Parable of the Talents


The Parable of the Talents is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in two of the synoptic, canonical gospels of the New Testament:
Although the basic theme of each of these parables is essentially the same, the differences between the parables in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke are sufficient to indicate that the parables are not derived from the same source. In Matthew, the opening words link the parable to the preceding Parable of the Ten Virgins, which refers to the Kingdom of Heaven. The version in Luke is also called the Parable of the Pounds.
In both Matthew and Luke, a master puts his slaves in charge of his goods while he is away on a trip. Upon his return, the master assesses the stewardship of his slaves. He evaluates them according to how faithful each was in making wise investments of his goods to obtain a profit. It is clear that the master sought some profit from the slaves' oversight. A gain indicated faithfulness on the part of the slaves. The master rewards his slaves according to how each has handled his stewardship. He judges two slaves as having been "faithful" and gives them a positive reward. To the single "unfaithful" slave, who avoided even the safe profit of bank interest, a negative compensation is given.
A thematically variant parable may have appeared in the non-canonical Jewish–Christian Gospels, wherein one slave squanders the money on prostitutes and flute-girls, the second multiplies its value, and the third hides it.

Settings

While the basic story in each of these parables is essentially the same, the settings are quite different.
  • The setting of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 is the Mt. Olivet discourse. In Matthew 24–25, the overall theme is end-time events, warning, and parables. "The direct cautions and warnings must be for the disciples —warnings to be watchful and to be ready for Christ's coming".
  • The setting of the parable of the minas in Luke 19 was out in the open among the crowd. Zacchaeus had just believed and the Lord acknowledged his salvation. But, the crowd was now looking for Jesus to set up his kingdom.

    The values of a talent

A talent was a unit of weight of approximately, and when used as a unit of money, was valued for that weight of silver. As a unit of currency, a talent was worth about 6,000 denarii. A denarius was the usual payment for a day's labour. At one denarius per day, a single talent was therefore worth 20 years of labor.

Narratives

Parable of the Talents

The "Parable of the Talents", in tells of a master who was leaving his house to travel, and, before leaving, entrusted his property to his slaves. According to the abilities of each man, one slave received five talents, the second had received two, and the third received only one. The property entrusted to the three slaves was worth eight talents, where a talent was a significant amount of money. Upon returning home, after a long absence, the master asks his three slaves for an account of the talents he entrusted to them. The first and the second slaves explain that they each put their talents to work, and have doubled the value of the property with which they were entrusted; each slave was rewarded:
The third slave, however, had merely hidden his talent, burying it in the ground, and was punished and kicked out by his master:

Parable of the Minas

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus told this parable because he was near Jerusalem and because his disciples thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. The parable follows on from Zacchaeus' meeting with Jesus and the disciples "hearing" his declaration of restitution to those whom Zacchaeus had defrauded. The objective of investing or trading during the absence of the master was intended to counter expectations of the immediate appearance of God's kingdom. The parable of the minas is generally similar to the parable of the talents, but differences include the inclusion of the motif of a king obtaining a kingdom and the entrusting of ten servants with one mina each, rather than a number of talents. Only the business outcomes and consequential rewards of three of the servants' trading were related. Additionally, Luke included at the beginning an account of citizens sending a message after the nobleman to say that they did not want him as their ruler; and, at the end, Luke added that the nobleman instructed that his opponents should be brought to him and slain, as well as the unprofitable servant deprived of his mina.
The parallels between the Lukan material and Josephus' writings have long been noted. 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. 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; when Archelaus returns, he arranges for 3000 of his enemies to be brought to him at the Temple in Jerusalem, where he has them slaughtered.

Version in the Gospel of the Hebrews

A fragment attributed to Eusebius of Caesarea includes a paraphrased summary of a parable of talents taken from a "Gospel written in Hebrew script" ; this gospel is presumed to have been destroyed in the destruction of the Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima in the 7th century and has yet to be found. In that gospel, the author of the fragment writes that one servant "consumed the property of the master with prostitutes and flute-girls", one "greatly increased the profit", and the third "hid the talent". One of them was "accepted", one was "merely censured", and one was "locked up in prison". The author of the fragment suggests that the punishment may have been addressed towards the first servant, although the text is unclear.

Depositing funds with the bankers

The third slave in Matthew's version was condemned as wicked and lazy because he could have deposited his talent with the bankers. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that this was "the very least the slave could have done, to make money in this way required no personal exertion or intelligence", and Johann Bengel commented that the labour of digging a hole and burying the talent was greater than the labour involved in going to the bankers.

Interpretations

In Matthew, the opening words appear to link the parable to the parable of the Ten Virgins, which immediately precedes it. That parable deals with wisdom in an eschatological context. This parable, however, has been interpreted in several ways.

As a teaching for Christian believers

As personal abilities

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. These gifts have been seen to include personal abilities, as well as personal wealth. Failure to use one's gifts, the parable suggests, will result in negative judgment. From a psychological point of view, the failure is the immediate result of the failure of feeling God's love. The first two servants are able to see God in a positive perception, as understanding, generous, and kind, while the third servant sees God as harsh, demanding, and critical.
Finley suggests these interpretations among the teachings for Christians:
  • The nobleman, or the man is Christ.
  • The journey of the master to another place and his return speaks of Christ's going away to Heaven at his ascension and his return as the time when he comes again.
  • His entrustment to his servants of his possessions while he is away on his journey should be Christ's gifts and various possessions given to the believers in his church in anticipation of them producing a spiritual "profit" for Him in the kingdom of God. While he is away, he expects his believers to "'Do business with this until I come back.'".
  • His evaluation of the business they have conducted during his absence takes place upon his return and is an account of their activity. This must be the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is only for believers. This pictures an evaluation of stewardship.
  • The positive rewards for two of the servants are based upon their faithfulness to properly use what Christ entrusted to them. This probably speaks of positive reward for believers who are faithful to serve Christ.
  • The negative reward for the unfaithful servant likely speaks of some negative dealing by Christ with an unfaithful believer.
The poet John Milton was fascinated by the parable, referring to it repeatedly, notably in the sonnet "When I Consider How My Light is Spent":

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,
Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent'
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."

Some critics interpret the poem's exhortation to be ready to receive God's will as a critique of a misunderstanding of the parable as literal or economic, and that waiting, rather than amassing wealth to prove one's worth, is the proper way to serve God. While the narrator worries over his limited accomplishments, Patience reminds him that God does not need "man's work". Milton may even be contrasting God with the lord of the parable.