The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because He was nearing Jerusalem, He told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.
He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’ After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were. The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’ “‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’ The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’ ‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’ But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’ ‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’ ‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’ ‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.'” Luke 19:11-27
Why is this parable called the Parable of the Pounds? The King James first introduced the term pounds in the text and all KJV derivatives and the older more literal English translations followed suit. (ASV, Murdock,RV, Webster, YLT). Surprisingly, the BBE and the NLT followed them as well. But the LITV translates the verse as, “And calling ten of his slaves, he gave to them ten minas and said to them, trade until I come.” The Amplified Bible translates this verse as, “Calling ten of his [own] bond servants, he gave them ten minas [each equal to about one hundred days’ wages or nearly twenty dollars] and said to them, Buy and sell with these while I go and then return.” The term for currency used in the original Greek text is the “mina”.
E-Sword records for us in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
Maneh; Mina
man´e,ormı̄´na(מנה, māneh; μνᾶ,mná,“pound” (English Versions of the Bible): A weight containing 50 shekels, according to Hebrew usage, but which varied according to the standard adopted. Estimated on the Phoenician, or commercial, standard, it was equal to 11,200 grains, or about 2 lbs. troy, or about 1, 6 lbs. avoir dupois. This is probably the weight intended in1Ki_10:17;Ezr_2:69andNeh_7:71f(see WEIGHTS AND MEASURES). When used in a monetary sense, the māneh of silver was worth about 6 pounds 17 shillings, or $34 (in 1915); the gold māneh was equal to about 102 pounds10shillings, or $510 (in 1915).
The mina was not equal to a British Pound (£). Neither is it the weight of a lb (pound). It has simply just come into English usage as a result of the KJV translation. It is certainly not equivalent to a 1 lb weight of silver. The Amplified Bible has an accurate measure in terms of it being the equivalent of a hundred days wages for a normal working man. The value of which will change from century to century. So to call this parable the Parable of the Pounds is somewhat misleading. The focus is not the money.
Most commentators are of the opinion that the cultural – historical background to this story is the fact that Herod the Great made a trip to Rome in 40 BC, in order to be crowned king of Palestine. He came back having succeeded. In 4 BC Herod’s son, Archelaus made the trip to Rome hoping to be crowned king. He needed to put his case for being king against that of his brother Herod Antipas as to which of them would be king. Archelaus returned as an Ethnarch but then had his crown taken from him. It’s a very topical and relevant use of a local event that Jesus used to make a point. But what is the point? Why is this story included in Luke’s gospel? Why is it included here at this point? There is a story like it in Matthew 25 with the Parable of the Talents. Only Matthew and Luke have recorded these stories. John and Mark don’t have them in their gospels. Matthew and Luke use them in very different contexts. While some of the principles used are similar, the actors, the setting, the currency used and other details vary. Most harmonies of the Gospels separate these two accounts as different stories and don’t combine them together or set them parallel to each other. It is possible that both Matthew and Luke have taken the same story Jesus told, and changed it to fit the settings in which they placed the story. What is more likely, is that Jesus used the illustration multiple times in different settings to make a point, and Matthew and Luke have picked up on two different times He told the story. We need to look carefully at the setting of the story to know why the story is being used in this place.
We all know how this works. Many times, we ourselves have told a story or a joke or used an example in different ways. One time we might have used it to teach faithfulness; another time we use the same story to illustrate patience. That being the case, we have to pay careful attention to the setting. That is why the setting is very important in this case. That is why I drew your attention to the fact that Luke cues us in to what this story is all about. Luke tells us, Jesus uses this story to counter their expectations that the crowning of Messiah is going to happen when they reach Jerusalem. I don’t know for sure if He is alluding to what happened with Archelaus but it is highly likely. Read the facts for yourself (clipped from E-Sword’s ISBE).
Herod Archelaus
Herod Archelaus was the oldest son of Herod the Great by Malthace, the Samaritan. He was a man of violent temper, reminding one a great deal of his father. Educated like all Archelaus the Herodian princes at Rome, he was fully familiar with the life and arbitrariness of the Roman court. In the last days of his father’s life, Antipater, who evidently aimed at the extermination of all the heirs to the throne, accused him and Philip, his half-brother, of treason. Both were acquitted (Ant., XVI, iv, 4; XVII, vii, 1). By the will of his father, the greater part of the Herodian kingdom fell to his share, with the title of “ethnarch.” The will was contested by his brother Antipas before the Roman court. While the matter was in abeyance, Archelaus incurred the hatred of the Jews by the forcible repression of a rebellion, in which some 3,000 people were slain. They therefore opposed his claims at Rome, but Archelaus, in the face of all this opposition, received the Roman support (Ant., XVII, xi, 4). It is very ingeniously suggested that this episode may be the foundation of the parable of Christ, found in Lk 19:12-27. Archelaus, once invested with the government of Judea, ruled with a hard hand, so that Judea and Samaria were both soon in a chronic state of unrest. The two nations, bitterly as they hated each other, became friends in this common crisis, and sent an embassy to Rome to complain of the conduct of Archelaus, and this time they were successful. Archelaus was warned by a dream of the coming disaster, whereupon he went at once to Rome to defend himself, but wholly in vain. His government was taken from him, his possessions were all confiscated by the Roman power and he himself was banished to Vienna in Gaul (Ant., XVII, xiii, 2, 3). He, too, displayed some of his father’s taste for architecture, in the building of a royal palace at Jericho and of a village, named after himself, Archelais. He was married first to Mariamne, and after his divorce from her to Glaphyra, who had been the wife of his half-brother Alexander (Ant., XVII, xiii). The only mention made of him in the Gospels is found inMat_2:22.
(This violation of the Law along with Archelaus’ cruelty raised Jews opposition and they complained to Augustus. Archelaus was deposed in 6 AD and banished to Gaul. Ian)
Now re-read the parable in the light of this new information.
Your character is defined by what you do repeatedly and habitually. So if you want to improve your character, change your habit.
Ian Vail
What makes or breaks a man is not what people think of him, but what he thinks of himself.
Ian Vail
If I’m not taking any risks, I don’t need any faith. If I don’t need any faith, then I’m being Unfaithful!
Rick Godwin
The brain doesn’t determine someone’s learning capacity, but the heart does.
Billy Simpson
It’s not the size of your faith, but the size of your God, that matters.
Rick Warren