You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest.
Parallel Translations
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You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest.
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thou oughtest therfore to have had my money to the chaugers and then at my comynge shulde I have receaved myne awne with vauntage.
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Thou oughtest therefore to haue put my money to ye exchangers, and then at my comming should I haue receiued mine owne with vantage.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Matthew 25:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 23:19-20 You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. You may charge a foreigner interest; but you shall not your brother interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it.
- Luke 19:22-23 “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?’
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
- Jude 1:15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Table mates which have their shop bulks or tables…
Table mates which have their shop bulks or tables set abroad, where they let out money to usury.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money…
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Ver. 27. Received the same with usury] Our Saviour doth no more patronize usury here than he doth injustice, Luk 16:1; theft, 1Th 5:2; dancing, Mat 11:17; Olympic games, 1Co 9:24.
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 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to…
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers,.... "Trapezites", or "tablets", the same whom the Jews (z) call and is the same word which is here used in Munster's Hebrew Gospel; who were so called from the table that stood before them, on which they told, and paid their money, and the exchange and use: hence all the Oriental versions here read, "thou shouldest have put my money to, or on the table"; put it into the hand of these bankers, where it would have been not only safe, as in the earth, where it was hid, but also would have made some increase, and would have been returned with profit,
and then at my coming I should have received my own with usury: this is said not so much to encourage usury, though it may be lawful; and it seems to have been a practice in those times to put money out to use upon a reasonable interest; but to reprove the sloth and inactivity of this servant, upon his own reasonings, and the character he had given of his master,
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(z) Maimon. Hilch. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 9. & c. 2. sect. 1.
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 Thou oughtest therefore - On that very account, on…
Thou oughtest therefore - On that very account, on thy own supposition, to have improved my talent, as far as was possible.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 27. With usury.] συν τοκω, with its produce…
Verse 27. With usury.] συν τοκω, with its produce - not usury; for that is unlawful interest, more than the money can properly produce.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The exchangers - The “exchangers” were persons who were…
The exchangers - The “exchangers” were persons who were in the habit of borrowing money, or receiving it on deposit at a low rate of interest, to be loaned to others at higher interest. They commonly sat by “tables” in the temple, with money ready to exchange or loan. See Mat 21:12. This money was left with the servant, not to exchange, nor to increase it by any such idle means, but by honest industry and merchandise; but since he was too indolent for that, he ought at least to have loaned it to the exchangers, that his master might have received some benefit from it.
With usury - With interest, increase, or gain. The word “usury,” in our language, has a bad signification, meaning unlawful or exorbitant interest. This was contrary to the law, Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36. The original means “gain,” increase, or lawful interest.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 27. Thou oughtest therefore — In view of my…
27. Thou oughtest therefore — In view of my very supposed hardness. Men sometimes think that the doctrine of eternal condemnation is too terrible to believe, and so refuse to believe or repent. The infinitely better way is to say, “The eternal damnation is so terrible I will make sure not to incur it.” Exchangers — Brokers, or men whose business it is not only to give one kind of coin for another, but also to take money as loan and pay interest upon it. Usury — The word, in the time it was used by the New Testament translators, meant lawful interest. Our Lord then, in this verse, reasons with the culprit. If I am, as you say, a hard exacter, you ought at least to have done justice; if you dared not trade for fear of loss, you might at least have put the money in a savings bank, where a legal interest would have accrued. If a man will not in his place and according to his ability try to win laurels by extra good, he certainly may not damage his place by sinking below his ability, or by wasting what powers he has.
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 27. put my money] It was not thine own.
27. put my money] It was not thine own.
to the exchangers] i. e. “to the bankers,” literally, to those who stand at tables, (Lat. mensarii), because the bankers had tables before them. This was the very least the slave could have done, to make money in this way required no personal exertion or intelligence.
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with usury] In modern language “with interest.”
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 (27) Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money…
(27) Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers.—Literally, table or counter-keepers, just as bankers were originally those who sat at their bancum, or bench. These were the bankers referred to in the Note on Mat_25:14. In that case, if the servant had been honestly conscious of his own want of power, there would have been at least some interest allowed on the deposit.
Usury.—Better, interest; the word not necessarily implying, as usury does now, anything illegal or exorbitant. The question—What answers to this “giving to the exchangers” in the interpretation of the parable?—is, as has been said, analogous to that which asks the meaning of “them that sell” in the answer of the wise virgins in Mat_25:9. Whatever machinery or organisation the Church possesses for utilising opportunities which individual men fail to exercise, may be thought of as analogous to the banking-system of the old world. When men in the middle ages gave to a cathedral or a college, when they subscribe largely now to hospitals or missions, doing this and nothing more, they are “giving their money to the exchangers.” It is not so acceptable an offering as willing and active service, but if it be honestly and humbly given, the giver will not lose his reward.
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 Thou oughtest therefore, etc. Your conception of my character…
Thou oughtest therefore, etc. Your conception of my character ought to have made you more diligent and scrupulous; and if you were really afraid to rust any risks with my money or invest it in any hazardous speculation, there were many ordinary and safe methods of employing it which would have yielded some profit, and some of these you would have adopted had you been faithful and earnest. The return might have been trifling in amount, but the lord shows that he is not grasping and harsh by being willing to accept even this in token of the servant"s labour. To have put (balein). The term means to have thrown the money, as it were, on the banker"s table. This would have been less trouble than digging a hole to bury it. Exchangers; trapezitaiv : numulariis; bankers. In St. Luke (Luk_19:23) we find epi trapezan , with the same meaning. These money changers or bankers (for the business seems always to have combined the two branches) were a numerous class in Palestine, and wherever the Jewish community was established. They received deposits at interest, and engaged in transactions such as are usual in modern times. With usury (sukw , with interest). At one time, law had forbidden usurious transactions between Israelites, though the Gentile was left to the mercy of his creditor; (Deu_23:19, Deu_23:20) but later such limitations were not observed. The rate of interest varied from four to forty per cent. The spiritual interpretation of this feature of the parable has most unnecessarily exercised the ingenuity of commentators. Some see in the bankers an adumbration of the religious societies and charitable institutions, by means of which persons can indirectly do some work for Christ, though unable personally to undertake such enterprises. Olshausen and Trench regard them as the stronger characters who, by example and guidance, lead the timid and hesitating to employ their gifts aright. But it is more reasonable to consider this detail of the parable as supplementary to its chief purpose, and not to be pressed in the interpretation. The Lord is simply concerned to show that all talents, great or small, must be used in his service according to opportunities; and that, whether the return be large or little, it is equally acceptable, if it show a willing mind and real fidelity in the agent. In illustration he uses two cases which yield most profit, and one which produces the least. Nothing can he inferred hence concerning the morality of usury. Christ draws his picture from the world as he finds it, pronouncing no opinion on its ethical bearing.
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 27. Thou oughtest to have put my money to…
27. Thou oughtest to have put my money to the exchangers. To the bankers. If the lord was so exacting as he supposed, he ought at least to have put his money to use with the money brokers that it might have earned something. Usury. Interest. The Jews were forbidden to take it from their brethren, but were allowed to take it from aliens.
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.