THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS IN MATTHEW 25:14–30

BY ESAYAS EMENE ENICHA (REV.)

the parables is much more convincing than differences; hence, I assume that they might have the same origin.

The dialogue scenes of Matthew 25:24-28 and Luke 19:20-26 are in agreement as to wording, although within these agreements there are also some differences that can hardly be explained as redactional.97 I observe a direct parallelism between Matthew 25:29 and Luke 19:26, which says “For to everyone who has, it will be given and it will be abundant, but from the one who does not have, it will be taken.”

In spite of variations, there are some very significant parallels between Matthew and Luke. Hagner notes the similarities: the going of a man (but in Luke a “noble”) on a journey (but in Luke “to acquire a kingdom”); the calling together of his servants (but in Luke “ten,” although only three are reported; Luke 19:11-21).98 Likewise, in Matthew the servants are entrusted with ‘talents’, which represent a large amount of money, whereas in Luke they are entrusted with ‘minas’ (pounds), a quite small amount.99 In Matthew, the amount of money varies from servant to servant; in Luke they all receive the same amount of money. Regarding the variation of the amount, Morris says that the story in Luke teaches that all the servants of God have one basic task, that of living out our faith; the parable in Matthew starts with the fact of different gifts to be found in God’s servants and brings out the way they use (or do not use) those gifts.100

E. STRUCTURE

When it comes to the structure of the parable in Matthew 25:14-30, I follow Davies and Allison outline, with some adjustments of my own.101

1. The Master Entrusts Property to Servants (vs. 14-15)

1.1. The Master calls and Entrusts Property (v.14)

1.2. The Master Entrusts the Servants with Different Amounts of Talents according to the Ability of Each One (v. 15)

97 Ibid.

98 Hagner, Matthew 14-28,733.

99 Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, 626. 1 mina is equal to 100 denarii, whereas 1 talent is comparable to 6000 denarii (1denarii was a day’s wage, cf. 20:2).

100 Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, 626.

101 Davies and Allison, A critical And Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew: commentary on Matthew XIX-XXVIII, vol. III, 401.

2. The Performance of the Servants during the Absence of their Master (vs.16-18)

2.1. Trading and Gaining Profit (vs. 16-17)

2.2. The burying of the Talent (v. 18)

3. The Master’s Return and his Settling of Accounts with the Servants (vs. 19-30)

3.1. The Return of the Master (v.19)

3.2. Settling Accounts with the first two Servants (vs. 20-23)

3.3. Settling Accounts with the third Servant (vs. 24-30)

3.3.1. His Explanation: his Fear of Master (vs. 24-25)

3.3.2. His condemnation by the Master (vs.26-28)

3.3.3. The Master’s explanation of his action (vs.29-30)

3.3.3.1. Giving to those who have; Removing from those who have not (v.29)

3.3.3.2. The Ultimate Judgment of the Evil and Lazy slave (v.30)

The detailed exegesis in chapter three follows the structure given above.

2.5. THE TEXT

A. TEXTUAL CRITICISM

In the critical apparatus of Nestle-Aland 28th revised edition, there are a number of variant readings registered in verses 14-30. I will comment on one of the most important cases in this pericope. It is found in the transition from verse 15 to verse 16. The adverb immediately (εὐθέως, eutheos) is the last term in verse 15, surrounded by the preceding verb journeyed (ἀπεδήμησεν, apedēmēsen) and the following verb going [third person] (πορευθεὶς, poreutheis); hence, the adverb can be either connected to the preceding or to the following verb. This implies either that the master left for his journey immediately after having given the talents to his servants, or that the first servant immediately took action with the talents given to him. Most Greek witnesses insert the conjunction ‘δὲ’ as follows: ‘εὐθέως πορευθεὶς δὲ’ (א2, A, C, D, K, L, W and Majority text), hence, implying that ‘immediately’ (εὐθέως) is linked to the preceding ‘journeyed’ (ἀπεδήμησεν). However, a few Greek witnesses, supported by early versions, like old Latin, Sahidic, and Coptic