\u03c1\u03b3\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd<\/em> (\u201cargurion\u201d referring to silvery) used in verse 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSince an ordinary laborer during that time would be paid a denarius (plural: denarii) for a day\u2019s work, the amount entrusted to the 3 bondservants was immense. A single (silver) talent would be enough to pay for nearly 20 years of a laborer\u2019s wages, assuming he worked about 300 days\/year. Thus, as I\u2019ve written before, given 5 talents, the first bondservant would have nearly 100 years-worth of wages. The next one was given 2 talents, or about 40 years-worth of wages while the last one was given just one talent, or about 20 years-worth of wages. It is totally exaggerated. But as the parable goes, it gives one a feel of the master\u2019s great wealth; the level of trust for these 3 bondservants; and also the length of time he was going to be away. With this kind of wealth, the master could very well afford to have many more bondservants. And certainly, there would be more than enough time for the bondservants to make productive use of the talents entrusted to them (each according to his ability).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the next verses, Matthew 25:16-17, the first and second bondservants traded\/put to work their entrusted talents to earn more. This is described by the verb \u1f20<\/em>\u03c1\u03b3\u03ac\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf<\/em> from \u1f10<\/em>\u03c1\u03b3\u03ac\u03b6\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9<\/em> (\u201cergazomai\u201d meaning to work for, earn by working, to acquire, to trade, to make gains by trading). It seems these 2 bondservants understood their duty to their master meant not only faithfully waiting for his return but also making his money grow while he was absent. These 2 earned exactly 100% of what they worked with; they doubled their lord\u2019s money. Perhaps another exaggeration but it highlights the contrast with the third bondservant\u2019s inaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMatthew 25:18 narrates that the third bondservant literally dug a hole in the ground and hid his \u1f00<\/em>\u03c1\u03b3\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd<\/em> (\u201cargurion\u201d) talent. In those days, this was probably the usual safe way of hiding a valuable possession for preservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThen Matthew 25:19 says: \u201cBut after much time, the master of those bondservants comes<\/mark> \u2026\u201d<\/em> This verse uses the familiar Greek noun \u03c7\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2<\/em> (\u201cchronos\u201d), meaning ordinary time (in contrast to \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03cc\u03c2<\/em> \u201ckairos\u201d meaning the right, fitting or opportune moment\/time or season). \u03a7\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2<\/em> is a cognate of the verb \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03b6\u03c9<\/em> (\u201cchronizo\u201d) which was used in the 2 previous parables of the wicked bondservant (in Matthew 24:45-51) and the Ten Virgins (in Matthew 25:1-13). The phrase \u201cmuch time\u201d (\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u1f7a\u03bd \u03c7\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd<\/em>) in verse 19 therefore connotes a delay or an unexpected long period of time. This much\/long time is a consistent counterpart to the huge amount of talents entrusted to the bondservants.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHere in this verse, the 3 eschatological themes we have been tracking are again seen to converge. Note that the word used for lord\/Lord and master is the same: \u03ba\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2<\/em> \u201ckurios.\u201d Hence, when the lord\/master is returning is unknown; the bondservants are expected to keep watch and do what is proper; and the lord\/master tarries\/delays or comes after an extended period of time. The first theme is pointed to by the fact that the master does not give a timeframe for his return; he simply leaves immediately (see verse 15). The second theme is expounded in verses 14-15, 19 and the succeeding verses. The third theme is found here in verse 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe will continue next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. After briefly studying the 1 Thessalonians 4-5 parallels with the Olivet Discourse, we now continue with Matthew 25:14-30 (Parable of the Talents) and the 3 eschatological themes we are tracking. As an integral part of the Olivet Discourse, this parable must be viewed in its proper eschatological context; it is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions\/330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}