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 ¹  and entrusted his property to them. 25:15 To ²  one he gave five talents, ³  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 ⁴  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 ⁵  a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. 25:20 The ⁶  one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, ⁷  you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 25:21 His master answered, ⁸  ‘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 ⁹  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 ¹⁰  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, ¹¹  ‘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, ¹²  and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! ¹³  25:28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. ¹⁴  25:29 For the one who has will be given more, ¹⁵  and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ¹⁶  25:30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Luke 19:12-26

19:12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman ¹⁷  went to a distant country to receive ¹⁸  for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹⁹  19:13 And he summoned ten of his slaves, ²⁰  gave them ten minas, ²¹  and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 19:14 But his citizens ²²  hated ²³  him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man ²⁴  to be king ²⁵  over us!’ 19:15 When ²⁶  he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned ²⁷  these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted ²⁸  to know how much they had earned ²⁹  by trading. 19:16 So ³⁰  the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, ³¹  your mina ³²  has made ten minas more.’ 19:17 And the king ³³  said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful ³⁴  in a very small matter, you will have authority ³⁵  over ten cities.’ 19:18 Then ³⁶  the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ 19:19 So ³⁷  the king ³⁸  said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 19:20 Then another ³⁹  slave ⁴⁰  came and said, ‘Sir, here is ⁴¹  your mina that I put away for safekeeping ⁴²  in a piece of cloth. ⁴³  19:21 For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe ⁴⁴  man. You withdraw ⁴⁵  what you did not deposit ⁴⁶  and reap what you did not sow.’ 19:22 The king ⁴⁷  said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, ⁴⁸  you wicked slave! ⁴⁹  So you knew, did you, that I was a severe ⁵⁰  man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow? 19:23 Why then didn’t you put ⁵¹  my money in the bank, ⁵²  so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?’ 19:24 And he said to his attendants, ⁵³  ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’ ⁵⁴  19:25 But ⁵⁵  they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!’ ⁵⁶  19:26 ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, ⁵⁷  but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ⁵⁸ 

Romans 12:6-8

12:6 And we have different gifts ⁵⁹  according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. 12:7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 12:8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ⁶⁰  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ⁶¹  – which is your reasonable service.

Romans 5:19

5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man ⁶²  many ⁶³  were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man ⁶⁴  many ⁶⁵  will be made righteous.

Romans 5:2

5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice ⁶⁶  in the hope of God’s glory.

Romans 1:6

1:6 You also are among them, ⁶⁷  called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁶⁸ 

Romans 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁶⁹  a slave ⁷⁰  of Christ Jesus, ⁷¹  called to be an apostle, ⁷²  set apart for the gospel of God. ⁷³ 

Romans 4:9-11

4:9 Is this blessedness ⁷⁴  then for ⁷⁵  the circumcision ⁷⁶  or also for ⁷⁷  the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ⁷⁸  4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ⁷⁹  so that he would become ⁸⁰  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ⁸¹  that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

[25:14]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[25:15]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:15]  ³ sn A talent was equal to 6000 denarii. See the note on this term in 18:24.

[25:16]  ⁴ tn Grk “traded with them.”

[25:19]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:20]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:20]  ⁷ tn Grk Or “Lord; or “Master” (and so throughout this paragraph).

[25:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “His master said to him.”

[25:22]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:25]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:26]  ¹¹ tn Grk “But answering, his master said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:27]  ¹² tn For the translation “deposited my money with the bankers,” see L&N 57.216.

[25:27]  ¹³ sn That is, “If you really feared me you should have done a minimum to get what I asked for.”

[25:28]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the ten talents.”

[25:29]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”

[25:29]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a man of noble birth” or “a man of noble status” (L&N 87.27).

[19:12]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[19:13]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn The imperfect is intense in this context, suggesting an ongoing attitude.

[19:14]  ²⁴ tn Grk “this one” (somewhat derogatory in this context).

[19:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “to rule.”

[19:15]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the royal summons.

[19:16]  ³¹ tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.” (and so throughout this paragraph).

[19:16]  ³² tn See the note on the word “minas” in v. 13.

[19:17]  ³³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ³⁴ tn See Luke 16:10.

[19:17]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[19:19]  ³⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the second slave’s report.

[19:19]  ³⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:20]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn The word “slave” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[19:20]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “behold.”

[19:20]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “exacting,” “harsh,” “hard.”

[19:21]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:22]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “out of your own mouth” (an idiom).

[19:22]  ⁴⁹ tn Note the contrast between this slave, described as “wicked,” and the slave in v. 17, described as “good.”

[19:22]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “exacting,” “harsh,” “hard.”

[19:23]  ⁵¹ tn That is, “If you really feared me why did you not do a minimum to get what I asked for?”

[19:23]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “the ten minas.”

[19:25]  ⁵⁵ 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]  ⁵⁶ 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]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”

[19:26]  ⁵⁸ 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).

[12:6]  ⁵⁹ tn This word comes from the same root as “grace” in the following clause; it means “things graciously given,” “grace-gifts.”

[12:1]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ⁶¹ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[5:19]  ⁶² sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[5:19]  ⁶³ tn Grk “the many.”

[5:19]  ⁶⁴ sn One man refers here to Jesus Christ.

[5:19]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “the many.”

[5:2]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “exult, boast.”

[1:6]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “among whom you also are called.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. The NIV, with its translation “And you also are among those who are called,” takes the phrase ἐν οἳς ἐστε to refer to the following clause rather than the preceding, so that the addressees of the letter (“you also”) are not connected with “all the Gentiles” mentioned at the end of v. 5. It is more likely, however, that the relative pronoun οἳς has τοῖς ἔθνεσιν as its antecedent, which would indicate that the church at Rome was predominantly Gentile.

[1:6]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “called of Jesus Christ.”

[1:1]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁷⁰ tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁷¹ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

[1:1]  ⁷² tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ⁷³ tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

[4:9]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “happiness.”

[4:9]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ⁷⁶ sn See the note on “circumcision” in 2:25.

[4:9]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ⁷⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[4:11]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”

[4:11]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.

[4:11]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”