Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’
“He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow. Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.’
“They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv20, 23 Against them which spend their life idly in deliberating,…
Against them which spend their life idly in deliberating, and otherwise, in contemplation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–23 20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is…
20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
Ver. 20. See Mat 25:21-22, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–25 For I feared thee,.... Not with a right fear,…
For I feared thee,.... Not with a right fear, with a fear of his goodness, who had bestowed such an excellent gift on him; for this would have taught him to have departed from evil, and have put him on doing his master's will, and making use of his gift to his glory: his fear was not of the right kind, and was ill grounded, as appears by what follows:
because thou art an austere man; cruel and uncompassionate to his servants, and hard to be pleased; than which nothing is more false, since it is evident, that Christ is compassionate both to the bodies and souls of men; is a merciful high priest, and is one that has compassion on the ignorant, and them that are out of the way, and cannot but be touched with the feeling of his people's infirmities; and is mild and gentle in his whole deportment, and in all his administrations:
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thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow; suggesting, that he was covetous of that which did not belong to him, and withheld what was due to his servants, and rigorously exacted service that could not be performed; a most iniquitous charge, since none so liberal as he, giving gifts, grace and glory, freely; imposing no grievous commands on men; his yoke being easy, and his burden light; never sending a man to a warfare at his own charge; but always giving grace and strength proportionable to the service he calls to, and rewarding his servants in a most bountiful manner, infinitely beyond their deserts.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv23, 25 With interest - Which does not appear to be…
With interest - Which does not appear to be contrary to any law of God or man. But this is no plea for usury, that is, the taking such interest as implies any degree of oppression or extortion.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20, 23, 25 Verse 20. Lord, behold, here is thy pound] See…
Verse 20. Lord, behold, here is thy pound] See Mt 25:18.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv22, 24 Luk 19:22-23. And he saith, Out of thine own…
Luk 19:22-23. And he saith, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, &c. — When his lord heard him offer such a vile and groundless charge against him as an excuse for his own negligence, he was filled with indignation, and determined to punish him severely. Thou knewest that I was an austere man — This is not an acknowledgment of the vile and detestable charge of “God’s demanding of men,” as Dr. Guise observes, “more difficult services than he has furnished them for, and would assist them in,” which would be a most unrighteous thought of God; but the servant’s lord only argues with him on his own base principles, and shows, that even on them he would be justly condemned for his negligence. Wherefore then gavest thou not my money — If thou didst really believe me to be the rigorous person thou sayest I am, why didst thou not lend out my money on proper security, that I might have received mine own, συν τοκω, with interest; a method of improvement of thy talent which would have occasioned thee no trouble at all. Thy excuse, therefore, is a mere pretence. In like manner, all the excuses which wicked ministers, or slothful professors of Christianity, offer in their own behalf, shall, at the bar of God, stand them in no stead, whether they be drawn from the character which they affixed to God, or from his supposed decrees, or from their own inability, or from the difficulty of his service, or from any other consideration whatever. Negligent and useless ministers especially, may, in the fate of this slothful servant, see a picture of their own: for Christ, above all things, disapproves of a wicked, or even an indolent or unprofitable minister of his gospel. “This negligent and slothful servant,” says Quesnel, “ought to make all pastors and clergymen tremble, who imagine that they lead an innocent life if they do but avoid the grosser sins, and only lead an easy and quiet life in idleness and indolence. In a priest it is a great evil not to do any good. Not to use the gifts of God, is to abuse them. He loses them, who does not make them serviceable to the good of the church. Rest is a crime in one who is called to a laborious life; and we cannot live to ourselves alone, when we belong to the church.” “Let us reflect,” says Gregory, in his seventeenth homily on the gospel, “who were ever converted by our preaching; who, moved by our rebukes, have repented of their evil ways; who, through our teaching, have forsaken luxury, covetousness, pride. Let us reflect what gain we have made for God, who have been sent by him to labour, with the talents intrusted to us. For he saith, Occupy till I come. Behold, now he cometh, now he requires the profit of our labour. What gain of souls shall we be able to show him from our toils? What sheaves of souls shall we be able to present to him from the harvest of our preaching? Let us place before our eyes that day of so great strictness, in which the Judge will come and take an account of these servants, to whom he hath committed his talents! Lo, he will be seen in terrible majesty, amid the company of angels and archangels! Good and bad must be examined before him, and the works of each made manifest. There all the leaders of the Lord’s flock will appear with their gain of souls, won to the Lord by their preaching. And when so many pastors shall appear with their flocks before the eyes of their eternal Pastor — wretched men, what shall we say, who return empty to our Lord; who have borne the name of shepherds, and yet have no sheep to show! called pastors here, but without any flock there!”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 25 A napkin - A towel. He means by it…
A napkin - A towel. He means by it that he had not wasted it nor thrown it by carelessly, but had been “very careful” of it; so much so as to be at the pains to tie it up in a towel and put it in a safe place, as if he had been “very faithful” to his trust. So many people employ their talents, their learning, their property, their influence. They “have” them; they “keep” them; but they never “use” them in the service of the Lord Jesus; and, in regard to their influence on the church or the world, it would be the same if God had never conferred on them these talents.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv20, 25 20. Another came—Not all the servants, but specimen cases,…
20. Another came—Not all the servants, but specimen cases, are described as coming.
A napkin—The word in the original is the Greek of the Latin word sudarium, which is derived from the word sudor, sweat, as being used to wipe sweat from the face. We can hardly think, however, that our Lord aimed at the point which Trench specifies; that this lazy servant having no need of the linen to wipe off his sweat, used it to wrap up his pound. It was a handkerchief, which was appropriated to the purpose of concealing money.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–25 21. I feared thee] A sure sign that he…
21. I feared thee] A sure sign that he did not love him, 1Jn_4:18.
takest up that thou layedst not down] A typical description of injustice forbidden alike by Jewish and Greek laws (Jos. c. Ap. 11. 130).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 25 (20) Thy pound, which I have kept ., .—Literally,…
(20) Thy pound, which I have kept ., .—Literally, which I kept—i.e., all along. He had never made any effort at doing more.
Laid up in a napkin.—The smaller scale of the parable is shown in the contrast between this and the “hiding the talent in the earth,” in St. Matthew. The “napkin” (the Greek word is really Latin, sudarium) appears in Act_19:12 as “handkerchiefs.” Such articles were naturally, then as now, used for wrapping up and concealing money which the owner wished simply to hoard.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv20, 23 Vers. 20, 21. And another came, saying, Lord, behold,…
Vers. 20, 21. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man; thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. This is the third class into which the servants who knew their Lord"s will are roughly divided. We have, first, the devoted earnest toiler, whose whole soul was in his Master"s work great, indeed, was his reward. And, second, we have the servant who acquitted himself fairly respectably, but not nobly, not a hero in the struggle of life; he, too, is recompensed magnificently, far above his most ardent hopes, but still his reward is infinitely below that which the first brave toiler received at his Lord"s hands. The third falls altogether into a different catalogue. He is a believer who has not found the state of grace offered by Jesus so brilliant as he hoped; a legal Christian, who has not tasted grace, and knows nothing of the gospel but its severe morality. It seems to him that the Lord gives very little to exact so much. "Surely," such a one argues, "the Lord should be satisfied with us if we abstain from doing ill, from squandering our talent." The Master"s answer is singularly to the point: "The more thou knowest that I am austere, the more thou shouldest have tried to satisfy me!" The Christian who lacks the experience of grace ought to be the most anxious of workers. The punishment here is very different from that awarded to the enemies (ver. 27). We hear nothing of darkness and gnashing of teeth; it is simply deprivation. Still, even this modified penalty seems to tell of an eternity of regret and loss. Instead of the ten cities, or even the five, there is not even the poor pound left to the hapless condemned one, unworthy even to retain that little heritage.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv20, 24 20–23. Lord, here is thy pound. See notes on…
20–23. Lord, here is thy pound. See notes on Matt. 25:24–27, where the case is similar. The lesson is that our abilities must be used for the Lord. It is not enough that we are not positively wicked; we must do good.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v22 The punishment:
The punishment:
v. 22. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow;
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v. 23. wherefore, then, gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
v. 24. And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
v. 25. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
v. 26. For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
v. 27. But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither, and slay them before me.
The useless servant was condemned by his own. words; by them he was convicted as lazy and wicked. If he had that honest conviction that the master was actually so strict and exacting that he expected to get blood out of a stone, he should have remembered his station and acted in accordance with his conviction. It would have been a perfectly simple matter for him to have taken the money which he feared to invest of his own responsibility and put it into the bank. With sarcastic emphasis the lord says that he, upon his arrival, might have taken his own with interest. Then the servant would have kept his fingers and his conscience unsoiled. Incidentally, he would have saved himself the punishment which now descended upon him. His one lonely piece of money was given to him that had ten pounds. And when those that were present, probably some of the other servants, faintly remonstrated, saying that that servant was already well provided, the master told them: To everyone that hath there will be given; but from him that hath not even that which he hath will be taken. Every one that has a gain to show because he has faithfully managed the affairs entrusted to him will be rewarded with more and greater things than he originally received. But he that has no gain to show, through his own fault, because he has not used the gifts and goods entrusted to him, will be deprived of all that he has. But so far as the citizens of that country were concerned; the lord’s sentence upon them is that they should be punished in proportion to their crime of rebellion. They should be brought before him and there be slaughtered, thus paying the full penalty for their crime.
The meaning of the parable is evident. Christ is the noble-born Prince. Though born a true man, He was and is at the same time God, blessed forever. He left His country, His people, the chosen nation of God, through Passion, death, and resurrection, Php 2:8-9; Heb 1:3-14; Heb 2:1-18; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-16; Heb 5:1-14; Heb 6:1-20; Heb 7:1-28; Heb 8:1-9, in order to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and thus to receive, also according to His human nature, the kingly power and glory of His Father. The citizens of His country are the Jews, the children of Israel. They openly declared themselves against the Lord; they were a rebellious, stiff-necked people. They wanted nothing of the rule of the exalted Christ. And with them all unbelievers cry: We will not have this man to reign over us. The servants of the Lord are the believers, the Christians. To them Christ has entrusted, in the interval between His ascension and His coming to Judgment, many splendid gifts and goods, both spiritual and temporal, out of free kindness and grace. "Here human merits are rejected; for thou hearest that the servants take the money from the lord, in order to do business and gain with it. And the lord, because they were faithful, gives them the money and the gain, and, in addition, the cities, all for grace and goodness. " Above all, the Lord has given to His Christians, to the Church on earth, His Gospel. With this, with the means of grace, they are to do business, they are to gain souls for the kingdom of heaven. And those Christians in whom faith is mighty to drive them onward are glad to serve the Lord to the best of their ability. They serve in church, in school, in the various organizations which aid the spread of the Gospel; they give time, money, work, with never a thought of sacrifice, some with more ability and success, some with less. There are some, however, that bear the name of Christians, but know nothing of the power of Christianity, that neglect the work of the Lord, that are never interested when they are approached, that are always too busy with their own affairs. Such people are useless servants, hypocrites. The day of reckoning is coming. Then the Lord will reward the faithful servants far above their work, with the reward of grace; He will give them glory and bliss without end. But the useless, lazy servants will receive their reward according as they have merited it. They will have no part in the eternal kingdom of Christ. And as for the open enemies of Christ, the rebels against His rule of kindness, the great Judgment Day will bring them everlasting shame and condemnation. With the Jews that called down the blood of Jesus upon themselves and their children, they will be punished with everlasting death and destruction.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 22, 24 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues to tell the parable he began in Luke 19:11.
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Another came
"Another servant came"
mina
A mina was 600 grams, probably of silver. Each mina was equal to 100 days' wages, what people would be paid for about four months' work. See how you translated this in Luke 19:13. (See: Biblical Weight)
kept safely in a cloth
"wrapped in a cloth and stored away"
a demanding person
"a stern man" or "a man who expects a lot from his servants"
You take up what you did not put in
This was probably a proverb. A person who takes out of storage or out of a bank things that he did not put in is a metaphor for someone who benefits from other people's hard work. AT: "You take out what you did not put in" or "You are like a person how takes out what other people put in" (See: Metaphor)
you reap what you did not sow
This was probably a proverb. A person who harvests food that someone else has planted is a metaphor for someone who benefits from other people's hard work. AT: "you are like a person who reaps the fruit of what other people sowed" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
lord
reap
plant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v23 19:23 deposit my money in the bank: Literally put…
19:23 deposit my money in the bank: Literally put the money on the table, which means to give it to moneylenders who would loan it out at interest.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.