Hire
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
HIRE. —‘Hire’ (μισθός) occurs in two passages as the regular payment given for service rendered. In the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard ( Matthew 20:8) it is spoken of the day’s wage, the denarius, owing by agreement to the workers. The proverbial phrase, ‘The labourer is worthy of his hire’ ( Luke 10:7), is used by Christ in connexion with the mission of the Seventy. In Matthew 10:10 τροφή, ‘food,’ is substituted for μισθός. The latter Greek word occurs again ( John 4:36) as the wages of the reaper. It is used in a good sense as the reward of devotion and service to God ( Matthew 5:12; Matthew 6:1; Matthew 10:41, Mark 9:41, Luke 6:23), as well as to describe the ‘empty popularity’ attaching to the religious ostentation of the hypocrites ( Matthew 6:2; Matthew 6:5; Matthew 6:16). It is employed ( Revelation 22:12) of Christ’s reward to His faithful followers: ‘My reward is with me.’
The term ‘hired servant’ or ‘hireling’ (μισθωτός) is used in speaking of Zebcdee’s servants ( Mark 1:20), and of the false shepherd who deserts his flock at the approach of danger ( John 10:12-13). A similar derivative (μίσθιος) describes the father’s servants in the parable of the Prodigal Son ( Luke 15:19). The verb ‘to hire’ (μισθόω) occurs ( Matthew 20:1) of the householder who engaged the labourers for his vineyard. See also next article.
C. H. Prichard.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( n.) To grant the temporary use of, for compensation; to engage to give the service of, for a price; to let; to lease; - now usually with out, and often reflexively; as, he has hired out his horse, or his time.
(2): ( n.) To procure (any chattel or estate) from another person, for temporary use, for a compensation or equivalent; to purchase the use or enjoyment of for a limited time; as, to hire a farm for a year; to hire money.
(3): ( n.) A bailment by which the use of a thing, or the services and labor of a person, are contracted for at a certain price or reward.
(4): ( n.) The price, reward, or compensation paid, or contracted to be paid, for the temporary use of a thing or a place, for personal service, or for labor; wages; rent; pay.
(5): ( n.) To engage or purchase the service, labor, or interest of (any one) for a specific purpose, by payment of wages; as, to hire a servant, an agent, or an advocate.
(6): ( pron.) See Here, pron.
King James Dictionary [3]
HIRE,
1. To procure from another person and for temporary use, at a certain price, or for a stipulated or reasonable equivalent as, to hire a farm for a year to hire a horse for a day to hire money at legal interest. 2. To engage in service for a stipulated reward to contract with for a compensation as, to hire a servant for a year to hire laborers by the day or month. 3. To bribe to engage in immoral or illegal service for a reward.
To hire out one's self, to let to engage one's service to another for a reward.
They have hired out themselves for bread. 1 Samuel 2
To hire, or to hire out, to let to lease to grant the temporary use of a thing for a compensation. He has hired out his house or his farm.
HIRE, n.
1. The price, reward or compensation paid or contracted to be given for the temporary use of any thing. 2. Wages the reward or recompense paid for personal service.
The laborer is worthy of his hire. Luke 10 .
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]
hı̄r : Two entirely different words are translated "hire" in the Old Testament:
(1) The most frequent one is שׂכר , sākhār , verb שׂכר , sākhar , and verbal adjective שׂכיר , sākhı̄r ̌ . ( a ) As a verb it means "to hire" for a wage, either money or something else; in this sense it is used with regard to ordinary laborers ( 1 Samuel 2:5; 2 Chronicles 24:12 ), or mercenary soldiers ( 2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Kings 7:6; 1 Chronicles 19:6; 2 Chronicles 25:6 ), or a goldsmith ( Isaiah 46:6 ), or a band of loose followers ( Judges 9:4 ), or a false priest ( Judges 18:4 ), or Balaam ( Deuteronomy 23:4; Nehemiah 13:2 ), or hostile counselors ( Ezra 4:5 ), or false prophets ( Nehemiah 6:12 f). As a verbal adjective it refers to things ( Exodus 22:15; Isaiah 7:20 )or men ( Leviticus 19:13; Jeremiah 46:21 ). (b) As a noun it denotes the wage in money, or something else, paid to workmen for their services ( Genesis 30:32 f; Genesis 31:8; Deuteronomy 24:15; 1 Kings 5:6; Zechariah 8:10 ), or the rent or hire paid for a thing ( Exodus 22:15 ), or a work-beast ( Zechariah 8:10 ). In Genesis 30:16 Leah hires from Rachel the privilege of having Jacob with her again, and her conception and the subsequent birth of a son, she calls her hire or wage from the Lord for the gift of her slave girl to Jacob as a concubine ( Genesis 30:18 ).
(2) The other word translated hire is אתנן , 'ethnān , once אתנן , 'ethnan ̌ . It is rather a gift (from root נתן , nāthan , "to give") than a wage earned by labor, and is used uniformly in a bad sense. It is the gift made to a harlot ( Deuteronomy 23:18 ), or, reversing the usual custom, made by the harlot nation ( Ezekiel 16:31 , Ezekiel 16:41 ). It was also used metaphorically of the gifts made by Israelites to idols, since this was regarded as spiritual harlotry ( Isaiah 23:17 f; Micah 1:7; compare also Hosea 8:9 f).
In the English New Testament the word occurs once as a verb and 3 times as a noun as the translation of μισθός , misthós , and its verbal form. In Matthew 20:1 , Matthew 20:8 and James 5:4 it refers to the hiring of ordinary field laborers for a daily wage. In Luke 10:7 it signifies the stipend which is due the laborer in the spiritual work of the kingdom of God. It is a wage, earned by toil, as that of other laborers. The word is very significant here and absolutely negatives the idea, all too prevalent, that money received by the spiritual toiler is a gift. It is rather a wage, the reward of real toil.
