Luke 19:20

Luk 19:20. Ἕτερος, another[207]) who is contrasted with the two former servants.—ἘΝ) in a napkin, which affords no means of reproduction or increase.

[207] And a different character, as ἕτερος implies.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 19:20-27 . The useless servant . If in any part the parable has borrowed from the parable in Mt., it is here. The story might well have wound up with a statement as to what was to be done with the disaffected.

Luk 19:20 . ἐν σουδαρίῳ , in a handkerchief; ἐν τῇ γῇ in Mt.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Against them which spend their life idly in deliberating, and otherwise, in contemplation.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 20. Lord, behold, here is thy pound] See Mt 25:18.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(20) Thy pound, which I have kept ., .—Literally, which I kept—i.e., all along. He had never made any effort at doing more.

Laid up in a napkin.—The smaller scale of the parable is shown in the contrast between this and the “hiding the talent in the earth,” in St. Matthew. The “napkin” (the Greek word is really Latin, sudarium) appears in Act_19:12 as “handkerchiefs.” Such articles were naturally, then as now, used for wrapping up and concealing money which the owner wished simply to hoard.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For I feared thee,.... Not with a right fear, with a fear of his goodness, who had bestowed such an excellent gift on him; for this would have taught him to have departed from evil, and have put him on doing his master's will, and making use of his gift to his glory: his fear was not of the right kind, and was ill grounded, as appears by what follows:

because thou art an austere man; cruel and uncompassionate to his servants, and hard to be pleased; than which nothing is more false, since it is evident, that Christ is compassionate both to the bodies and souls of men; is a merciful high priest, and is one that has compassion on the ignorant, and them that are out of the way, and cannot but be touched with the feeling of his people's infirmities; and is mild and gentle in his whole deportment, and in all his administrations:

thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow; suggesting, that he was covetous of that which did not belong to him, and withheld what was due to his servants, and rigorously exacted service that could not be performed; a most iniquitous charge, since none so liberal as he, giving gifts, grace and glory, freely; imposing no grievous commands on men; his yoke being easy, and his burden light; never sending a man to a warfare at his own charge; but always giving grace and strength proportionable to the service he calls to, and rewarding his servants in a most bountiful manner, infinitely beyond their deserts.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:

Ver. 20. See Mat 25:21-22, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A napkin - A towel. He means by it that he had not wasted it nor thrown it by carelessly, but had been “very careful” of it; so much so as to be at the pains to tie it up in a towel and put it in a safe place, as if he had been “very faithful” to his trust. So many people employ their talents, their learning, their property, their influence. They “have” them; they “keep” them; but they never “use” them in the service of the Lord Jesus; and, in regard to their influence on the church or the world, it would be the same if God had never conferred on them these talents.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. Another came—Not all the servants, but specimen cases, are described as coming.

A napkin—The word in the original is the Greek of the Latin word sudarium, which is derived from the word sudor, sweat, as being used to wipe sweat from the face. We can hardly think, however, that our Lord aimed at the point which Trench specifies; that this lazy servant having no need of the linen to wipe off his sweat, used it to wrap up his pound. It was a handkerchief, which was appropriated to the purpose of concealing money.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 20, 21. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man; thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. This is the third class into which the servants who knew their Lord"s will are roughly divided. We have, first, the devoted earnest toiler, whose whole soul was in his Master"s work great, indeed, was his reward. And, second, we have the servant who acquitted himself fairly respectably, but not nobly, not a hero in the struggle of life; he, too, is recompensed magnificently, far above his most ardent hopes, but still his reward is infinitely below that which the first brave toiler received at his Lord"s hands. The third falls altogether into a different catalogue. He is a believer who has not found the state of grace offered by Jesus so brilliant as he hoped; a legal Christian, who has not tasted grace, and knows nothing of the gospel but its severe morality. It seems to him that the Lord gives very little to exact so much. "Surely," such a one argues, "the Lord should be satisfied with us if we abstain from doing ill, from squandering our talent." The Master"s answer is singularly to the point: "The more thou knowest that I am austere, the more thou shouldest have tried to satisfy me!" The Christian who lacks the experience of grace ought to be the most anxious of workers. The punishment here is very different from that awarded to the enemies (ver. 27). We hear nothing of darkness and gnashing of teeth; it is simply deprivation. Still, even this modified penalty seems to tell of an eternity of regret and loss. Instead of the ten cities, or even the five, there is not even the poor pound left to the hapless condemned one, unworthy even to retain that little heritage.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20–23. Lord, here is thy pound. See notes on Matt. 25:24–27, where the case is similar. The lesson is that our abilities must be used for the Lord. It is not enough that we are not positively wicked; we must do good.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus continues to tell the parable he began in Luke 19:11.

Another came

"Another servant came"

mina

A mina was 600 grams, probably of silver. Each mina was equal to 100 days' wages, what people would be paid for about four months' work. See how you translated this in Luke 19:13. (See: Biblical Weight)

kept safely in a cloth

"wrapped in a cloth and stored away"

a demanding person

"a stern man" or "a man who expects a lot from his servants"

You take up what you did not put in

This was probably a proverb. A person who takes out of storage or out of a bank things that he did not put in is a metaphor for someone who benefits from other people's hard work. AT: "You take out what you did not put in" or "You are like a person how takes out what other people put in" (See: Metaphor)

you reap what you did not sow

This was probably a proverb. A person who harvests food that someone else has planted is a metaphor for someone who benefits from other people's hard work. AT: "you are like a person who reaps the fruit of what other people sowed" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

lord

reap

plant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

20. ὁ ἕτερος, BDL.

20. σουδαρίῳ. A Latin word, which, like many others, passed into Greek and even into Semitic languages (comp. λεγεών, ἀσσάριον). These Latinisms are most common in St Mark.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20.] σουδάριον is sudarium, from ‘sudor,’ one of those Latin words which entered, with Roman habits, into the language of the East. Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. p. 1442, gives an account of various usages of the word in the Targums. Schöttg., in loc., shews by Rabbinical citations that the Jews used the σουδάριον for wrapping and keeping their money in.

Ver. 25 is parenthetical, spoken by the standers-by in the parable, in surprise at such a decision: then in ver. 26, the King answers them.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. καὶ ὁ ἕτερος. The omission of the article in A and inferior MSS. is a manifest correction to avoid a difficulty. As there were ten servants, the third cannot rightly be spoken of as ὁ ἕτερος. Weiss takes this as evidence that in the original parable there were only three servants, as in me Talents; and therefore as evidence that the two narratives represent the same original. But it would have been tedious to have gone through all the ten, which is a round number, as in the Ten Virgins. The three mentioned are samples of the whole ten. Some gained immensely, some considerably, mad some not at all. The two first classes having been described, the representative of the remaining class may be spoken of as ὁ ἕτερος, especially as he is of quite a different kind. They both belong to the profitable division, he to the unprofitable.

ἣν εἶχον ἀποκειμένην. “Which I was keeping stored up.” He is not owning a fault, but professing a virtue: “I have not lost or spent any of it.” In Col 1:5; 2Ti 4:8; Heb 9:27 the verb is used of what is “stored up” and awaits us in the future: here only in a literal sense.

σοιδαρίῳ. A Latinism: sudarium (Act 19:12; Joh 11:44, Joh 20:7). Comp. ἀσσάριον (12:6), λεγιών (8:30), δηνάριον (10:35), κεντυρίων (Mar 15:39), κοδράντης (Mat 5:26), etc.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I kept [ειχον] . The imperfect. I was keeping while thou wert absent. Napkin [σουδαριω] . The Latin sudarium, from sudor, perspiration : a cloth for wiping off the sweat. Trench notes that the napkin which the idle servant does not need for its proper use (Gen 3:19) he uses for the wrapping up of his pound.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 20-27. Of the other seven servants there is no mention; they fall either into the category of the preceding, or into that of the following. The ground on which the latter explains his inactivity is not a mere pretext. His language is too plain-spoken not to be sincere. He is a believer who has not found the state of grace offered by Jesus so brilliant as he hoped,—a legal Christian, who has not tasted grace, and knows nothing of the gospel but its severe morality. It seems to him that the Lord gives very little to exact so much. With such a feeling, the least possible only will be done. God should be satisfied with us if we abstain from doing ill, from squandering our talent. Such would have been the language of a Judas dissatisfied with the poverty of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. In Matthew, the unfaithful servant is offended not at the insufficiency of the master’s gifts in general, but at the inferiority of those given to himself, in comparison with those of his associates. This is a Judas embittered at the sight of the higher position assigned to Peter or John.

The master’s answer (Luk 19:22) is an argumentum ad hominem: The more thou knowest that I am austere, the more shouldest thou have endeavoured to satisfy me! The Christian who lacks the sweet experience of grace ought to be the most anxious of labourers. The fear of doing ill is no reason for doing nothing, especially when there are means of action, the use of which covers our entire responsibility. What does Jesus mean by the banker? Could it be those Christian associations to which every believer may entrust the resources which he cannot use himself? It seems to us that Jesus by this image would rather represent the divine omnipotence of which we may avail ourselves by prayer, without thereby exposing the cause of Christ to any risk. Of him who has not worked the Lord will ask, Hast thou at least prayed?

The dispensation of glory changes in the case of such a servant into an eternity of loss and shame. The holy works which he might have wrought here below, along with the powers by which he might have accomplished them, are committed to the servant who has shown himself the most active. This or that pagan population, for example, which might have been evangelized by the young Christian who remained on the earth the slave of selfish ease, shall be committed in the future dispensation to the devoted missionary who has used his powers here below in the service of Jesus.

At Luk 19:26, the same form of address as at Luk 12:41-42. The Lord continues as if no observation had been interposed, replying all the while, nevertheless, to the objection which has been started. There is a law, in virtue of which every grace actively appropriated increases our receptivity for higher graces, while all grace rejected diminishes our aptitude for receiving new graces. From this law of moral life it follows, that gradually all graces must be concentrated in faithful workers, and be withdrawn from negligent servants. Chap. Luk 8:18, Jesus said, That which he seemeth to have; here he says, That he hath. The two expressions are true. We have a grace which is bestowed on us; but if we do not assimilate it actively, we do not really possess it; we imagine we have it.

Ver. 27 (comp. Luk 19:14) represents the Messiah’s reckoning with the Jewish people, as Luk 19:15-26 represent His reckoning with the Church. Πλήν, only: “After judging the servants, there remains only one thing.” This punishment of the Jews includes, along with the destruction of Jerusalem, the state of rejection in which they are plunged till the Lord’s return.

The ruling idea of this parable in Luke is therefore that of a time of probation between the departure and the return of the Lord, necessary to prepare the sentence which shall fix the position of every one in the state of things following the Parousia. Hence follows the impossibility of that immediate appearing of the kingdom of God which filled the minds of the crowd now accompanying Jesus to Jerusalem. Luke’s parable thus forms, as Holtzmann acknowledges, a complete whole; and whatever the same learned critic may say, it must be confessed that the introduction, Luk 19:11, indicates its true bearing,—a fact confirming the idea that this introduction belonged to Luke’s sources, and proceeded from accurate tradition.

The relation between this parable and that of the talents in Matthew is difficult to determine. Strauss has alleged that Luke’s was a combination of that of the husbandmen (Luke 20) and that of the talents (Matthew 25). But the internal harmony of Luke’s description, which Holtzmann acknowledges, does not admit of this supposition. Meyer regards it as a re-handling of the parable of the talents in Matthew. The action is undoubtedly similar, but, as we have seen, the thought is radically different. The aim of Matthew’s parable seems to be to encourage those who have received less, by promising them the same approbation from the Master if they are equally faithful, and by putting them on their guard against the temptation of making their inferiority a motive to spiritual indifference, and a pretext for idleness. We have seen that the idea of the parable in Luke is quite different. It must therefore be admitted that there were two parables uttered, but that their images were borrowed from very similar fields of life. The analogy between the two descriptions may perhaps have caused the importation of some details from the one into the other (e.g., the dialogue between the master and the unfaithful servant).

Here we have reached the end of that journey, the account of which begins Luk 9:51. Jesus first traversed the countries lying south from the old scene of His activity, then the border regions of Samaria and Galilee, finally Peraea; He has thus come to the gates of Jerusalem. From the moral point of view, His work also has reached a new stage. On the one hand, the enthusiasm of the people is at its height, and all believing Galilee, the nucleus of His future Church in Israel, accompanies Him to form His retinue when He shall make His kingly entry into His capital; on the other, He has completely broken with the pharisaic party, and His separation from the nation as such, swayed by the pharisaic spirit, is consummated. He must die; for to let Him live would, on the part of the Sanhedrim, be to abdicate.

We have not followed step by step Keim’s criticism on this last part of the journey. It is the masterpiece of arbitrariness. Whatever does not square with the proportions of Jesus as settled before-hand by the learned critic, is eliminated for one reason or another. Those reasons are found without difficulty when sought. After John, Luke is the most abused. For Matthew’s two blind men he substitutes one, because he thinks right to reproduce the other in the form of the person of Zaccheus. Timeus (the impure) becomes Zaccheus (the pure), the impure pure! Mark replaces the second by Timeus, the father (also blind) of Bartimeus! Keim here reaches the height of Volkmar.

The blindness is overcome by the power of enthusiasm which was reigning at the moment, and which, by exalting the force of the vital nervous fluid, reopens the closed eyes temporarily or lastingly! Luke invents, in the despised person of Zaccheus, a counterpart to proud Jerusalem, which knows not the day of her visitation (Luk 19:42). It is true that this last expression of Jesus, as well as His tears over Jerusalem, with which it is connected, is invented, as much as the history of Zaccheus. The two counterparts are imaginary!

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.