Matthew 24:45

The Faithful and Wise Slave

24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, ¹  whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves ²  their food at the proper time?

Matthew 25:14-30

The Parable of the Talents

25:14 “For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves ³  and entrusted his property to them. 25:15 To ⁴  one he gave five talents, ⁵  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 ⁶  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 ⁷  a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. 25:20 The ⁸  one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, ⁹  you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 25:21 His master answered, ¹⁰  ‘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 ¹¹  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 ¹²  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, ¹³  ‘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, ¹⁴  and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! ¹⁵  25:28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. ¹⁶  25:29 For the one who has will be given more, ¹⁷  and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ¹⁸  25:30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Luke 19:12-17

19:12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman ¹⁹  went to a distant country to receive ²⁰  for himself a kingdom and then return. ²¹  19:13 And he summoned ten of his slaves, ²²  gave them ten minas, ²³  and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 19:14 But his citizens ²⁴  hated ²⁵  him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man ²⁶  to be king ²⁷  over us!’ 19:15 When ²⁸  he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned ²⁹  these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted ³⁰  to know how much they had earned ³¹  by trading. 19:16 So ³²  the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, ³³  your mina ³⁴  has made ten minas more.’ 19:17 And the king ³⁵  said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful ³⁶  in a very small matter, you will have authority ³⁷  over ten cities.’

[24:45]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[24:45]  ² tn Grk “give them.”

[25:14]  ³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[25:15]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:15]  ⁵ sn A talent was equal to 6000 denarii. See the note on this term in 18:24.

[25:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “traded with them.”

[25:19]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:20]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:20]  ⁹ tn Grk Or “Lord; or “Master” (and so throughout this paragraph).

[25:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “His master said to him.”

[25:22]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:25]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:26]  ¹³ tn Grk “But answering, his master said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:27]  ¹⁴ tn For the translation “deposited my money with the bankers,” see L&N 57.216.

[25:27]  ¹⁵ sn That is, “If you really feared me you should have done a minimum to get what I asked for.”

[25:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the ten talents.”

[25:29]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”

[25:29]  ¹⁸ 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.

[19:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “a man of noble birth” or “a man of noble status” (L&N 87.27).

[19:12]  ²⁰ sn Note that the receiving of the kingdom takes place in the far country. This suggests that those in the far country recognize and acknowledge the king when his own citizens did not want him as king (v. 14; cf. John 1:11-12).

[19:12]  ²¹ sn The background to this story about the nobleman who went…to receive for himself a kingdom had some parallels in the area’s recent history: Archelaus was appointed ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea in 4 b.c., but the people did not like him. Herod the Great also made a similar journey to Rome where he was crowned King of Judea in 40 b.c., although he was not able to claim his kingdom until 37 b.c.

[19:13]  ²² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[19:13]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn The imperfect is intense in this context, suggesting an ongoing attitude.

[19:14]  ²⁶ tn Grk “this one” (somewhat derogatory in this context).

[19:14]  ²⁷ tn Or “to rule.”

[19:15]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the royal summons.

[19:16]  ³³ tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.” (and so throughout this paragraph).

[19:16]  ³⁴ tn See the note on the word “minas” in v. 13.

[19:17]  ³⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ³⁶ tn See Luke 16:10.

[19:17]  ³⁷ 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.