19:24a

Then he told those standing by: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as those standing by refers to other people who were standing nearby as the king was talking to his servants. These people probably also served the king, since he gave them a command in 19:24b. A king usually had servants near him at all times. The text does not mention a specific category of servants. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:

some other servants standing there (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
his attendants (NET Bible)
-or-
his men (God’s Word)
-or-
those who were standing there (Good News Translation)

19:24b

Take the mina from him: In this clause the king told men to take the servant’s mina from him. The word mina refers to the valuable coin that the master had entrusted to his servant. It actually still belonged to the master. Here is another way to translate this:

Take the money from this servant (New Living Translation (2004))

and give it to the one who has ten minas: Here the king told the men to give the coin to the servant who earned ten coins (19:16). That servant would probably use it, along with the other ten coins, to make more money for the king.

General Comment on 19:24a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to translate the command in this verse as indirect speech. For example:

24aThen he ordered his men 24bto take the coin away from that servant and give it to the servant who had ten coins.

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