hours” beginning roughly at sunrise (about 6 a.m.). Thus the third, sixth, and ninth hours fall at about 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 3 p.m., respectively. Each moment already carried theological weight in Jewish worship, and Jesus binds that existing symbolism to His teaching on grace. --- Jewish Timekeeping and Daily Temple Sacrifices 1. Morning Tamid (continual) burnt offering • Slaughtered just after dawn; offered near the third hour (Mishnah, Tamid 3.2; Josephus, Antiquities 14.65). 2. Evening Tamid • Prepared near the ninth hour (Tamid 4.1; Philo, Special Laws I.169). Daily incense, Levite psalms, and set prayers synchronized with those sacrifices. By the first century these three points—third, sixth, and ninth hours—were accepted gatherings for public prayer (cf. Psalm 55:17; Daniel 6:10). --- Third Hour (≈ 9 a.m.) • Temple worship: crescendo of the morning offering; shofar blast announced access to God. • Acts 2:15 notes that Pentecost’s Spirit-outpouring was “the third hour of the day,” embedding this moment in the birth of the Church. • Mark 15:25: “It was the third hour when they crucified Him” . The Lamb of God is lifted up exactly when the morning lamb is consumed—fulfilling typology and underlining atonement. In the parable, inviting workers at the third hour hints that divine calling occurs precisely where sacrifice and Spirit converge. --- Sixth Hour (≈ 12 p.m.) • Noon marked the zenith of the sun, symbolizing revelation and exposure. Rabbinic sources (b. Berakhot 26b) mention a noon prayer (“minḥah gedolah”). • John 4:6: Jesus reveals Himself to the Samaritan woman at “about the sixth hour,” foreshadowing Gentile inclusion—a theme of the parable’s equal wage. • Mark 15:33: “When it was the sixth hour, darkness fell over all the land until the ninth hour” . Cosmological upheaval signals judgment borne by Christ. By adding a hiring at the sixth hour, Jesus signals that grace is offered even while darkness gathers—highlighting God’s impartiality toward those who arrive mid-story. --- Ninth Hour (≈ 3 p.m.) • Evening Tamid, daily incense, and priestly blessing climax here. • Acts 3:1: “Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer—the ninth hour.” The healing that follows demonstrates continued divine activity. • Acts 10:3, 30: Cornelius receives angelic vision “at the ninth hour,” expanding the gospel to Gentiles. • Mark 15:34: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out… ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ … and Jesus breathed His last.” Redemption is sealed precisely when the second lamb dies. In the parable this hiring underscores that, even as the day wanes, God still pursues laborers; no one is too late while daylight remains (John 9:4). --- Foreshadowing of the Passion of Christ Matthew intentionally aligns the parable’s timestamps with the Passion narrative: • Third hour—crucifixion begins; • Sixth hour—cosmic darkness; • Ninth hour—Christ’s death. Thus the equal wage (eternal life) flows from the completed work at those very hours. The parable is not merely economic illustration but a salvation-history calendar that points straight to Calvary. --- Liturgical Echoes in Early Church Prayer The Didache 8.3 (c. A.D. 50-70) instructs believers to pray thrice daily—patterns traceable to these same hours. Early fathers (Tertullian, On Prayer 25) linked the hours to Christ’s crucifixion timeline, reinforcing corporate remembrance. The parable therefore supplies the theological spine for the Church’s rhythm of prayer: grace recalled at the very hours grace was won. --- Prophetic Rhythm of Salvation History Many commentators see the hires as eras: • Dawn—patriarchs; • Third hour—Law and prophets; • Sixth hour—first-century Jews; • Ninth hour—Gentile mission; • Eleventh hour—last-days ingathering. The succession shows God’s patience (2 Peter 3:9) and His sovereign right to dispense mercy equally (Romans 9:15-16). The specific hours root that sweep in Israel’s liturgical clock, proving that the church’s story fulfills—not replaces—Old Testament expectation. --- Practical Pastoral Application 1. Assurance: Whether called early or late, believers receive the same “denarius”—eternal life—because reward is grounded in Christ’s finished sacrifice, not human duration of service. 2. Urgency: Daylight has a terminus (cf. Matthew 20:12; John 9:4); procrastination risks exclusion. 3. Humility: Early workers must rejoice, not grumble, at latecomers’ blessing—mirroring heaven’s joy over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). --- Summary The third, sixth, and ninth hours in Matthew 20:5 are loaded with sacrificial, prophetic, and eschatological significance. They: • mirror the schedule of daily Temple offerings; • align precisely with the milestones of Jesus’ crucifixion; • frame the Church’s historic cycle of prayer; • illustrate God’s patient, all-inclusive call across salvation history; • guarantee equal, unfathomable grace grounded in Christ’s atoning work. Far from incidental, these hours function as inspired time-stamps that stitch together Old Covenant ritual, the Passion, and the believer’s daily walk, showcasing a sovereign Author who orchestrates history to maximize His own glory. |
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