Luke 19:12-17

19:12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman¹ went to a distant country to receive² for himself a kingdom and then return.³ 19:13 And he summoned ten of his slaves,⁴ gave them ten minas,⁵ and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 19:14 But his citizens⁶ hated⁷ him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man⁸ to be king⁹ over us!’ 19:15 When¹⁰ he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned¹¹ these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted¹² to know how much they had earned¹³ by trading. 19:16 So¹⁴ the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir,¹⁵ your mina¹⁶ has made ten minas more.’ 19:17 And the king¹⁷ said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful¹⁸ in a very small matter, you will have authority¹⁹ over ten cities.’

¹tn Grk “a man of noble birth” or “a man of noble status” (L&N 87.27).

²sn Note that the receiving of the kingdom takes place in the far country. This suggests that those in the far country recognize and acknowledge the king when his own citizens did not want him as king (v. 14; cf. John 1:11-12).

³sn The background to this story about the nobleman who went…to receive for himself a kingdom had some parallels in the area’s recent history: Archelaus was appointed ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea in 4 b.c., but the people did not like him. Herod the Great also made a similar journey to Rome where he was crowned King of Judea in 40 b.c., although he was not able to claim his kingdom until 37 b.c.

⁴tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

⁵sn That is, one for each. A mina was a Greek monetary unit worth one hundred denarii or about four months’ wages for an average worker based on a six-day work week.

⁶tn Or “subjects.” Technically these people were not his subjects yet, but would be upon his return. They were citizens of his country who opposed his appointment as their king; later the newly-appointed king will refer to them as his “enemies” (v. 27).

⁷tn The imperfect is intense in this context, suggesting an ongoing attitude.

⁸tn Grk “this one” (somewhat derogatory in this context).

⁹tn Or “to rule.”

¹⁰tn Grk “And it happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹¹tn Grk “he said for these slaves to be called to him.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one and simplified to “he summoned.”

¹²tn Grk “in order that he might know” (a continuation of the preceding sentence). Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he” as subject and the verb “wanted” to convey the idea of purpose.

¹³sn The Greek verb earned refers to profit from engaging in commerce and trade (L&N 57.195). This is an examination of stewardship.

¹⁴tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the royal summons.

¹⁵tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.” (and so throughout this paragraph).

¹⁶tn See the note on the word “minas” in v. 13.

¹⁷tn Grk “he”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸tn See Luke 16:10.

¹⁹sn The faithful slave received expanded responsibility (authority over ten cities) as a result of his faithfulness; this in turn is an exhortation to faithfulness for the reader.