Section 19:11–27

Jesus told a parable about a king and his ten servants

Many of Jesus’ followers expected that when they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus would establish the kingdom of God and begin to reign as king. He told the parable in this section to help them understand that events would happen differently than they expected.

There are two main ideas that Jesus taught through this parable:

(1) Jesus, like the important man in the parable, was going away and would not return until after God made him king. In the meantime, the Jewish people would reject Jesus and God would punish them when he returned.

(2) While Jesus is gone, his disciples must serve him faithfully and use whatever he has given them to glorify him.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

The Parable of the Gold Coins (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus told a parable about ten servants

A parallel passage to this section is found in Matthew 25:14–30.

Paragraph 19:11–14

19:11a–e

The final part of the verse (19:11c–e) tells the reason for the first part of the verse (19:11a–b). In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of 19:11a–b and 19:11c–e so that the reason begins the verse. See the General Comment on 19:11a–e at the end of 19:11d–e for examples.

19:11a

While the people were listening to this: This clause introduces a new section. In the previous section Jesus was speaking to the people about Zacchaeus. In this section Jesus may have continued to speak to them at Zacchaeus’ house or he may have already resumed his walk toward Jerusalem. Another way to translate this is:

While they were listening to what ⌊Jesus said⌋

Introduce the section in a natural way in your language.

the people: The pronoun the people refers in a general way to the people who were with Jesus at the time. They were the people to whom Jesus spoke in 19:9–10. Some other ways to refer to them here are:

they (New International Version)
-or-
the crowd (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

this: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as this probably refers to what Jesus was saying to the people in 19:9–10.

19:11b

Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable: This clause indicates that Jesus continued to teach the people by telling them a parable. It does not imply that he had already told them one parable and then told them another one. Other ways to translate the clause are:

he went on to tell them a parable (New International Version)
-or-
Jesus continued and told them a parable (Good News Translation)

The context already implies that Jesus was continuing to speak. So in some languages it may not be necessary to state this explicitly. For example:

and Jesus told them this story (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
he used this illustration (God’s Word)

a parable: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as parable is literally “comparison.” A parable teaches a lesson or truth by showing how it is like something that people already know. Use a natural way in your language to refer to this type of story. See also the note on parable at 18:1b and the Glossary entry for parable, Type 3.

19:11c–e

because…and: The clause in 19:11c is the reason for 19:11d–e. The people thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately (19:11d–e) because Jesus was near Jerusalem (19:11c). The clauses in 19:11c–e also explain why Jesus told the parable that begins in 19:12a. Other ways to translate 19:11c–e are:

Jesus was near Jerusalem, and/so the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.
-or-
Since Jesus was now close to Jerusalem, the people thought that the kingdom of God would soon appear.

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of 19:11c and 11d. For example:

11dThe people thought 11ethat the kingdom of God was going to appear at once 11cbecause Jesus was near Jerusalem.

There is implied information in this statement. The people believed that when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he would establish God’s kingdom and reign there. Jerusalem was the city where the Jewish kings reigned in the past. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:

Jesus was near ⌊the royal city of⌋ Jerusalem, so the people thought that ⌊when he arrived there⌋, ⌊he would⌋ immediately establish God’s kingdom.

19:11c

He was near Jerusalem: The word He refers to Jesus. Jesus was still traveling with his disciples and other people who had come with him to Jericho. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that the whole group was near Jerusalem. For example:

Jesus ⌊and his followers⌋ were near Jerusalem
-or-
they were near Jerusalem

19:11d–e

and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently: In this context what the people thought was wrong. Jesus told the parable to correct them. Be sure to make this clear in your language. Some ways to make this clear in English are:

and the people were ⌊wrongly⌋ thinking that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately
-or-
he told a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away (New Living Translation (1996))

the kingdom of God would appear: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as would appear is more literally “(was) to be displayed/manifested.” This verb is passive. It indicates that God’s kingdom would be revealed. It would be obvious that God was reigning over people. The Jews expected God’s Messiah to establish the kingdom. The people who followed Jesus believed that he was the Messiah and that he would soon establish God’s kingdom.

In some languages it may not be natural to speak of a kingdom appearing or becoming obvious. Some other ways to translate it are:

⌊people would⌋ now see God ruling as king ⌊in the world⌋
-or-
God would now begin his reign ⌊on earth⌋

kingdom of God: This phrase first occurs in Luke in 4:43. Also, see kingdom of God, Context 3 in the Glossary for more information.

imminently: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as imminently means “immediately.” The people wrongly thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. Some other ways imminently can be translated are:

at once (New International Version)
-or-
right away (New Living Translation (2004))

General Comment on 19:11a–e

In some languages, it will be more natural to give the reason that Jesus spoke this parable first. If that is true in your language, you may want to change the order of the parts of 19:11. For example:

11cJesus was getting closer to Jerusalem, 11dand the people thought 11ethat the kingdom of God would appear suddenly ⌊when he arrived⌋. ⌊So⌋ 11awhile the people were listening to his teaching, 11bhe told this parable:

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