Matthew 25:26 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 25:26
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Job 15:5-6 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
John Gill on Matthew 25:26
His Lord answered and said unto him,.... Resenting, as he well might, not only his indolence and sloth, his neglect of his duty, and his worldly disposition, but the abusive character he had given of him, in order to cover his own wickedness:
thou wicked and slothful servant; a very just character of him: he was a "wicked" servant; all men in a state of nature are wicked; they lie in wickedness, and are under the power of the wicked one; and there are many wicked men among professors of religion, and many wicked ministers, who, though not openly profane, yet either trusting to their works, or doing the work of the Lord deceitfully, or wholly neglecting it, justly merit this character. This…
Matthew 25:14-30
Matthew 25:14-30
Luke 19:11-28
14. For as a certain man, setting out on a journey, called his servants, and delivered to them his goods. 15. And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one; to every one according to his own ability; and immediately set out. 16. And he who had received five talents went away and traded with them, and amassed other five talents. 17. And likewise he who had received two, he also gained other two. 18. But he who had received one went away, and dug in the earth, and hid his master's money. 19. And after a long time the master of those servant cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20. And he who had received five talents, say…
The Lord did not allow that He was a hard man as the servant supposed, but He assented to all his other words. But He is indeed hard to those who abuse the mercy of God to suffer themselves to become remiss, and use it not to be converted.
(Hom. in Ev. ix. 4.) So then we see as well the peril of the teachers if they withhold the Lord's money, as that of the hearers from whom is exacted with usury that they have heard, namely, that from what they have heard they should strive to understand that they have not heard.
But what he thought would be his excuse is turned into his condemnation. He calls him wicked servant, because he cavilled against his Lord; and slothful, because he would not double his talent; condemning his pride in the one, and his idleness in the other. If you knew me to be hard and austere, and to seek after other men's goods, you should also have known that I exact with the more rigour that is mine own, and should have given my money to the bankers; for the Greek word here (ἀζγύριον) means money. The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried in the fire. (Ps. 12:6.) The money, or silver, then are the preaching of the Gospel and the heavenly word; which ought to be given to the bankers, that is, either to the other doctors, which the Apostles did when they ordained Priests and Bishops throughout the cities; or to all the believers, who can double the sum and restore it with usury by fulfilling in act what they have learned in word. Or, it is given to him who had gained five talents, that we may understand that though the Lord's joy over the labour of each be equal, of him who doubled the five as of him who doubled the two, yet is a greater reward due to him who laboured more in the Lord's money.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Judgment, The final — The sentence that will be passed on our actions at the last day (Matt. 25; Rom. 14:10, 11; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-10). The judge is Jesus Christ, as mediator. All judgment is committed to him…
Civil Service · APPOINTMENT IN, ON ACCOUNT OF MERIT — APPOINTMENT IN, ON ACCOUNT OF MERIT
Gifts From God · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO BOTH TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO BOTH TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL
Gifts Of God, The · Illustrated — Illustrated
Idleness And Sloth · Illustrated — Illustrated
Infidelity · 1:12; — 1:12;
Judgment · THE GENERAL — THE GENERAL
Kingdom Of Heaven · and — and
Opportunity · THE MEASURE OF RESPONSIBILITY — THE MEASURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Parables · Parables of christ: Talents — Parables of christ: Talents
Probation · Taught in parables of the talents and pounds — Taught in parables of the talents and pounds
Responsibility · ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE — ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE
Self-Condemnation · General scriptures concerning
— General scriptures concerning
Slothfulness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Steward · .Of the talents — .Of the talents
Titles And Names Of The Wicked · Wicked servants — Wicked servants
Trustee · The parable of the pounds — The parable of the pounds
Unfaithfulness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Works · .The talents — .The talents
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
