Matthew 20:3. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market place.
The place for trading was often at the gates of walled cities. See note on 2 Kings 7:1 (#339). Here, also, laborers went to seek employment, and employers went to seek laborers. Sometimes, in Oriental cities, a large public square is used for similar purposes. Morier says: “The most conspicuous building in Hamadan is the Mesjid Jumah, a large mosque now falling into decay, and before it a maiden or square, which serves as a market-place. Here we observed every morning, before the sun rose, that a numerous body of peasants were collected with spades in their hands, waiting, as they informed us, to be hired for the day to work in the surrounding fields” (Second Journey through Persia, p. 265).