This parable is often titled Parable of the Talents. Are you a productive kingdom citizen?
This parable is not about your own gifts and talents, whether, for example, you are a good singer or gymnast. Instead, the parable challenges us to do the will of the Father in his Son’s kingdom.
More colloquially, keep busy or occupy until he comes.
For those, however, who want to exercise their skills and talents, here are verses that teach God will endow you with skills and creative and practical gifts:
2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. 6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you: (Ex. 31:2-5)
But the parable is not about skills and gifts to create. I simply quote those verses to encourage you in another area of your life.
Now let’s get back to the parable.
But before we begin the exegesis …..
Quick definition of a parable:
Literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah) and means “alongside” and bolē (pronounced boh-lay) which means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a new truth. […] The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable.
For more information on what a parable is and its purposes, click on this link:
The translation is mine. If you would like to see other translations, click here:
If you don’t read Greek, ignore the left column.
I often quote scholars in print because I learn many things from them. They form a community of teachers I respect (1 Cor. 12:28), though I don’t agree with everything they write. But they do ensure I do not go astray. There is safety in numbers (for me at least).
Now let’s begin.
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Parable of the Bags of Gold (Matt. 25:14-30) |
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| 14 Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀποδημῶν ἐκάλεσεν τοὺς ἰδίους δούλους καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ, 15 καὶ ᾧ μὲν ἔδωκεν πέντε τάλαντα, ᾧ δὲ δύο, ᾧ δὲ ἕν, ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν,
καὶ ἀπεδήμησεν. εὐθέως 16 πορευθεὶς ὁ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα λαβὼν ἠργάσατο ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐκέρδησεν ἄλλα πέντε· 17 ὡσαύτως ὁ τὰ δύο ἐκέρδησεν ἄλλα δύο. 18 ὁ δὲ τὸ ἓν λαβὼν ἀπελθὼν ὤρυξεν γῆν καὶ ἔκρυψεν τὸ ἀργύριον τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ. 19 Μετὰ δὲ πολὺν χρόνον ἔρχεται ὁ κύριος τῶν δούλων ἐκείνων καὶ συναίρει λόγον μετ’ αὐτῶν. 20 καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα λαβὼν προσήνεγκεν ἄλλα πέντε τάλαντα λέγων· κύριε, πέντε τάλαντά μοι παρέδωκας· ἴδε ἄλλα πέντε τάλαντα ἐκέρδησα. 21 ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ· εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ, ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου. 22 Προσελθὼν [δὲ] καὶ ὁ τὰ δύο τάλαντα εἶπεν· κύριε, δύο τάλαντά μοι παρέδωκας· ἴδε ἄλλα δύο τάλαντα ἐκέρδησα. 23 ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ· εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ, ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου. 24 Προσελθὼν δὲ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἓν τάλαντον εἰληφὼς εἶπεν· κύριε, ἔγνων σε ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ ἄνθρωπος, θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας, 25 καὶ φοβηθεὶς ἀπελθὼν ἔκρυψα τὸ τάλαντόν σου ἐν τῇ γῇ· ἴδε ἔχεις τὸ σόν. 26 Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· πονηρὲ δοῦλε καὶ ὀκνηρέ, ᾔδεις ὅτι θερίζω ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρα καὶ συνάγω ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισα; 27 ἔδει σε οὖν βαλεῖν τὰ ἀργύριά μου τοῖς τραπεζίταις, καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐγὼ ἐκομισάμην ἂν τὸ ἐμὸν σὺν τόκῳ. 28 ἄρατε οὖν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τὸ τάλαντον καὶ δότε τῷ ἔχοντι τὰ δέκα τάλαντα· 29 Τῷ γὰρ ἔχοντι παντὶ δοθήσεται καὶ περισσευθήσεται, τοῦ δὲ μὴ ἔχοντος καὶ ὃ ἔχει ἀρθήσεται ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ. 30 καὶ τὸν ἀχρεῖον δοῦλον ἐκβάλετε εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. |
14 “For it is like a man, who, before going on a journey, has called his own servants and entrusted to them his possessions. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to one servant two, and to one servant one, to each one according to his own ability.
And he went on his journey. Immediately 16 the one who received five talents went and did business with them and earned five others. 17 Likewise, the one with two earned two others. 18 But the one receiving one went out and dug up the ground and buried his master’s money. 19 After a long time, the master of those servants settled accounts with them. 20 And the one receiving five talents approached and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted me with five talents. Look! I have earned five other talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Excellent, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over little; I will set you over many things. Go into the joy of your master. 22 The one having two talents also approached and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. Look! I earned two other talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Excellent, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over little; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 But the one who had received one talent approached and said, ‘Master, I know you: that you were a harsh man, harvesting where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter. 25 And because I was fearful, I went out and buried your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.’ 26 But in reply, his master said to him, ‘Wicked and lazy servant! Did you know that I harvest where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Therefore, you should have placed my money with the bankers, and after returning I might recover what is mine with interest! 28 ‘Therefore, take from him the talent and give to the one who has ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has it will be given and he will abound, but from the one who does not have, even what he ‘has’ will be taken from him. 30 Further, throw the useless servant into outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” |
I chose Matthew’s version because it is slightly fuller.
Here is Luke’s version:
Luke 19 (scroll down to vv. 12-27)
Quick introduction
The whole context begins with 24:36, about the parousia (Second Coming). Jesus is continuing his teaching about it. There will be no sign of his Second Coming, other than the moral climate as it was before the flood came during the time of Noah. Now he is about to teach us to be productive while we wait for the parousia, which will come at a day or hour when we don’t expect it. It is imminent.
Again: What Does ‘Parousia’ Mean?
In Matthew’s Gospel, parousia = Second Coming or visitation or arrival
In the above pericope, we find this sequence:
Parousia → Judgment → Kingdom Age
Recall that the parousia means the Second Coming or the Return. The master of the household leaves and then returns after a long delay. He settles the accounts (judgment). The two productive servants enter into the joy of the master, which is the New Kingdom or Messianic Age. The unproductive servant is taken away to punishment.
Master or Lord = the Messiah
Servants = Followers of the Messiah, true or fake
Now let’s take things verse by verse.
14:
“It is like”: The grammatical subject is not clear, so I wrote “it.” However, the setting is similar to the one in 24:45-51, the Parable of the Faithful and Unfaithful Servants, which is about servants in the household. So the context is the time just before the parousia, just as we saw in the Parable of the Ten Maidens. The implied subject is the kingdom of God, but near the close (synteleia) of the age. The language speaks of final judgment (vv. 21, 22, 30).
“going on a journey”: this is merely an element of the story, but it also speaks of the Lord’s ascension, as he is now in heaven. He is waiting for the Father’s signal to come back at his parousia or arrival or visitation, when he is about to settle accounts and launch the final judgment (vv. 31-46).
“entrusted”: it can be translated “handed over.” The idea is a motion from him to them. Here in this context, it is an important word because the master / lord gave them an assignment. What would they do with it? Succeed or fail? Can he trust them?
Now let’s deal with a little of the cultural background—master and servants.
“master”: it is the noun kurios (pronounced koo-ree-oss), and it typically means Lord, as in the Lord Jesus Christ or lord or master or even sir in some contexts. Here it means both: Jesus is the master who returns, and he is the Lord. When Jesus appears on the scene at his return, he changes the title manager to servant. All of us in leadership are manager-servants. We are not the boss. He alone is the boss.
“servant”: The word servants here is doulos (pronounced doo-loss) and could be translated as slave, but I chose servants (the Greek is plural douloi, pronounced doo-loi) because in Jewish culture a Hebrew man who sold himself into servitude to his fellow Jew was like an indentured servant whose term of service had a limit; he was freed in the seventh year. But then the indentured servant could stay with his family, if he liked his owner (Exod. 21:2-6; Lev. 25:38-46; Deut. 15:12-18). So there was a lot of liberty even in servitude, in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
Slavery and Freedom in the Bible
15:
Jesus furthers the story along, and we learn there are three servants: the one with the most ability or capacity gets five talents. The one with medium capacity or ability gets two. Now what about the third servant? Did the Lord see that he should get at least one talent, in hopes that the servant would not be fearful and hide it? Did the master / lord put his faith in him, so that he would respond and be productive? If so, the servant disappointed him. It’s sad, because the master / lord sized up each servant and gave him the money according to his own ability or capacity.
Entrusting these talents means that we are to go about kingdom business. This element in the story is that we are not called to calculate the sign when he would return in his full glory, but to be productive.
Some are fearful of surrendering to the King and his kingdom because he might call them to be obscure missionaries and send them to faraway places. However, if they do not have the capacity to be one of them, then God won’t send them (or give them the wrong number of talents). He knows more clearly than they do how they are made and what their abilities and capacities are!
BDAG is a thick Greek lexicon, and the editors write of the talent:
The value […]
[…] differed considerably in various times and places, but was always comparatively high; it varied also with the metal involved, which might be gold, silver, or copper. In our literature only in Mt. 18:24; 25:15-28. In 18:24, at six thousand drachmas or denarii to the Tyrian talent, a day laborer would need to work 60,000,000 days to pay off the debt. Even assuming an extraordinary payback rate of 10 talents per year, the staggering amount would ensure imprisonment for at least 1,000 years. The amounts distributed in 25:15-28 are not small change, either (p. 988, slightly edited).
Here in v. 15, the distribution of the amounts indicates that servants / slaves had a lot of power in wealthy households.
In any case, as already noted, the Parable of the Talents is not about a kingdom citizen’s personal talents, like singing or playing football or practicing medicine or teaching in the public schools; instead, the parable is about doing kingdom business. However, if it so happens that you can do kingdom business by doing those activities for the Lord, because that is your calling—and only because it is God’s call on your life—then you can expand the meaning to include your personal talent and calling. Just remember that in the historical context a talent was a huge amount of silver.
16-18:
He immediately set off to earn money for his lord / master. This is an enthusiastic disciple. This must be what the master had seen in him before his journey. An enthusiastic employee–to put it in modern commercial terms—is a benefit to the business for which he works. An enthusiastic disciple catches the Lord’s attention. This disciple was willing to take big risks, as I have heard it said from a pastor of long ago that faith is spelled R-I-S-K. You have to be willing to take risks to work in the kingdom, but please realize that this servant-disciple had the capacity or ability to succeed. Don’t be a church planter, for example, if you are a teacher.
And now the individual capacity or ability of each servant is revealed. In the first two servants, they doubled the master’s / lord’s money. The point is not a modern investment strategy, but being effective and productive in kingdom business, all the way to the parousia.
By the way, the word money comes from the Greek noun silver.
19:
“after a long time” this indicates that the parousia or Second Coming will not have clear signs or time markers; this stands in contrast to the end of the temple in 24:4-35, which has all sorts of time markers and was completed in this (Jesus’s) generation. The parousia will take a long time to come, and it did not happen in Jesus’s generation; it is open-ended.
So what is Matthew 24 all about then? Click here:
Matthew 24:4-35 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
And here:
Matthew 24:36 to 25:46–From Second Coming to New Messianic Age
The master / lord (really the Son of Man, King Jesus) went away and entrusted the three servants with his own talents, and now he expects to settle the account books. This speaks of final judgment, right after his parousia or return or visitation or Second Coming that will last forever. They are about to be welcome into the Messianic age and enjoy his presence forever.
Remember, the entire context 24:36 to 25:46 is about the parousia (Second Coming). This long passage should not get complicated by imposing on it or inserted into it foreign ideas about a separate rapture or a literal thousand-year reign of Christ, which is a concept found only in Revelation 20, the most symbolic book in the Bible. Be careful about inserting a thousand-year reign into this streamlined parable. Just take this parable as written and in its textual context, and then it will be clear and can be interpreted simply. No complications.
20-23:
The first two servants render their account, and they place down on the table (so to speak) a total of ten talents. The word excellent can be translated also as well done. Faithful can also be translated as trustworthy. The master / lord welcomes this servant into his joy, another indication that we are observing the final judgment of all of us, right after the parousia or the master / lord’s return. He also receives the commission to be placed over or set over or appointed over many things. This appointment is a hint that we will have other things to do when we are in the Messianic Age. The second servant places four talents on the table, and he too receives the “well done” or “excellent” commendation. He too is welcomed into the joy of his master lord and is given responsibilities over many things. We will have much to do in the Messianic Age, but we don’t know the details.
“You don’t ‘retire’ from being a disciple. If so large a sum as five talents is a ‘few things,’ the ‘many things which follow will be a huge responsibility indeed” (France pp. 954-55). We won’t sit on clouds playing harps, feeling nothing but lazy pleasure. We will have more responsibilities in the Messianic Age, after the parousia or Second Coming.
24-25:
For the record, all the commentaries I use, below, agree that burying treasure was not the wrong way to go, because the economy could be untrustworthy, and putting valuables in the bank could be risky. However, this servant had the wrong attitude, and he should have followed the enthusiasm of the first servant. Instead, he comes across as arrogantly misjudging his master and his whole mission and so the servant became fearful and lazy. As noted in many churches nowadays, “faith” is spelled R-I-S-K.
Yes, this servant is presumptuous. He claimed that he knew his lord / master. He sized up his lord and concluded that he was a harsh and hard man and didn’t want to do anything to benefit him. He harvested (grain) where he did not sow (seed) and gathered (grain) where he did not scatter (seed). In other words, the Lord was orchestrating the worldwide harvest, and his management and delegating and commissioning workers for the harvest (Matt. 9:37-38) made him seem like he was out of touch. So the servant was frightened. This is the wrong kind of fear. It was irrational. No one needs to be scared of the Lord. We should trust him that he is good. After all, he rewarded the first two servants according to their good works and productivity. So the servant placed down on the table the one talent of silver. Did it still have a residue of dirt on it? Did he reach over and brush off some of the dirt? Or did he take it out of a dirty bag?
26-27:
The lord / master called him out accurately. The servant really was wicked and lazy. The master asked him a question: Did you know I harvested where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? In other words, you don’t have the right perspective. I’m the landowner who can hire people to do the daily work. I was in charge of the whole operation. I have the ultimate responsibility. I am demanding, but the work is serious and eternal. You should have at least placed the one talent with the bankers, so I can receive the money back with interest. Maybe the money-lenders who would have taken your money might have lost it—or not. But risk is at the heart of discipleship. And burying your one talent is not a risk.
“‘Wicked and lazy servant! Did you know that I harvest where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter?”: This could be an assertion, rather than a question: “Wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter!”
I like Keener’s expanded paraphrase of the master’s words: “On the assumption that I am hard and merciless, you should have been all the more diligent!” (p. 601, emphasis original).
28-30:
Now it is time for his punishment. It was deserved. The one talent was to be taken from him and given to the one with ten. He gets a bonus for being extra-productive. True, he doubled his money, and so did the servant with two talents, but the one who had received five had a larger capacity and ability, so he got the biggest reward. And he would get an abundance of reward in the Messianic Age. The one who has the most shall get more because he was faithful over many things. He will get a bigger commission in the Messianic Age. It is a startling feature of the story that the one who earned five talents still has his ten, plus one more talent—eleven in total. The money had been returned to him for future trading. Success breeds more success, and failure is compounded. However, the one who has nothing shall be deprived of what he “has” or thinks he has.
There is thus a fundamental division between good and bad disciples, between the saved and the lost, and the language of ultimate judgment is deployed again to warn the reader to take the parable’s message seriously. What ultimately condemned this disciple, and made him unready to meet his Lord at the parousia was the fact that he had proved to be ‘useless’ for the kingdom of heaven. Like the man ejected from the wedding feast in 22:13, his performance had not matched his profession, and it is only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven (12:50) who ultimately belong to his kingdom (France pp. 956-57).
“outer darkness”: So where is it? Some see it as a spiritual dimension, but away from God so far that his light does not reach it, so that place is dark. Others see it as far outside the joy of the master in the New Age. Note that v. 46, below, talks about fire. Therefore, others ask: how can the lake of fire, which produces light, coexist with farthest or outer darkness? They cannot. Some interpreters conclude that punishment in the afterlife takes on different dimensions: fire in one place, and darkness in another.
Note 2 Peter 2:17, about false teachers:
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. (2 Peter 2:17)
Still another interpretation is possible, as follows.
“weeping and gnashing”: In their comments at 8:12, Keener says that weeping means mourning over damnation, and gnashing of teeth may indicate anger or a strong emotion similar to it. Carson says weeping may indicate suffering, and gnashing indicates despair, and Osborne agrees. In any case, existence in punishment is unhappy and produces despair and even anger. Perhaps the gnashing can also mean cursing in anger. (See these verses for gnashing: Acts 7:54; Job 16:9; Pss. 34:16; 36:12; 112:10; Lam. 2:16). Since weeping indicates remorse, it is not quite accurate to claim that hell is locked from the inside as if people want to be there, though maybe only the enraged do want to be there.
Please read a three-part series:
1. Hell and Punishment: Eternal, Conscious Torment
2. Hell and Punishment: Terminal Punishment
3. Hell and Punishment: Universalism
“that place”: The Greek says ekei, which means “there” or “that place.” Unfortunately most translation don’t pick up on the ambiguity of their translations: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Here it is more awkwardly but accurate: “The weeping and the gnashing will be there.” The standard translation (“there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth)” makes “there” into the wrong kind of adverb, or at least it is not clear in English. The clearer translation is as I have it.
One more point about theology in this parable. Different rewards at final judgment after the parousia (Second Coming) will be distributed to us, according to our ability or capacity. The one who got a reward for two talents was still welcome into the kingdom to share in his master’s joy. He doubled the money, 100%. He will be given charge over many things. In comparison, the one who was entrusted with five talents in the first place also earned double—100%—got to keep his ten talents, plus one more, to earn more money. He will receive an even greater responsibility in the New Age.
I heard this analogy of how this judgment will work out. You can take it or leave it.
I have no musical ability. My ability or capacity is shriveled. I may be able to expand my ability with more training and more risk-taking in music, but if I don’t take the risk or get trained, then my capacity remains small. In contrast, a man like Mozart or Beethoven had a massive capacity or ability in music. So he can enjoy music much more than I can. He spent his entire life expanding his talent. I may receive a fraction of a talent from the Lord at the start of my life, while those two receive many talents. But if I am faithful with my small talent and turn it over to the bankers with interest, then I can at least get a little reward. If those two great musicians use their talent to get more, then their reward in the Messianic New Age will be greater, because they had a huge capacity to begin with and enlarged it. In the New Age Jesus will usher in, I won’t be jealous because I can’t feel what Mozart or Beethoven are feeling. I’ll be happy with my small reward because my soul shall receive it and be none the wiser about what is going on in their lives.
On the other side, if I am a useless disciple in his kingdom when I meet the Lord, I may be thrown out and cast into outer darkness. I am not a true disciple but a false one. This speaks of a massive deception in my life. It is best to remain humble and productive for the king. No one wants to hear a negative judgment delivered by God himself.
You can take the illustration as you will.
GrowApp for Matt. 25:14-30
A.. This parable is about being productive for the kingdom, as we wait for the Second Coming. What do you do for the kingdom?
B.. How do you discern what his mission is for you, so you can hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” on his return?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
For the bibliography of this post, click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 