Parable of the Talents

thumb|300px|The parable of the talents, depicted in a 1712 woodcut. The lazy servant searches for his buried talent, while the two other servants present their earnings to their master.

The Parable of the Talents (also the Parable of the Minas) 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.

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 (his audience)—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 (Ancient Greek , talanton 'scale' and 'balance') 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. 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 ( 60 minas). 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 (the Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts) 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 3,000 of his enemies to be brought to him at the Temple in Jerusalem, where he has them slaughtered. includes a paraphrased summary of a parable of talents taken from a "Gospel written in Hebrew script" (generally considered in modern times to be the Gospel of the Nazarenes); this gospel is presumed to have been destroyed in the destruction of the Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima in the 7th century (in historically controversial circumstances) 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 (, trapezitais, literally, table or counter-keepers, just as bankers were originally those who sat at their bancum, or bench). The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that this was "the very least the slave could have done, [as] 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.

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 ("capital") 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 (recompense) for the unfaithful servant likely speaks of some negative dealing by Christ with an unfaithful believer. referring to it repeatedly, notably in the sonnet "When I Consider How My Light is Spent": 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 (as King) with the lord of the parable.

As love or mercy

Catholic bishop Robert Barron says that the talents in this parable are "a share in the mercy of God, a participation in the weightiness of the divine love," rather than personal abilities or wealth. He utilizes the interpretation of Old Testament professor Robert Schoenstene, who argues that a talent in ancient Jewish times was very weighty thus five talents was extremely heavy. Such heaviness would remind to the heaviest weight of all, the kabod (lit. heaviness) of God in the Temple of Jerusalem, accordingly the most heavy of all is the mercy of God. Similarly, a reflection in the Carmelites' website defines the talents as "love, service, sharing", the "money of the master". In other words, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis says, "Our greatest talent and treasure is our ability to love, and in this enterprise the champion is the greatest risk taker, which means the one most willing to invest himself where the odds appear most against him."

As gifts from God

Cornelius a Lapide in his great commentary, writes, "By talents understand all the gifts of God, without which we can do nothing. These gifts are, I say—1st Of grace, both making grateful, such as faith, hope, charity, virginity, and all the other virtues, as well as those of grace given gratis—such as the power of working miracles, the Apostolate, the Priesthood, the gift of tongues, prophecy, etc. 2d Natural gifts, such as a keen intellect, a sound judgment, a sound constitution, prudence, industry, learning, eloquence. 3d External goods and gifts, as honours, riches, rank, etc. So St. Chrysostom. For all these things God distributes unequally, according to His good pleasure. And with this end in view, that each should use them for God’s glory, and the good of himself and others."

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." 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. Hence, the third servant is punished for speaking the truth, and not for failing to make a profit. From the critical perspective of liberation theology, the message of the "Parable of the Talents" is that man must act in solidarity with other men when confronting social, political, and economic injustices.

Depictions in the arts

thumb|300px|The teachings of Jesus: the Parable of the Talents, as etched by [[Jan Luyken.]]

thumb|The Parable of the Talents, depicted by artist [[Andrei Mironov (painter)|Andrei Mironov. Oil on canvas, 2013]]

The "Parable of the Talents" has been depicted by artists such as Rembrandt, Jan Luyken, and Matthäus Merian. In literature, the Threepenny Novel (1934), by Bertolt Brecht (1895–1956), presents a social critique of the parable as an ideological tool of capitalist exploitation of the worker and of society.

In religious music, the hymn "Slave of God, Well Done!", by John Wesley, notably alludes to the "Parable of the Talents" (), which was written on the occasion of the death of George Whitefield (1714–1770), the English Anglican cleric who was instrumental to the First Great Awakening (ca. 1731–55) in Britain and in the American colonies.

The hymn "Slave of God, Well Done!" begins thus:

Slave of God, well done!

Thy glorious warfare's past;

The battle's fought, the race is won,

And thou art crowned at last.</poem></blockquote>

Parable of the Talents is a science fiction novel, published in 1998, written by Octavia E. Butler.

References

Crossan, John Dominic The Power of Parable (HarperOne 2013)
Malina, Bruce J. and Rohrbaugh, Richard L. Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels (Fortress Press 1993)
Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume V: Probing the Authenticity of the Parables (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library 2016)

External links

Biblical-art.com
Parable of the Harsh Master at The Brick Testament.