Matthew 25:14-30
25:14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;
25:15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
25:16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents.
25:17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents.
25:18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
25:19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
25:20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’
25:21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
25:22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’
25:23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
25:24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed;
25:25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’
25:26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter?
25:27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.
25:28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.
25:29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
25:30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
[14]῞Ωσπερ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀποδημῶν ἐκάλεσε τοὺς ἰδίους δούλους καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ,
[15]καὶ ᾧ μὲν ἔδωκε πέντε τάλαντα, ᾧ δὲ δύο, ᾧ δὲ ἕν, ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν, καὶ ἀπεδήμησεν εὐθέως.
[16]πορευθεὶς δὲ ὁ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα λαβὼν εἰργάσατο ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐποίησεν ἄλλα πέντε τάλαντα.
[17]ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ τὰ δύο ἐκέρδησε καὶ αὐτὸς ἄλλα δύο.
[18]ὁ δὲ τὸ ἓν λαβὼν ἀπελθὼν ὤρυξεν ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ ἀπέκρυψε τὸ ἀργύριον τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ.
[19]μετὰ δὲ χρόνον πολὺν ἔρχεται ὁ κύριος τῶν δούλων ἐκείνων καὶ συναίρει μετ᾿ αὐτῶν λόγον.
[20]καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα λαβὼν προσήνεγκεν ἄλλα πέντε τάλαντα λέγων· κύριε, πέντε τάλαντά μοι παρέδωκας· ἴδε ἄλλα πέντε τάλαντα ἐκέρδησα ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς.
[21]ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ· εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ! ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου.
[22]προσελθὼν δὲ καὶ ὁ τὰ δύο τάλαντα λαβὼν εἶπε· κύριε, δύο τάλαντά μοι παρέδωκας· ἴδε ἄλλα δύο τάλαντα ἐκέρδησα ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς.
[23]ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ· εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ! ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου.
[24]προσελθὼν δὲ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἓν τάλαντον εἰληφὼς εἶπε· κύριε· ἔγνων σε ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ ἄνθρωπος, θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας·
[25]καὶ φοβηθεὶς ἀπελθὼν ἔκρυψα τὸ τάλαντόν σου ἐν τῇ γῇ· ἴδε ἔχεις τὸ σόν.
[26]ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· πονηρὲ δοῦλε καὶ ὀκνηρέ! ᾔδεις ὅτι θερίζω ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρα καὶ συνάγω ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισα!
[27]ἔδει οὖν σε βαλεῖν τὸ ἀργύριόν μου τοῖς τραπεζίταις, καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐγὼ ἐκομισάμην ἂν τὸ ἐμὸν σὺν τόκῳ.
[28]ἄρατε οὖν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τὸ τάλαντον καὶ δότε τῷ ἔχοντι τὰ δέκα τάλαντα.
[29]τῷ γὰρ ἔχοντι παντὶ δοθήσεται καὶ περισσευθήσεται, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος καὶ ὃ ἔχει ἀρθήσεται ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ.
[30]καὶ τὸν ἀχρεῖονδοῦλον ἐκβάλετε εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων.
Comments
Today’s parable features three male slaves, two faithful and one unfaithful and vile. Last week’s parable had ten nubile women, five of them prudent, the rest foolish. The text opens with ῞Ωσπερ, ‘just as’, which is unanswered (lacking as it does a corresponding main clause, ‘so also…’) but which signals a parable. A classicist might say that the pericope plays with the clichés of the good and the bad slave familiar from classical Greek sources.
[14] ῞Ωσπερ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀποδημῶν: ῞Ωσπερ, ‘just as’ (see immed. above) suggests that some linking statement is understood; this is an ellipsis, a figure of speech.
ἀποδημῶν, pres. part. < cmpd ἀπο-δημῶ (έω), ‘I am away from home, am abroad, I travel’; ‘go abroad’ (cl. Gk, see LSJ). The man (ἄνθρωπος) is unspecified; fictional accounts often begin on a note of indefiniteness (‘once upon a time a man…’). The pres. part. means in effect ‘about to go on a journey’.
τοὺς ἰδίους δούλους καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ: ἰδίους < ἴδιος, ἰδία, ἴδιον (in Att. Gk the fem. can be ἴδιος), ‘personally attached to one’ (Arist. and koine: LSJ); hence ‘his personal slaves’, ‘his household slaves’. This automatically implies some degree of closeness between the master and his slaves.
παρέδωκεν, 3rd pers. sg. aor., cmpd παρα-δίδωμι, ‘I hand over to someone’ (cl. Gk: LSJ); here ‘entrust, give for safekeeping’ (EDNT, s.v.).
τὰ ὑπάρχοντα: the part. is used as a substantive, lit. ‘things existing’, i.e. ‘possessions’ (cl. Gk: LSJ).
[15] καὶ ᾧ μὲν ἔδωκε πέντε τάλαντα: As in classical prose, the simplex (ἔδωκε) is used instead of the cmpd. But in v. 20 παρέδωκας is used.
τάλαντα: the word is repeated throughout the pericope. Τάλαντον (whence the Engl. talent) was a unit of weight and subsequently a monetary unit; cf. the British ‘pound sterling’. The classical Athenian-Euboic standard talent weighed 25.86 kg (OCD, 3rd edn, 1996, p. 1621), and referred to weight in gold or silver. EDNT s.v. τάλαντον, p. 332 notes that ‘[r]oughly speaking, we might compare one talent with the modern “million”.’ ( Noted in my comments on 17/9/2023).
κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν: ‘in accordance with, in proportion to his individual power or ability’ (one is tempted to say ‘talent’). Cf. Hesiod (8th c. BC), Works & Days 336, κὰδ δύναμιν, ‘as your means allow’, a phrase Socrates often quoted in connection with a poor man’s sacrifice (M. L. West, WD, p. 240). The phrase in v. 15 is at the heart of the parable.
[16] εἰργάσατο ἐν αὐτοῖς: ἐργάζομαι, abs., ‘work at a trade or business, traffic or trade’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., II.6). Thus ‘he engaged in a trade (or business) with these (five talents)’. ἐν αὐτοῖς, ‘in these’, is a Semitism according to some experts. Cl. Gk would simply use an instrumental dative, αὐτοῖς. In ancient Greek urbanised societies slaves could also be white collar workers as also presumably in Roman societies.
[17] ἐκέρδησε: κερδαίνω c. acc., ‘I earn something’ (as in cl. Gk). The vb here refers to earnings in a financial sense.
[19] ἔρχεται ὁ κύριος τῶν δούλων ἐκείνων καὶ συναίρει μετ᾿ αὐτῶν λόγον: ἔρχεται, ‘comes’, and συναίρει are historic aor. which add vividness to the narrative.
συναίρει μετ᾿ αὐτῶν λόγον: The expression συναίρω λόγον, apparently a koine usage, means ‘settle accounts together’; this is business language. Λόγος is notoriously meaningful, but its core sense is ‘account’, an explanation and narration and by extension, a (commercial) account, a reckoning. An explanation and a reckoning presuppose rationality, another sense of the term. (Also noted in my comments for 17/9/2023.)
[20] κύριε… ἴδε ἄλλα πέντε τάλαντα ἐκέρδησα ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς: κύριε < κύριος, ‘master of a house, lord’ (cl. Gk). It is doubly appropriate here as it can also be used of Jesus as Lord.
ἴδε, 2nd pers. sg. aor. imperative <εἶδον < ὁρῶ means ‘See! Behold!’, and functions as a particle. It most frequently occurs at the beginning of a clause, and in Mt, Mk, and Jn is always in discourse (see EDNT, s.v. ἴδε, p. 171). ‘Look here!’ carries a note of familiarity.
ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς: ‘besides these’, ‘over and above these’.
[21] εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ! ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου: The congratulations εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ! ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω, etc. is repeated verbatim in v. 23 where it is addressed to the second slave.
εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου: χαρὰ, ἡ, ‘joy, delight’, first recorded in Sappho. The syntax of ‘enter into the joy of your master’ suggests that ‘joy’ is used as if it were a place. EDNT s.v. χαρὰ, 6, p. 455 suggests that it is equivalent to ‘the kingdom of God’.
The master’s invitation to this place of joy sounds very much like a kind of manumission—esp. if we transferred the scene to classical Athens. As K. J. Dover remarks in Popular morality in the time of Plato and Aristotle (1974), p. 286, ‘Gratitude to a loyal slave was a respectable motive for releasing him or her from slavery.’
In Athenian and Roman terms, the two industrious slaves in St Matthew’s passage were in effect buying and deservedly earning their freedom, something which the third slave miserably failed to do. K. Vlassopoulos observes: ‘…in most cases slaves paid [their masters] for their freedom.’[2] Apropos of Roman society, N. Lenski states, ‘manumission was common in Roman society’.[3] ‘Some [slaves] made agreements with their masters to purchase their freedom using money they had saved in their peculium [sc. quasi-personal assets]’.[4] Whether or not they have been emancipated, as I propose, what seems certain is that the two slaves become their master’s business partners, as EDNT s.v. καθίστημι, καθιστάνω, p. 225 suggest (‘partnership of the members of the household in the administration of the property for the purpose of earning a profit’).
[2] ‘Slavery in ancient Greece’, in D. A. Pargas & J. Schiel, eds, The Palgrave history of global slavery throughout history, Cham, Switzerland, 2023, p. 103.
[3] ‘Slavery in Roman society’, in Pargas & Schiel op. cit., p. 102.
[4] Lenski ibid., 103.
[24] σκληρὸς εἶ ἄνθρωπος, θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας: σκληρὸς, fig., of persons, ‘harsh, austere, cruel’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., 3). The third slave essentially alleges that his master steals the crops of his neighbours. This poisonous—false—accusation recalls the conventional view of classical Athenians that slaves ‘are implacably hostile to their masters’ (Dover op. cit. 285 for evidence). They were all too ready to switch sides in court and testify against their masters (Dover op. cit., 92-3).
The third slave proved to be a laggard because of his distrust of his master which was reflected in his disrespectful comments. The notion of the disrespectful and disobedient slave can be inferred e contrario from Eph. 6.5-6.
[26] πονηρὲ δοῦλε καὶ ὀκνηρέ! ᾔδεις ὅτι θερίζω ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρα καὶ συνάγω ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισα: πονηρός, in a moral sense, ‘worthless’, ‘evil’ (the latter, special sense already in some cl. authors). ὀκνηρός, ‘idle, lazy’. Another cliché at least in classical Greece is in play: slaves were lazy and at the mercy of their belly (Dover op. cit., p.115). The master repeats almost verbatim the slave’s accusation. He is ironical as can be inferred from the opening ‘you evil, lazy slave!’ and from the counter-factual statement in the next verse.
[27] ἔδει οὖν σε βαλεῖν τὸ ἀργύριόν μου τοῖς τραπεζίταις, καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐγὼ ἐκομισάμην ἂν τὸ ἐμὸν σὺν τόκῳ: ‘In that case (οὖν) you ought to have thrown (βαλεῖν) your money to the money-changers…’ βάλλω means ‘throw’; although he uses the vb figuratively in the sense ‘invest’, the master is sarcastically punning on the expression ‘to throw seed’ (i.e. ‘sow’) as in βάλλω σπόρον (attributed to the Hellenistic poet Theocritus 25.26). Rather than unproductively sow (hide) his money in the soil, the miserable slave should have sown it wisely, allowing it to bear a ‘crop’, namely interest.
Τραπεζίτης, ‘money- changer’ (from τράπεζα, ‘table’; ‘money-changer’s counter’) is attested in cl., Hellenistic Gk, and well into the Roman period (as here) and well beyond. Τhe subject of banking in Roman Judaea is rarefied; a look at the Greek and Roman evidence may be helpful. In ancient Greek urbanised societies slaves could also be white collar workers. As K. Vlassopoulos notes, ‘slave bankers were among the richest inhabitants of [classical] Athens.’[1]
[1] ‘Slavery in ancient Greece’, in D. A. Pargas & J. Schiel, eds, The Palgrave history of global slavery throughout history, Cham, Switzerland, 2023, pp. 76-7.
[30] ἐκβάλετε εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων: ἐκβάλετε, 2nd pers. pl., aor. imperative < ἐκ-βάλλω, ‘throw out, expel’. The master is addressing an unspecified group, prob. other slaves.
ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων: ὁ κλαυθμὸς, a koine word (already in Aristotle) = ‘weeping’. ὁ βρυγμὸς (< βρύκω, βρύχω), ‘I gnash, grind (my teeth)’. The two disyllable words create an assonance.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 