For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 'And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 'So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 'Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 'And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'1
Σκληρός [Sklēros]: violent (Jas. 3:4), harsh, hard, cruel (Jude 1:15), demanding, difficult (Mt. 25:24; Jn 6:60; Acts 26:14)
Αὐστηρός [Austēros]: exacting, severe, hard.
When writing to the church at Corinth, Paul states . . .
. . . the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all . . . [which goes on to say that] . . . one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills( 1Cor. 12:7-11).
He who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Mat. 13:23b).
The good ground is he who . . .
Endnotes:
1. | NKJV, Matthew 25:14-30 |
2. | Ref-0008, MANEH;MINA |
3. | Ref-0008, TALENT |
4. | Ref-0185, Metrology |
5. | Both mina and talent are units of weight denoting monetary values which could be silver or gold. For silver: a mina denotes a worth of approximately $750 dollars in our day. For gold: a mina denotes a worth of approximately $11,000 dollars in our day. When used in a monetary sense, the [maneh] of silver was worth about 6 pounds 17 shillings, or $34 (in 1915); the gold [maneh] was equal to about 102 pounds 10 shillings, or $510 (in 1915).2 See http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi for a handy inflation calculator. A talent is a unit of weight equivalent to about 60 minas 3 or about 100 pounds. In the NT the talent occurs in a parable (Matt. 25:15) and as the estimate of a stones weight, about one hundred pounds each (Rev. 16:21, see marg.)4. |
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