Parable of the Talents
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Parable_of_talents.jpg/250px-Parable_of_talents.jpg)
The Parable of the talents or minas (sometimes the Parable of Talents and/or The Parable of the Pounds) is a pair of similar parables of Jesus. They are found in Matthew Matthew 25:14–30 and in Luke Luke 19:12–27. The differences between the parables are substantial, however, and the two parables may not be derived from the same source.[1]
In Matthew, the opening words appear to link the parable to the preceding parable of the Ten Virgins,[1] a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven.
Parable of the Talents
The parable in 25:14-30 Matthew 25:14–30 tells of a master who was leaving his home to travel, and before going entrusted his property to his servants (property worth 8 talents, where a talent was a large unit of money, as discussed below). One servant receives five talents, the second two talents, and the third one talent, according to their respective abilities.
Returning after a long absence, the master asks his servants for an accounting. The first two servants explain that they have each put their money to work and doubled the value of the property they were entrusted with, and so they are each rewarded:
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"
— Matthew 25:23, New International Version
The third servant, however, has merely hidden his talent in a hole in the ground, and is punished for laziness:
"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"— Matthew 25:24–30, New International Version
Parable of the Minas
The similar parable in Luke 19:12–27, the Parable of the Minas, is generally similar, but differences include the inclusion of the motif of a king obtaining a kingdom,[2] and the entrusting of the servants with equal amounts, measured in minas rather than talents (1 talent = 60 mina). Additionally, Luke includes at the beginning an account of citizens sending a message after the Master to say that they don't want him as their ruler, and at the end Luke adds that the Master instructs that his opponents should be brought to him and then be slain.
The parallels between the Lukan material (the Gospel of Luke, and Book of Acts) and Josephus' writings have long been noted.[3][4][5][6] The core idea, of a man traveling to a far country being related to a kingdom, has vague similarities to Herod Archelaus traveling to Rome in order to be given his kingdom; although this similarity is not in itself significant, Josephus' account also contains details which are echoed by features of the Lukan parable.[7] Josephus describes Jews sending an embassy to Augustus, while Archelaus is travelling to Rome, to complain that they do not want Archelaus as their ruler;[8][9] when Archelaus returns, he arranged for 3000 of his enemies to be brought to him at the Temple in Jerusalem, where he had them slaughtered.[8]
Interpretations
Talents were used as a unit of currency, worth about 6,000 denarii.[1] Since a denarius was the usual payment for a day's labour,[1] a talent was roughly the value of twenty years of work by an ordinary person.[10]
In Matthew, the opening words appear to link the parable to the parable of the Ten Virgins, which immediately precedes it.[1] That parable deals with wisdom in an eschatological context.[1] This parable, however, has been interpreted in several ways.
As a teaching for Christians
Traditionally, the parable of the talents has been seen as an exhortation to Jesus' disciples to use their God-given gifts in the service of God, and to take risks for the sake of the Kingdom of God.[1] These gifts have been seen to include personal abilities ("talents" in the everyday sense), as well as personal wealth.[1] Failure to use one's gifts, the parable suggests, will result in judgement.[1]
The poet John Milton was fascinated by the parable (interpreted in this traditional sense),[11] referring to it repeatedly, notably in the sonnet "On His Blindness":[11]
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent, which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He, returning, chide
This interpretation seems to be the origin of the word "talent" used for an aptitude or skill.[12]
As a critique of religious leaders
Joachim Jeremias believed that the original meaning of the parable was not an ethical one about every man. Instead, he saw it as aimed at the scribes who had withheld "from their fellow men a due share in God's gift."[13] In his view, Jesus is saying that these scribes will soon be brought to account for what they have done with the Word of God which was entrusted to them.[13]
Jeremias also believed that in the life of the early church the parable took on new meaning, with the merchant having become an allegory of Christ, so that "his journey has become the ascension, his subsequent return ... has become the Parousia, which ushers his own into the Messianic banquet."[13]
As a social critique
William R. Herzog II notes the traditional interpretation of the parable,[14] but gives a liberation theology reading in which the image of the absentee landlord is taken literally. On Herzog's reading, the third servant is a "whistle-blower"[14] who has "unmasked the 'joy of the master' for what it is, the profits of exploitation squandered in wasteful excess."[14] For Herzog, the point of the parable is the need to act in solidarity when confronting injustice.[14]
Art and hymnody
The parable of the talents has been depicted by artists such as Rembrandt, Jan Luyken, and Matthäus Merian.
A number of hymns mention the parable, notably John Wesley's "Servant of God, Well Done!", which refers to 25:23 Matthew 25:23, and was written on the death of George Whitefield.[15] It begins:
Servant of God, well done!
Thy glorious warfare’s past;
The battle’s fought, the race is won,
And thou art crowned at last.[16]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
See also
- Five Talents (Christian microfinance charity)
- Matthew effect
- Sabbath economics
- Servant leadership
- Stewardship
- Usury
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Arland J. Hultgren, The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary, Eerdmans Publishing, 2002, ISBN 080286077X, pp. 271-281.
- ^ Luke Timothy Johnson and Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Luke, Liturgical Press, 1991, ISBN 0814658059, p. 292.
- ^ Steve Mason, Josephus and Luke-Acts, (1992), pages 185-229
- ^ Gregory Sterling, Historiography and Self-Definition: Josephos, Luke-Acts and Apologetic Historiography (1992)
- ^ Heinz Schreckenberg, Flavius Josephus and the Lukan Writings (1980), pages 179-209.
- ^ Max Krenkel, Josephus und Lukas (1894)
- ^ Luke Timothy Johnson, Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Luke (1991), endnote 12, page 289
- ^ a b Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 17:11
- ^ Luke Timothy Johnson, Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Luke (1991), endnote 14, page 290
- ^ At 6 days of paid work per week, and roughly 50 weeks per year, 6,000 paid days = 20 years.
- ^ a b David V. Urban, "The Talented Mr. Milton: A Parabolic Laborer and His Identity" in Milton Studies, Volume 43, Albert C. Labriola (ed.), Univ of Pittsburgh Press, 2004, ISBN 082294216X, pp. 1-18.
- ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 6th ed., 1976: "talent."
- ^ a b c Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, Scribner, 1954.
- ^ a b c d William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as pedagogue of the oppressed, Westminster John Knox Press, 1994, ISBN 0664253555, pp. 150-168.
- ^ James Thomas Lightwood, Samuel Wesley, Musician: The story of his life, Ayer Publishing, 1972, ISBN 0405087489, p. 222.
- ^ The Cyber Hymnal: Servant of God, Well Done!
External links
- Biblical Art on the WWW: The Talents
- Parable of the Harsh Master - The Brick Testament