Matthew 20:12

These = That these. Greek. hoti, putting their words between quotation marks. See note on Luke 23:43 .

have wrought but one hour = made one hour. A Hebraism. Compare Ruth 2:19 , "Where wroughtest thou to-day? "(Hebrew. 'anah 'asitha). So, in the sense of making or spending time (Acts 15:33 ; Acts 18:23 . 2 Corinthians 11:25 ); used for continuing, as suggested in Authorized Version margin. But it is the same word rendered "made" in the next clause.

made them = done to them.

heat = scorching heat.