TEXT [Commentary]

7. The parable of the three servants (25:14-30)

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver[*] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together![*]’

22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

NOTES

25:14-15 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of. This expansion comes from 25:1; this parable is lit. introduced only by the words “for it is like.” This parable concerning an absentee master reminds the reader of two previous stories (21:33-39; 24:45-51). As the scene is set for this parable, three slaves are entrusted with the master’s resources according to their individual abilities.

five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last. The “bags of silver” are lit. “talents” (see NLT mg). The word translated “money” in 25:18 is lit. “silver,” hence the NLT rendering. The talent (talanton) was originally a measure of weight and is variously estimated at 50 to 75 pounds. As a monetary term, its value varied, but it always connoted a very large sum, evidently around six thousand silver denarii (BDAG 988). This would be as much money as a day laborer could expect to earn over the span of nineteen years! Thus, the amount of money involved here is very high, perhaps to “imply the greatness of God’s gifts to his people” (Davies and Allison 1997:405). For a similar parable, see Luke 19:11-27.

25:16-18 The use each slave makes of what was entrusted to him is explained here. The first two slaves each invest or do business with their talents and gain a one hundred percent profit, but the third slave only hides the master’s money by burying it in the ground. Evidently, this was a common practice (cf. 13:44; b. Bava Metzi’a 42a).

25:19-22 After a long time their master returned. The matter of delay in the master’s return occurs here for the third time in the context (cf. 24:48; 25:5). When the master finally returns, there must be an accounting of his resources (cf. 18:23); this portrays eschatological judgment. Each of the first two slaves demonstrate their one hundred percent profits.

25:23 Well done, my good and faithful servant. The master congratulates the first two slaves and heartily rewards them with additional responsibilities (cf. 24:47; 25:28-29; Luke 16:10; 19:17; m. Avot 4:2).

Let’s celebrate together! Lit., “Enter into the joy of your Lord,” which probably portrays entrance into the Kingdom and the joy of the eschatological banquet (cf. 8:11; 26:29). The greatest joy of a follower of Jesus is to share in Jesus’ joy.

25:24-27 here is your money back. As the reader anticipates from 25:18, the situation with the third servant is totally different. Fearful of his master’s reputation as a harsh man, he states that he has preserved the master’s talent by hiding it in the ground (cf. 13:44), and then he returns it to him. He appears to believe his caution is commendable and attempts to persuade the master that it is so. Yet, despite his calling his master “Lord” (cf. 7:21-23) in his attempt at justifying himself, he earns nothing. The third slave’s estimate of the master’s harshness ironically proved to be correct. The master was angry that this slave, whom he described as wicked (cf. 7:11; 13:49; 22:10) and lazy, had earned no interest on the money. The slave’s laziness was shown by the fact that far from doing business with his talent, he did not even put the money in a bank where it could earn some interest. Hiding the master’s resources in the ground is as senseless and useless as hiding one’s lamp under a basket (5:15).

25:28-29 Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. Furious with the third slave, the master orders that the single talent be taken from him and given to the first servant, who now has eleven talents. These verses serve as a further explanation for the master’s seemingly harsh actions (see 8:29). The slaves who have resources due to their faithful stewardship will receive more and will have an abundance (13:12; cf. Prov 9:9; Luke 12:48; 19:26), but the slave who earned nothing with the master’s talent has even that talent taken away.

25:30 throw this useless servant into outer darkness. Since he had earned nothing for the master, he was useless and received an extremely severe punishment (cf. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51). The first two slaves show that trustworthiness leads to greater blessing, but the third slave demonstrates that a lack of trustworthiness leads to the removal of the original blessing.

COMMENTARY [Text]

The structure of this parable is completely symmetrical, with each of the three scenes dealing with the three slaves in the same order:

1a. Five talents entrusted (25:15)

1b. Two talents entrusted (25:15)

1c. One talent entrusted (25:15)

2a. Five talents invested and five more earned (25:16)

2b. Two talents invested and two more earned (25:17)

2c. One talent hidden and nothing earned (25:18)

3a. Good and faithful slave rewarded (25:20-21)

3b. Good and faithful slave rewarded (25:22-23)

3c. Wicked and lazy servant punished (25:24-30)

Each of the successive three scenes is longer that the preceding one, with the most stress placed at the end on the punishment of the wicked slave. Thus the parable, despite its positive elements in 25:21, 23, is more of a warning against irresponsibility than an encouragement to faithfulness.

The preceding parables have been about alertness, and this one is particularly about the faithful stewardship which alertness produces. This time the issue is not whether the slaves will be surprised by the master’s return but whether they will be dependable in the use of his resources. His gifts lead to their tasks. A key detail of this parable is that the master entrusted his resources to the slaves according to their individual abilities (25:15). The third slave received only one talent, so the master evidently realized that he had less ability than the other two slaves. Nonetheless, he ought to have earned something with the talent, and he did not. He was not given five talents, and he was not expected to earn five talents, but he was not permitted to earn nothing at all. Blomberg (1992:371) points out that whereas the foolish bridesmaids thought their task was easier than it turned out to be, the lazy slave thought his task was harder than it turned out to be. The point is that if the followers of Jesus are faithful to him during his absence, they will be good stewards of the opportunities and abilities he has entrusted to them (cf. Luke 12:42; Rom 12:6ff; 1 Cor 4:1-2; 7:7; 12:4ff; Eph 4:7-8; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet 4:10). Alertness requires effort and active participation in the work of the Kingdom. Perhaps the familiar proverb attributed to William Carey is appropriate here: “Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God.” Disciples must not make, as it were, shaky investments with their Lord’s resources, but neither can they excuse their laziness with the false excuse that they have incurred no losses. “When Christ returns, he will not ask if one had the date right but ‘What have you been doing?’” (Garland 1993:241).