The Ten Minas
11 As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 He called ten servants of his and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’ 15 “When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’ 17 “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’ 19 “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, 21 for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’ 22 “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down and reaping that which I didn’t sow. 23 Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ 24 He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.’ 25 “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. 27 But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
Told because they expected the kingdom to arrive that week — a parable about an absence, and what to do during it.
As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately.
The reason is stated, which makes the parable easy to misread if it is missed. They are a few miles from the city and expecting the kingdom within days. What they are given is a story about a long absence.
He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
The detail was contemporary. Client kings of that region did travel to Rome to have their titles confirmed, and delegations were sent after them to object — which is exactly what happens in the next verse: "his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, 'We don't want this man to reign over us'" Luke 19:14.
That subplot is this parable's own, and it is not decoration. Told days before he enters the city, it says what the week will contain.
He called ten servants of his and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’
The treatment of the servants and their accounting is given in Matthew's account Matthew 25:14–30, where three men receive different sums by ability. Here all ten receive the same, and the difference in the returns is entirely theirs. A mina was a modest sum — about three months' wages — so nobody is being trusted with a fortune.
“He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
The reward has no proportion to the deposit, and it is not money. The man who traded three months' wages is given cities.
20 Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, 21 for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’
The third servant's defense is a description of the master, and it is unrecognizable from what the other two have just experienced. His theology produced the fear, the fear produced the handkerchief, and nothing was risked or lost.
22 “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down and reaping that which I didn’t sow. 23 Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’
He is answered on his own terms. Even his account of the master should have produced interest, so the excuse fails by its own reasoning.
But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
The parable ends on the subplot rather than the servants, and it ends harshly. It is the language of a returning king settling with a delegation that petitioned against him, and it stands as a plain statement that the reign being described is real and that refusing it is not a neutral act.
What the crowd wanted was a kingdom revealed immediately. What they are told is that the king goes away first, that the interval is for work rather than waiting, and that his return settles two accounts — one with servants and one with subjects.
settled What this mark means