Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

WAGES

Any form of economic compensation received in exchange for labor or the performance of a service. Such compensation might include shelter and provisions along with additional remuneration either in kind or some object of value. Thus, Jacob was to receive a portion of Laban’s flocks in exchange for his shepherding services (Gen. 30:31-33). The use of money, in the form of coinage, did not emerge in the Palestinian economy before the Persian period, and even then was not widespread until the Hellenistic period. Prior to that time wages might be received in weighed amounts of useful or precious metals, such as bronze or silver.

The emergence of wage laborers within an economy requires sufficient agricultural progress to free people from the necessity of directly meeting their own subsistence needs. However, a considerable portion of the wage labor population in biblical times continued to work in the agricultural sector, providing such services as farm labor (Matt. 20:1-6; Luke 15:17) and shepherding (John 10:12). Other wage earners include fishing crews (Mark 1:20), mercenary soldiers (2 Sam. 10:6; Luke 3:14), construction craftsmen (2 Chr. 24:12), priests (Judg. 18:4; Mic. 3:11), prophets and seers (Deut. 23:4[MT 5]; 1 Sam. 9:6-9), wet nurses (Exod. 2:9), and prostitutes (Gen. 38:16-17; Mic. 1:7).

The level of compensation a wage earner received was a matter of negotiation, and was often subject to manipulation by either party to the agreement (Gen. 30:31-43; 31:41; Matt. 20:1-16). A typical wage for a day laborer in Palestine during the 1st century c.e. is generally taken to be about one denarius (Matt. 20:2; cf. Rev. 6:6 where the severity of the famine is illustrated by the exorbitant prices). Since such laborers were dependent upon their wages for their subsistence, the Mosaic law stipulated that laborers were to receive their wages daily (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15). The prophets denounced those who paid an insufficient wage or failed to pay their workers in a timely matter — some withholding the wages altogether (Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5; cf. Jas. 5:4).

The Hebrew (śāḵār, pĕʿūllâ) and Greek (misthós) words for “wages” are often used metaphorically to refer to both God’s positive and negative responses to human conduct, and so translated into English in certain contexts as either “reward” or “recompense” respectively (e.g., Isa. 40:10). God is said to provide wages for those who perform some work on God’s behalf (judgment, Ezek. 29:18-19; spreading the gospel, 1 Cor. 3:8-9), and children are sometimes seen as the currency of God’s reward (Gen. 30:18; Ps. 127:3; Jer. 31:15-16). The image of wages as divine judgment is perhaps most clearly seen in Paul’s assertion that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The language of “wages” or “reward of unrighteousness” is also used in the NT somewhat more literally of material gain from sinful conduct (Acts 1:18; Titus 1:11; 2 Pet. 2:3).

Timothy B. Cargal

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

WAGES

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)