19:13a
Beforehand: This verse tells what the nobleman did to prepare for his trip. It begins with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Beforehand. Some other versions say similarly:
Before he left (Good News Translation)
-or-
But before leaving (Contemporary English Version)
In some languages it may be more natural to introduce the verse in a different way. The New International Version translates the conjunction as “So” to indicate that the nobleman did the things in this verse in preparation for his trip. Some English versions do not use an introductory word or phrase here. Do what is natural in your language for this context.
he called: The phrase he called indicates that the nobleman summoned the servants to come to him. He may have sent another servant to call them.
ten of his servants: The phrase ten of his servants implies that the nobleman had more than ten servants. The ten servants mentioned were probably leaders among the other servants. They probably understood business matters and how to manage money.
servants: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servants is literally “slaves.” It refers to men who served and obeyed a master without pay. This word also occurred in 15:22.
19:13b
and gave them ten minas: In this parable, the phrase and gave them ten minas indicates that the nobleman gave minas (money) to the servants to manage. The nobleman wanted the ten servants to use the money to make more money for him. The money did not to belong to the servants. It still belonged to the nobleman. One way to translate this is:
entrusted them with ten minas to manage
In some languages there may be an idiom to describe this. For example:
put ten minas into their hands/care
The nobleman gave the servants ten minas in all. Later verses imply that he gave each servant one mina. In some languages it may be helpful to indicate what each servant received. For example:
and gave a coin to each servant (New Century Version)
ten minas: The term minas describes a type of Greek coin. It was worth about as much as a worker was paid for working one hundred days. So ten minas equaled what a worker was paid for working about three years.
The exact value of the money is not important, but a “mina” was valuable. It was enough money for the servants to invest or trade to make more money. The Good News Translation indicates this by describing the coin as made of gold.
When you translate, you can either mention the total amount of ten minas or the amount that each servant received (one mina). Some ways to translate the amount are:
• Use a general expression:
He gave them a large sum of money
-or-
He gave each of them a valuable coin
-or-
He gave each servant the money that a person would be paid for one hundred days of work
• Use a unit of money from your culture. But because the value of units of money changes over time, such a translation may imply a wrong meaning in the future.
• Transliterate the word “mina” or minas and indicate that a “mina” is a coin. For example:
He gave each servant a mina coin
You may want to include a footnote in your translation to give more information. For example:
A mina was an amount of money that was worth the wages that a person was paid for working one hundred days. A person would have to work about three years to be paid ten minas.
19:13c
Conduct business with this: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Conduct business with this refers here to doing business/trade. The nobleman told his servants to use or invest his money in ways that would earn more money for him. He allowed each of them to decide how to do that. Some ways to translate this are:
Put this money to work (New International Version)
-or-
Use this to earn more money (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Invest this for me (New Living Translation (2004))
he said: The Berean Standard Bible has put the phrase he said at the end of the quotation. In Greek, it comes before the quotation. Place it where it is natural in your language.
19:13d
until I return: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as until I return implies that when the nobleman returned, the servants would stop using his money. They would give him the money itself and the profit that they had made with his money.
After the nobleman said that to his servants, he left. In some languages it may be necessary to make that explicit. For example:
He told them to invest the money for him while he was away. ⌊Then he left.⌋
General Comment on 19:12–13
The events of 19:12 happened after the events of 19:13. In some languages it may be necessary to combine these verses and change the order of the clauses to make this clear. For example:
12–13He/Jesus said: “A man of noble birth called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. He said, ‘⌊I am going on a long trip.⌋ Put this money to work until I come back.’ ⌊Then⌋ he went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and, after that, to return.”
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