Parable of the Talents

The Parable of the Talents (also the Parable of the Minas) is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in two of the synoptic, canonical gospels of the New Testament:

Although the basic theme of each of these parables is essentially the same, the differences between the parables in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke are sufficient to indicate that the parables are not derived from the same source.[1] In Matthew, the opening words link the parable to the preceding Parable of the Ten Virgins, which refers to the Kingdom of Heaven.[1] The version in Luke is also called the Parable of the Pounds.

In both Matthew and Luke, a master puts his slaves in charge of his goods while he is away on a trip. Upon his return, the master assesses the stewardship of his slaves. He evaluates them according to how faithful each was in making wise investments of his goods to obtain a profit. It is clear that the master sought some profit from the slaves' oversight. A gain indicated faithfulness on the part of the slaves. The master rewards his slaves according to how each has handled his stewardship. He judges two slaves as having been "faithful" and gives them a positive reward. To the single "unfaithful" slave, who avoided even the safe profit of bank interest, a negative compensation is given.

A thematically variant parable may have appeared in the non-canonical Jewish–Christian Gospels, wherein one slave squanders the money on prostitutes and flute-girls, the second multiplies its value, and the third hides it.[2]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Hultgren was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Szesnat, Holger. "The non-canonical version of the story of entrusted money in Nicetas of Heraclea’s Catena in Lucam: Revisiting text and manuscripts." Neotestamentica 53, no. 1 (2019): 149–74. Available online at: https://works.hcommons.org/records/vnajs-dcn70. Accessed 9 June 2025.
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