Luke 19:22

Luk 19:22-23. And he saith, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, &c. — When his lord heard him offer such a vile and groundless charge against him as an excuse for his own negligence, he was filled with indignation, and determined to punish him severely. Thou knewest that I was an austere man — This is not an acknowledgment of the vile and detestable charge of “God’s demanding of men,” as Dr. Guise observes, “more difficult services than he has furnished them for, and would assist them in,” which would be a most unrighteous thought of God; but the servant’s lord only argues with him on his own base principles, and shows, that even on them he would be justly condemned for his negligence. Wherefore then gavest thou not my money — If thou didst really believe me to be the rigorous person thou sayest I am, why didst thou not lend out my money on proper security, that I might have received mine own, συν τοκω, with interest; a method of improvement of thy talent which would have occasioned thee no trouble at all. Thy excuse, therefore, is a mere pretence. In like manner, all the excuses which wicked ministers, or slothful professors of Christianity, offer in their own behalf, shall, at the bar of God, stand them in no stead, whether they be drawn from the character which they affixed to God, or from his supposed decrees, or from their own inability, or from the difficulty of his service, or from any other consideration whatever. Negligent and useless ministers especially, may, in the fate of this slothful servant, see a picture of their own: for Christ, above all things, disapproves of a wicked, or even an indolent or unprofitable minister of his gospel. “This negligent and slothful servant,” says Quesnel, “ought to make all pastors and clergymen tremble, who imagine that they lead an innocent life if they do but avoid the grosser sins, and only lead an easy and quiet life in idleness and indolence. In a priest it is a great evil not to do any good. Not to use the gifts of God, is to abuse them. He loses them, who does not make them serviceable to the good of the church. Rest is a crime in one who is called to a laborious life; and we cannot live to ourselves alone, when we belong to the church.” “Let us reflect,” says Gregory, in his seventeenth homily on the gospel, “who were ever converted by our preaching; who, moved by our rebukes, have repented of their evil ways; who, through our teaching, have forsaken luxury, covetousness, pride. Let us reflect what gain we have made for God, who have been sent by him to labour, with the talents intrusted to us. For he saith, Occupy till I come. Behold, now he cometh, now he requires the profit of our labour. What gain of souls shall we be able to show him from our toils? What sheaves of souls shall we be able to present to him from the harvest of our preaching? Let us place before our eyes that day of so great strictness, in which the Judge will come and take an account of these servants, to whom he hath committed his talents! Lo, he will be seen in terrible majesty, amid the company of angels and archangels! Good and bad must be examined before him, and the works of each made manifest. There all the leaders of the Lord’s flock will appear with their gain of souls, won to the Lord by their preaching. And when so many pastors shall appear with their flocks before the eyes of their eternal Pastor — wretched men, what shall we say, who return empty to our Lord; who have borne the name of shepherds, and yet have no sheep to show! called pastors here, but without any flock there!”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 19:22. Ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου, out of thine own mouth) To the ungodly, the inner principles on which the Divine judgments are based, are not disclosed; but they are convicted in a way merely proportioned to their own capabilities of comprehension.

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

(22) Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee.—See Note on Mat_25:26. These words are, perhaps, somewhat more emphatic than in the parallel passage. The very term which the servant had dared to apply to his lord, is repeated with a solemn impressiveness.

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

22. Oat of thine oum mouth] “A powerful instance of the argument um ex concessis.” Lange.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank,.... Or "on the table", at which the bankers sat, and received and delivered money on interest. The Complutensian edition reads, "to the tablers", or "bankers": had Christ been such a person as he represents him, he ought to have been the more diligent, and made the greater use of his gifts, since he knew that he would, in a rigid manner, as he suggests, demand an account of them:

that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? not that Christ approves of usury in an unlawful way, by extortion, but reproves hereby the sloth of this man, and exposes his folly and wickedness upon his own principles.

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

22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Ver. 22. 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.

Out of thine own mouth - By your own statement, or your own views of my character. If you “knew” that this was my character, and “knew” that I would be rigid, firm, and even severe, it would have been the part of wisdom in you to have made the best use of the money in your power; but as you “knew” my character beforehand, and was well acquainted with the fact that I should demand a strict compliance with your obligation, you have no right to complain if you are condemned accordingly. We are not to suppose that God is “unjust or austere;” but what we are to learn from this is, that as people know that God will be “just,” and will call them to a strict account in the day of judgment, they ought to be prepared to meet him, and that they cannot then complain if God should condemn them.

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

The punishment:

v. 22. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow;

v. 23. wherefore, then, gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?

v. 24. And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

v. 25. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)

v. 26. For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

v. 27. But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither, and slay them before me.

The useless servant was condemned by his own. words; by them he was convicted as lazy and wicked. If he had that honest conviction that the master was actually so strict and exacting that he expected to get blood out of a stone, he should have remembered his station and acted in accordance with his conviction. It would have been a perfectly simple matter for him to have taken the money which he feared to invest of his own responsibility and put it into the bank. With sarcastic emphasis the lord says that he, upon his arrival, might have taken his own with interest. Then the servant would have kept his fingers and his conscience unsoiled. Incidentally, he would have saved himself the punishment which now descended upon him. His one lonely piece of money was given to him that had ten pounds. And when those that were present, probably some of the other servants, faintly remonstrated, saying that that servant was already well provided, the master told them: To everyone that hath there will be given; but from him that hath not even that which he hath will be taken. Every one that has a gain to show because he has faithfully managed the affairs entrusted to him will be rewarded with more and greater things than he originally received. But he that has no gain to show, through his own fault, because he has not used the gifts and goods entrusted to him, will be deprived of all that he has. But so far as the citizens of that country were concerned; the lord’s sentence upon them is that they should be punished in proportion to their crime of rebellion. They should be brought before him and there be slaughtered, thus paying the full penalty for their crime.

The meaning of the parable is evident. Christ is the noble-born Prince. Though born a true man, He was and is at the same time God, blessed forever. He left His country, His people, the chosen nation of God, through Passion, death, and resurrection, Php 2:8-9; Heb 1:3-14; Heb 2:1-18; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-16; Heb 5:1-14; Heb 6:1-20; Heb 7:1-28; Heb 8:1-9, in order to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and thus to receive, also according to His human nature, the kingly power and glory of His Father. The citizens of His country are the Jews, the children of Israel. They openly declared themselves against the Lord; they were a rebellious, stiff-necked people. They wanted nothing of the rule of the exalted Christ. And with them all unbelievers cry: We will not have this man to reign over us. The servants of the Lord are the believers, the Christians. To them Christ has entrusted, in the interval between His ascension and His coming to Judgment, many splendid gifts and goods, both spiritual and temporal, out of free kindness and grace. "Here human merits are rejected; for thou hearest that the servants take the money from the lord, in order to do business and gain with it. And the lord, because they were faithful, gives them the money and the gain, and, in addition, the cities, all for grace and goodness. " Above all, the Lord has given to His Christians, to the Church on earth, His Gospel. With this, with the means of grace, they are to do business, they are to gain souls for the kingdom of heaven. And those Christians in whom faith is mighty to drive them onward are glad to serve the Lord to the best of their ability. They serve in church, in school, in the various organizations which aid the spread of the Gospel; they give time, money, work, with never a thought of sacrifice, some with more ability and success, some with less. There are some, however, that bear the name of Christians, but know nothing of the power of Christianity, that neglect the work of the Lord, that are never interested when they are approached, that are always too busy with their own affairs. Such people are useless servants, hypocrites. The day of reckoning is coming. Then the Lord will reward the faithful servants far above their work, with the reward of grace; He will give them glory and bliss without end. But the useless, lazy servants will receive their reward according as they have merited it. They will have no part in the eternal kingdom of Christ. And as for the open enemies of Christ, the rebels against His rule of kindness, the great Judgment Day will bring them everlasting shame and condemnation. With the Jews that called down the blood of Jesus upon themselves and their children, they will be punished with everlasting death and destruction.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

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

By your own words

His "words" refer to all that he had said. AT: "Based on what you have said" (See: Metonymy)

You knew that I am a demanding person

The nobleman was repeating what the servant had said about him. He was not saying that it was true. AT: "You say that I am a demanding person"

why did you not put my money ... interest?

The nobleman uses a question to rebuke the wicked servant. AT: "you should have put my money ... interest." (See: Rhetorical Question)

put my money in the bank

"lent my money to a bank." Cultures that do not have banks might translate it as "let someone borrow my money."

bank

A bank is a business that safely holds money for people. A bank lends that money to others for a profit. Therefore it pays an extra amount, or interest, to the people who keep their money in the bank.

I would have collected it with interest

"I could have collected that amount plus the interest it would have earned" or "I would have gained a profit from it"

interest

Interest is money that a bank pays people who put their money in the bank.

translationWords

word

judge

evil

servant

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

22. ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου. “A powerful instance of the argumentum ex concessis.” Lange.

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.

22. κρίνω σε. “Do I judge thee”; te judico (f Vulg.), condemno (e). Most editors prefer κρινῶ, “will I judge” (AV. RV.); judicabo (a d). But Tyn. has “judge I thee” and Luth. richte ich dich. Hist. pres. (λέγει, 13:8, 16:7, 29) is very rare in Lk.

The Latin Versions vary greatly in rendering πονηρέ; inique (d), infidelis (e ff2 i r), crudelis (b), nequa et piger (f), infidelis et piger (q), infidelis et male (a)nequam (Vulg.). Comp. Mat 18:32. The piger comes from Mat 25:26, πονηρὲ δοῦλα καὶ ὀκνηρέ.

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

Thou knewest. To be read interrogatively. "Didst thou know that? Then, for that reason, thou shouldst have been the more faithful."

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