The Parable of the Ten Gold Coins

What hidden truth about risk, reward, and responsibility does the Parable of the Ten Gold Coins reveal to us?

While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’ He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ Then the second came and reported, ‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ And to this servant too he said, ‘You, take charge of five cities.’ Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding person, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.’” 

After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

Luke 19:11-28

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Historical Background of the Parable of the Ten Gold Coins

In the Parable of the Ten Gold Coins, a nobleman journeys to a far country to obtain his kingship. The plot was familiar to first-century Jews: Archelaus traveled to Rome in 4 B.C. to claim the kingship of his late father, Herod the Great. Fifty delegates (Jews and Samaritans) followed after him to oppose the request (see NABRE footnote to Luke 19:10-27).

Journey to the New Jerusalem

In telling this parable on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus corrects the popular misconception of an earthly Messianic kingdom. In traditional interpretations, the nobleman (Son of God) is on his way to a far country (the new Jerusalem) to obtain his kingship from his Father and will return. During his absence, the nobleman entrusts each of his ten servants with one gold coin (divine gifts), commanding them to invest and multiply their value.

The Three Servants in the Parable of the Ten Gold Coins

As in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), three servants report to the new king upon his return. Unlike the Matthean version, in which unequal talents are distributed, the servants in Luke begin with equal amounts. The first two servants increase the king’s coin tenfold and fivefold, respectively, receiving in return authority over ten and five cities. But the third servant returns the king’s coin wrapped in a handkerchief (soudarion), which is also a head cloth for the dead. The coin entrusted to him remains lifeless and sterile, buried in the ground (Matthew 25:18). 

Faithless Fear

Insolent excuses betray the servant’s contempt for his master. “For I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man: you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow” (Luke 19:21, MOUNCE). Other translations render “lay” (tithémi) as “deposit,” evoking banking terminology: “You take what you did not deposit.” Finding similar proverbial sayings in Plato and Josephus, some commentators interpret the verse as an accusation that the nobleman is an exploiter and a thief.¹

At heart, the servant distrusts the king and refuses to serve. The alibi of “fear” is not the reverent “fear of the Lord” (Exodus 20:20), but a fear that doubts the good character of God. 

A hollow heart lies at the core of this “fear.” Instead of revering the king as bountiful and magnanimous, the servant calls him austéros (“grim,” “severe,” “strict,” “exacting,” “harsh,” “rigid”). The serpent in the Garden of Eden slanders God in similar terms by painting him as a hoarder of knowledge: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5, RSV). As a result of the serpent’s character assassination, a distrustful Eve and her husband seize for themselves the forbidden fruit.

The King Transfers the Gold Coin

He said to him, ‘I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?’ 

Luke 19:22-23 (RSV)

Regardless of the perceived character of the king, the servant shirks his responsibilities. The master rebukes the faithless servant as “wicked.” In Matthew 25:26, he is also “slothful.” A precious gold coin is mummified in a burial cloth, never to realize its life-giving potential. But, like a “tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3), servants who are fruitful will be ever more fruitful. Thus, the king transfers the unspent coin to the most faithful servant. 

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

John 14:15

Traditional Chinese Translation

《十錠金幣的比喻》
國王的金幣會增長十倍有餘
當我們用慈惠的愛心做買賣時。

References:

¹Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (X-XXIV): Introduction, Translation, and Notes (New York: Doubleday, 1985), 1237.

Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1997), 679-80.

Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991), 291.

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The Parable of the Talents
The Path to True Life