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Feb 7, 2022 · The cliché might originate from the Bible, specifically Matthew 20:9: “And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour they received every man a denarius.”. The passage is a ...
- Bryan Dugan
The idiom “eleventh hour” is often used to describe a situation where something happens at the last minute or just before it’s too late. However, there are some common mistakes that people make when using this phrase. Mistake. Correction. Using “11th hour” instead of “eleventh hour”.
The landowner hires some workers at dawn (~6am), hires some more in the third hour (~8-9am), hires some more in the sixth hour (~11am-noon), some more in the ninth hour (~2-3pm), and some more in the eleventh hour (~4-5pm) right before dusk. But at sunset he pays all the workers, even those who were hired in the eleventh hour, the same wage.
Origin: The idiom 'Eleventh hour' originates from the Bible, specifically the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard found in the book of Matthew. The parable describes laborers hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour workday who receive the same payment as those hired earlier, emphasizing that it's never too late to make a significant impact.
Thus, the literal eleventh hour would be 1700. The origin of the expression is from the Bible Matthew 20:1 to 16, which features the parable of the vineyard workers. Most of the workers started work at 0600 at the agreed daily rate of one penny. Other workers were hired at the third, sixth and ninth hour i.e. at 0900, 1200 and 1500 respectively ...
Eleventh Hour : Phrases. Meaning: The latest possible time. Example: The student handed in his take-home exam at the eleventh hour . Origin: This early 1800s phrase alludes to the parable of the labourers (Matthew 20:1-16), in which those workers hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour working day were paid the same amount as those who ...
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Sep 25, 2022 · Workers in the Roman Empire started work at 6 am (sunrise) and finished at 6 pm. This is a 12-hour workday, and the eleventh hour is the last hour. The Bible passage Matthew 20:9 also refers to this concept. It reads: "And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour they received every man a denarius."