μισθ-όω G3409
to hire, engage workers for wages or rent property for payment
The act of entering into a labor or rental agreement for payment. Both New Testament occurrences appear in Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1, 7), where a landowner goes out at different hours to hire laborers. The verb emphasizes the commercial transaction—labor exchanged for an agreed wage—which becomes the framework for Jesus' teaching about God's generosity and the kingdom's surprising economics.
Senses
1. sense 1 — To engage laborers for wages, contract for services. The parable context in Matthew 20 shows the landowner actively seeking and hiring workers throughout the day. Cross-linguistic glosses emphasize the contractual nature: Spanish 'contratar' (to contract), French 'louer' (to rent/hire), German 'Lohn' (wage). The verb carries commercial precision—this is not volunteering but wage labor, making Jesus' equal payment to all workers theologically provocative. 2×
AR["استَأجَرَ", "لِيَستَأجِرَ"]·ben["ভাড়া-করতে", "ভাড়া-করল"]·DE["Lohn"]·EN["hired", "to-hire"]·FR["louer"]·heb["לִשְׂכֹר", "שָׂכַר"]·HI["मजदोओरि-पर-लगअने", "लगय"]·ID["menyewa"]·IT["emisthosato", "misthosasthai"]·jav["nyewa"]·KO["고용하려고", "고용하지-않았다"]·PT["contratar", "contratou."]·RU["нанять", "не-нанял."]·ES["a-contratar", "nos-contrató"]·SW["Anawaambia", "kuajiri"]·TR["kiralamadı", "kiralamak-için"]·urd["مزدوری-پر-لگانا", "مزدوری-پر-لگایا"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)H1288 1. Piel: bless, invoke blessing (227×)H7650 1. swear, take an oath (Niphal) (154×)H3789 1. Qal passive participle: written, recorded (112×)H1984b 1. praise, laud (Piel) (111×)H7592 1. ask, inquire, question (96×)H3034 1. give thanks, praise (Hifil) (94×)G1321 1. teach, instruct actively (92×)H3789 2. Qal active: write, compose (89×)G1125 1. to write, compose (a letter or document) (84×)H5046 2. Hifil: to declare, proclaim (79×)H7892a 1. song, musical composition (78×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
μισθ-όω, let out for hire, farm out, in present and imperfect, offer to let, τινί τι Refs 5th c.BC+; μισθοῖ αὑτὸν Ὀλυνθίοις offers his services for pay to them, Refs, compare 149; ἑαυτὸν ἐπί τι for a purpose, Refs 5th c.BC+infinitive, μ. τὸν νηὸν τριηκοσίων ταλάντων ἐξεργάσασθαι farm out the building of it for Refs 5th c.BC+ __II middle, future μισθώσομαι Refs 5th c.BC+aorist ἐμισθωσάμην: perfect…