The Rich Young Man and the Boundary of Distributive Justice: An Economics Reading of Matthew 20:1–16

Abstract

This article proposes a novel way of resolving many of the challenges posed by traditional interpretations of the Matthean parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (20:1–16) through a lens of economics. It argues that most interpretational challenges go away if we interpret the parable, not eschatologically or allegorically, but as a gloss on Jesus’s injunction to the rich young man to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor (Matt 19:21). The article then offers an interpretation of the equal wage paid to all laborers that requires neither eschatology nor radical communalism by considering a set of conditions that must be satisfied by the boundary of distributive justice.

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