Parable of the talents entrusted
Two New Testament parable narratives are referred to as parables of the entrusted talents , which have been handed down similarly in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke . Jesus depicts a master who provides his servants with rich financial means, then goes on a journey and, after his return, keeps accounts. The first two servants make a profit and are rewarded for their services. On the other hand, the money of the last person, who for fear did not invest anything and instead hid it, is taken away by the Lord and says it according to the principle “He who has will be given; whoever has not will be taken away from “the most successful.
text
Luke and Matthew narrated the parable in two similar versions, which, however, differ in some details:
| Matthew 25 : 14-30 EU | Luke 19 : 12-27 EU | |
|---|---|---|
| The kingdom of heaven is like a man who went on a journey: He called his servants and entrusted his property to them. He gave one one five talents of silver money, another two, and another one, each according to his abilities. | vocation | A man of noble origin wanted to travel to a distant land to gain royal dignity and then return. He called ten of his servants over, distributed ten mines worth of money among them, and said, Do business with them until I come back. |
| But because the inhabitants of his country hated him, they sent an embassy after him saying: We don't want this man to become our king. Nevertheless, he was installed as king. | ||
| The servant who had been given five talents immediately began to work with them, and he gained five more. Likewise, whoever received two won two more. But the one who had received the one talent went and dug a hole in the earth and hid his master's money. | ||
| After a long time the Lord returned to hold the servants accountable. | Accountability | When he returned, he called the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to see what profit everyone had made in their dealings. |
| Then the one who had received the five talents came, brought five more and said, Lord, you have given me five talents; look, I've gained five more. His master said to him: Very good, you are a good and faithful servant. You have been a loyal administrator on a small scale, I want to give you a great job. Come share in the joy of your Lord! | The first | The first came and said: Lord, I made ten mines with your mine. Then the king said to him: Very good, you are a good servant. Because you were reliable in the smallest things, you should become master of ten cities. |
| Then the servant who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you have given me two talents; look, I've gained two more. His master said to him: Very good, you are a good and faithful servant. You have been a loyal administrator on a small scale, I want to give you a great job. Come share in the joy of your Lord! | The second | The second came and said, Lord, I've made five mines with your mine. The king said to him, You shall rule over five cities. |
| At last the servant who had received the one talent came and said: Lord, I knew that you are a strict man; you reap where you have not sown and gather where you have not spread; because i was afraid i hid your money in the ground. Here you have it again. | The last | Now someone else came and said: Lord, here you have your money back. I tied it up in a cloth and kept it; because I was afraid of you because you are a strict man: you withdraw what you have not paid in and reap what you have not sown. |
| His master answered him: You are a bad and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not spread. If you had at least put my money in the bank, I would have got it back with interest when I returned. So take the talent away from him and give it to him who has the ten talents! For whoever has it will be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have what he has will also be taken away from him. Throw the worthless servant out into utter darkness! There he will howl and grind his teeth. | judgment | The king replied: On the basis of your own words, I will give you the verdict. You are a bad servant. Did you know that I was a strict man? That I withdraw what I have not paid in and harvest what I have not sown? Then why didn't you put my money in the bank? Then I could have withdrawn it with interest on my return. And to the others who were standing by, he said, Take the money away from him and give it to him who has the ten mines. They said to him: Lord, he already has ten. I say to you, to whoever has it will be given; but whoever does not have what he has will also be taken away from him. But my enemies, who didn't want me to be their king, bring them here and cut them down before my eyes! |
structure
differences
Matthew obviously describes a trader who equips his three servants with talents according to their specific abilities at different levels and embarks on a journey, the purpose of which is not described in detail. Luke, on the other hand, is a nobleman who entrusts ten of his servants each with a mine and then sets off to his enthronement, where he is exposed to all kinds of hostility. Matthäus describes the meanwhile growth of the invested funds by 100%. The most talented generates a total of 10 talents, the second doubles his profit from two to four. However, the remuneration for both is the same: “You were ... loyal on a small scale ... I want to give you a big task. Come, take part in the joy of your Lord! ”Luke, on the other hand, bases the remuneration on the amount of the profit generated: the range of 1000% (from 1 to 10 mines) is determined by the rule over 10 cities, the range of 500% (5th Mines) with the repaid over 5 cities. How the remaining seven servants end is narrative irrelevant. The last one is the third one who keeps the money packed with Luke and buries it in the earth with Matthew. In Matthew, the master punishes the servant by excluding him from the area where " weeping and chattering of teeth " prevail. In Luke, the Lord finally calls for his enemies, who do not want him as their king, to be taken and killed in front of his eyes.
Source theory and dependencies
The historical-critical exegesis recognizes a text from the source of the Logia ("Q") as the basis of the New Testament parables . This comprised parts of Luke 19.12-13.15-24.26. Luke added a second theme of his own with Luke 19: 14–15a.25 (failed thwarting of the royal dignity of the noble), which criticizes the enemies of Jesus who want to prevent his imminent enthronement in Jerusalem.
The version of Matthew tends to be more drastic and differentiated. The servants receive different amounts of money, which are also considerably larger than with Q / Lk (see measures and weights in the Bible ). The last servant is not only criticized, but expressly marked with the attribute "lazy". With the punishment in the "darkness" the parable in Matthew reaches its own climax. This is probably an editorial addition by Matthew, who thereby places greater emphasis on the eschatological aspect of the narrative and particularly emphasizes the punitive aspect of the Last Judgment. Another condemnation of the latter is not pronounced in Luke.
Interpretations
Mostly the parable is interpreted as follows. People, especially Christians, experience themselves as talented , endowed with gifts that they have to manage and increase “faithfully”. There is a risk of losing them should they not be used. “Having” means having talents at their disposal and doing business with them. “Whoever has is given” can mean something like: “Property obliges”, materially and beyond.
Even if both of the same texts are formally similar, differences in content and context can be recognized. The proximity to the preceding Matthew parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25: 1–13) and the following parable of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25: 31–46) refers to the character of the story as a parousia . The sudden break-in with the possibility of arriving too late and being condemned give the Matthew version an ethical character.
Because the Lukan version is close to previous encounters with Pharisees , according to Zacchaeus (Luke 19: 1–10), the parable is often seen as a criticism of this group. With the figure of the traveling aspirant king, the parable builds a bridge to the subsequent entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28 ff.) As the path of the aspiring king of the Jews to his proclamation. Jesus tells the parable on the way to Jerusalem. The listener or reader of the parable will notice the closeness of Jesus to the Lord in the parable. Thus, another, albeit metaphorical, announcement of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus emerges from the parable.
Luise Schottroff, on the other hand, interprets the parable in Luke to the effect that the aspirant king is not Jesus of Nazareth, but one of the Herodian kings who had to be given royal dignity in Rome. She substantiates this with excerpts from Flavius Josephus , who reports on such delegations and how the resistance was dealt with.
William R. Herzog interprets the parable rather as an exposure of a strict and greedy gentleman. He punishes the servant who tells him this in the face and only gives him back his share capital by repudiation.
In the gospel of prosperity , the parable is seen as an affirmation of capitalism .
Linguistic
The common meaning of the word talent in the sense of endowment today can be traced back to this parable.
The idiom With its pounds grow is taken from the Luke variant of the parable. Because Luther originally translated the currency unit mines with pounds and the word interest with usury .
The phrase whoever has is given was known as the “ Matthew Effect ”, a “basic law” of any action-related sociology.
literature
- Christian Münch : Win or lose (From the funds entrusted to you) . In: Ruben Zimmermann (ed.): Compendium of the parables of Jesus . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2007, pp. 240-254, ISBN 978-3-579-08020-8
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ six thousand times the daily wage of a worker ( denarius )
- ↑ Christian Münch: Win or lose (From the funds entrusted to us) . In: Ruben Zimmermann (ed.): Compendium of the parables of Jesus . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2007, pp. 240-254
- ^ David C. Sim: Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew . Cambridge University Press, 1996. p. 140; Dale C. Allison Jesus and Gehenna . In: Jan Roskovec et al. (Ed.): Testimony and Interpretation: Early Christology in its Judeo-Hellenistic Milieu: Studies in Honor of Petr Pokorný . Continuum, London and New York 2004. p. 118.
- ↑ Joachim Jeremias: Parables of Jesus. P. 40 f.
- ^ William R. Herzog: Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed . Westminster John Knox Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0-664-25355-4 ( google.ca [accessed September 6, 2018]).
- ^ Hanna Rosin : Did Christianity Cause the Crash? , TheAtlantic.com , December 2009.
- ^ So Kluge, Friedrich: Etymological dictionary of the German language. 22nd edition. Berlin 1989. p. 719
- ^ So Geldner, Andreas / Michael Trauthig / Christoph Wetzel: Whoever searches, finds. Biblical idioms rediscovered. Stuttgart 2006. p. 84.