Luke 19:13-26

19:13 And he summoned ten of his slaves, ¹  gave them ten minas, ²  and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 19:14 But his citizens ³  hated ⁴  him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man ⁵  to be king ⁶  over us!’ 19:15 When ⁷  he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned ⁸  these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted ⁹  to know how much they had earned ¹⁰  by trading. 19:16 So ¹¹  the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, ¹²  your mina ¹³  has made ten minas more.’ 19:17 And the king ¹⁴  said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful ¹⁵  in a very small matter, you will have authority ¹⁶  over ten cities.’ 19:18 Then ¹⁷  the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ 19:19 So ¹⁸  the king ¹⁹  said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 19:20 Then another ²⁰  slave ²¹  came and said, ‘Sir, here is ²²  your mina that I put away for safekeeping ²³  in a piece of cloth. ²⁴  19:21 For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe ²⁵  man. You withdraw ²⁶  what you did not deposit ²⁷  and reap what you did not sow.’ 19:22 The king ²⁸  said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, ²⁹  you wicked slave! ³⁰  So you knew, did you, that I was a severe ³¹  man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow? 19:23 Why then didn’t you put ³²  my money in the bank, ³³  so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?’ 19:24 And he said to his attendants, ³⁴  ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’ ³⁵  19:25 But ³⁶  they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!’ ³⁷  19:26 ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, ³⁸  but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁹ 

Luke 19:1

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19:1 Jesus ⁴⁰  entered Jericho ⁴¹  and was passing through it.

Luke 1:14-16

1:14 Joy and gladness will come ⁴²  to you, and many will rejoice at ⁴³  his birth, ⁴⁴  1:15 for he will be great in the sight of ⁴⁵  the Lord. He ⁴⁶  must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. ⁴⁷  1:16 He ⁴⁸  will turn ⁴⁹  many of the people ⁵⁰  of Israel to the Lord their God.

Job 1:21

1:21 He said, “Naked ⁵¹  I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. ⁵²  The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. ⁵³  May the name of the Lord ⁵⁴  be blessed!”

Ezekiel 16:16-21

16:16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. ⁵⁵  16:17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution ⁵⁶  with them. 16:18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them. 16:19 As for my food that I gave you – the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you – you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the sovereign Lord.

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ⁵⁷  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. ⁵⁸ 

Hosea 2:8

Agricultural Fertility Withdrawn from Israel

2:8 Yet ⁵⁹  until now ⁶⁰  she has refused to acknowledge ⁶¹  that I ⁶²  was the one

who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;

and that it was I who ⁶³  lavished on her the silver and gold –

which they ⁶⁴  used in worshiping Baal! ⁶⁵ 

Matthew 25:14-29

The Parable of the Talents

25:14 “For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves ⁶⁶  and entrusted his property to them. 25:15 To ⁶⁷  one he gave five talents, ⁶⁸  to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 25:16 The one who had received five talents went off right away and put his money to work ⁶⁹  and gained five more. 25:17 In the same way, the one who had two gained two more. 25:18 But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money in it. 25:19 After ⁷⁰  a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. 25:20 The ⁷¹  one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, ⁷²  you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 25:21 His master answered, ⁷³  ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 25:22 The ⁷⁴  one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’ 25:23 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 25:24 Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, 25:25 so ⁷⁵  I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 25:26 But his master answered, ⁷⁶  ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? 25:27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, ⁷⁷  and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! ⁷⁸  25:28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. ⁷⁹  25:29 For the one who has will be given more, ⁸⁰  and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ⁸¹ 

[19:13]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[19:13]  ² sn That is, one for each. A mina was a Greek monetary unit worth one hundred denarii or about four months’ wages for an average worker based on a six-day work week.

[19:14]  ³ tn Or “subjects.” Technically these people were not his subjects yet, but would be upon his return. They were citizens of his country who opposed his appointment as their king; later the newly-appointed king will refer to them as his “enemies” (v. 27).

[19:14]  ⁴ tn The imperfect is intense in this context, suggesting an ongoing attitude.

[19:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “this one” (somewhat derogatory in this context).

[19:14]  ⁶ tn Or “to rule.”

[19:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “And it happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[19:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “he said for these slaves to be called to him.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one and simplified to “he summoned.”

[19:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “in order that he might know” (a continuation of the preceding sentence). Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he” as subject and the verb “wanted” to convey the idea of purpose.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ sn The Greek verb earned refers to profit from engaging in commerce and trade (L&N 57.195). This is an examination of stewardship.

[19:16]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the royal summons.

[19:16]  ¹² tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.” (and so throughout this paragraph).

[19:16]  ¹³ tn See the note on the word “minas” in v. 13.

[19:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ¹⁵ tn See Luke 16:10.

[19:17]  ¹⁶ sn The faithful slave received expanded responsibility (authority over ten cities) as a result of his faithfulness; this in turn is an exhortation to faithfulness for the reader.

[19:18]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[19:19]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the second slave’s report.

[19:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:20]  ²⁰ sn Though ten were given minas, the story stops to focus on the one who did nothing with the opportunity given to him. Here is the parable’s warning about the one who does not trust the master. This figure is called “another,” marking him out as different than the first two.

[19:20]  ²¹ tn The word “slave” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[19:20]  ²² tn Grk “behold.”

[19:20]  ²³ tn Or “that I stored away.” L&N 85.53 defines ἀπόκειμαι (apokeimai) here as “to put something away for safekeeping – ‘to store, to put away in a safe place.’”

[19:20]  ²⁴ tn The piece of cloth, called a σουδάριον (soudarion), could have been a towel, napkin, handkerchief, or face cloth (L&N 6.159).

[19:21]  ²⁵ tn Or “exacting,” “harsh,” “hard.”

[19:21]  ²⁶ tn Grk “man, taking out.” The Greek word can refer to withdrawing money from a bank (L&N 57.218), and in this context of financial accountability that is the most probable meaning. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “you” as subject and translating the participle αἴρεις (airei") as a finite verb.

[19:21]  ²⁷ tn The Greek verb τίθημι (tiqhmi) can be used of depositing money with a banker to earn interest (L&N 57.217). In effect the slave charges that the master takes what he has not earned.

[19:22]  ²⁸ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:22]  ²⁹ tn Grk “out of your own mouth” (an idiom).

[19:22]  ³⁰ tn Note the contrast between this slave, described as “wicked,” and the slave in v. 17, described as “good.”

[19:22]  ³¹ tn Or “exacting,” “harsh,” “hard.”

[19:23]  ³² tn That is, “If you really feared me why did you not do a minimum to get what I asked for?”

[19:23]  ³³ tn Grk “on the table”; the idiom refers to a place where money is kept or managed, or credit is established, thus “bank” (L&N 57.215).

[19:24]  ³⁴ tn Grk “to those standing by,” but in this context involving an audience before the king to give an accounting, these would not be casual bystanders but courtiers or attendants.

[19:24]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the ten minas.”

[19:25]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context. Those watching the evaluation are shocked, as the one with the most gets even more. The word “already” is supplied at the end of the statement to indicate this surprise and shock.

[19:25]  ³⁷ tc A few mss (D W 69 pc and a few versional witnesses) omit this verse either to harmonize it with Matt 25:28-29 or to keep the king’s speech seamless.

[19:26]  ³⁸ tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”

[19:26]  ³⁹ sn The one who has nothing has even what he seems to have taken away from him, ending up with no reward at all (see also Luke 8:18). The exact force of this is left ambiguous, but there is no comfort here for those who are pictured by the third slave as being totally unmoved by the master. Though not an outright enemy, there is no relationship to the master either. Three groups are represented in the parable: the faithful of various sorts (vv. 16, 18); the unfaithful who associate with Jesus but do not trust him (v. 21); and the enemies (v. 27).

[19:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “And entering, he passed through”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:1]  ⁴¹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[1:14]  ⁴² tn Grk “This will be joy and gladness.”

[1:14]  ⁴³ tn Or “because of.”

[1:14]  ⁴⁴ tn “At his birth” is more precise as the grammatical subject (1:58), though “at his coming” is a possible force, since it is his mission, as the following verses note, that will really bring joy.

[1:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “before.”

[1:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and he”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.

[1:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “even from his mother’s womb.” While this idiom may be understood to refer to the point of birth (“even from his birth”), Luke 1:41 suggests that here it should be understood to refer to a time before birth.

[1:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:16]  ⁴⁹ sn The word translated will turn is a good summary term for repentance and denotes John’s call to a change of direction (Luke 3:1-14).

[1:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “sons”; but clearly this is a generic reference to people of both genders.

[1:21]  ⁵¹ tn The adjective “naked” is functioning here as an adverbial accusative of state, explicative of the state of the subject. While it does include the literal sense of nakedness at birth, Job is also using it symbolically to mean “without possessions.”

[1:21]  ⁵² sn While the first half of the couplet is to be taken literally as referring to his coming into this life, this second part must be interpreted only generally to refer to his departure from this life. It is parallel to 1 Tim 6:7, “For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either.”

[1:21]  ⁵³ tn The two verbs are simple perfects. (1) They can be given the nuance of gnomic imperfect, expressing what the sovereign God always does. This is the approach taken in the present translation. Alternatively (2) they could be referring specifically to Job’s own experience: “Yahweh gave [definite past, referring to his coming into this good life] and Yahweh has taken away” [present perfect, referring to his great losses]. Many English versions follow the second alternative.

[1:21]  ⁵⁴ sn Some commentators are troubled by the appearance of the word “Yahweh” on the lips of Job, assuming that the narrator inserted his own name for God into the story-telling. Such thinking is based on the assumption that Yahweh was only a national god of Israel, unknown to anyone else in the ancient world. But here is a clear indication that a non-Israelite, Job, knew and believed in Yahweh.

[16:16]  ⁵⁵ tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.

[16:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).

[16:20]  ⁵⁷ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[16:21]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.

[2:8]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “For” (so KJV, NASB); or “But” (so NCV).

[2:8]  ⁶⁰ tn The phrase “until now” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[2:8]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “she does not know” (so NASB, NCV); or “she does not acknowledge.”

[2:8]  ⁶² tn The 1st person common singular independent personal pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) is emphatic, since the subject of this verbal clause is already explicit in the verb נָתַתִּי (natatti, Qal perfect 1st person common singular: “I gave”).

[2:8]  ⁶³ tn The phrase “that it was I who” does not appear in the Hebrew text here, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[2:8]  ⁶⁴ sn The third person plural here is an obvious reference to the Israelites who had been unfaithful to the Lord in spite of all that he had done for them. To maintain the imagery of Israel as the prostitute, a third person feminine singular would be called for; in the interest of literary consistency this has been supplied in some English translations (e.g., NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[2:8]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “for Baal” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); cf. TEV “in the worship of Baal.”

[25:14]  ⁶⁶ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[25:15]  ⁶⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:15]  ⁶⁸ sn A talent was equal to 6000 denarii. See the note on this term in 18:24.

[25:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “traded with them.”

[25:19]  ⁷⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:20]  ⁷¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:20]  ⁷² tn Grk Or “Lord; or “Master” (and so throughout this paragraph).

[25:21]  ⁷³ tn Grk “His master said to him.”

[25:22]  ⁷⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:25]  ⁷⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:26]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “But answering, his master said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:27]  ⁷⁷ tn For the translation “deposited my money with the bankers,” see L&N 57.216.

[25:27]  ⁷⁸ sn That is, “If you really feared me you should have done a minimum to get what I asked for.”

[25:28]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “the ten talents.”

[25:29]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”

[25:29]  ⁸¹ sn The one who has nothing has even what he seems to have taken from him, ending up with no reward at all (see also Luke 8:18). The exact force of this is left ambiguous, but there is no comfort here for those who are pictured by the third slave as being totally unmoved by the master. Though not an outright enemy, there is no relationship to the master either.