Parable of the Talents

To the single "unfaithful" servant, who avoided even the safe profit of bank interest, a negative compensation is given.

[5] 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 parallels between the Lukan material (the Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts) and Josephus' writings have long been noted.

[7][8][9][10] 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.

[15] 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",[16] 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.

[18] Finley suggests these interpretations among the teachings for Christians: The poet John Milton was fascinated by the parable (interpreted in this traditional sense),[19] referring to it repeatedly, notably in the sonnet "When I Consider How My Light is Spent":[19] 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?"

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.

Thousands at his bidding speed And post o'er land and ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and wait."

[21] 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.

[22] Similarly, a reflection in the Carmelites' website defines the talents as "love, service, sharing", the "money of the master".

[26] Jeremias also believed that in the life of the early church the parable took on new meaning, with the merchant having become an allegory of Christ, so that "his journey has become the ascension, his subsequent return ... has become the Parousia, which ushers his own into the Messianic banquet.

"[26] In Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed (1994), William R. Herzog II presents a liberation theology interpretation of the "Parable of the Talents", wherein the absentee landlord reaps where he didn't sow, and the third servant is a whistle-blower who has "unmasked the 'joy of the master' for what it is — the profits of exploitation squandered in wasteful excess.

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.

[27] To describe how scientists are awarded authorial credit for their work, the sociologist Robert K. Merton applied the term "Matthew effect of accumulated advantage", in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

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.

", by John Wesley, notably alludes to the "Parable of the Talents" (Matthew 25:23), 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.

Thy glorious warfare's past; The battle's fought, the race is won, And thou art crowned at last.