entrusted his property to them

The Greek in Matthew 25:14 that is translated as “entrusted his property to them” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with teilte sein Barvermögen unter sie auf or “divided his cash assets between them.”

complete verse (Matthew 25:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 25:14:

  • Uma: “‘When I come again to be King, it will happen like this parable: A noble planned to go to a far away village. Before he left, he called his ordered-ones and turned his money over to them to do business with and try to get an increase while he was gone.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘When I come back, the ruling of God will be like this. There was a certain man who went to a different country. When he was soon leaving, he told his servants to come to him and he entrusted to them his money.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The rule of God is also like a man who went on a journey. Before they left, he gathered together his servants so he could divide up his money so that they might invest it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus also related this parable. He said, ‘God’s ruling, it can also be compared to a man who got-ready to go to a far country. Therefore he called his servants so that he would entrust to them his riches.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus said next, ‘Another illustration of the kingdom of God is like this. There was a person who was going on a far journey. Without anything further, he called for his slaves and left all his possessions in their charge.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “God in heaven rules the people here, he is compared with a man who must go to a far away country. He called his workers to deliver over money for them to use while he is gone.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

kingdom (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kuchi (御国) or “kingdom (of God)” in the referenced verses. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also kingdom (of God / heaven).

Translation commentary on Matthew 25:14

Verse 13 is influenced by the ending of Mark’s discourse on the last things (13.35), while verse 14 is evidently dependent upon Mark 13.34. One commentator observes that in both Gospels the sentence is incomplete, requiring “some sort of addition, such as ‘The Kingdom of God is like….’ ” In Greek the verse begins with the same two particles, “just as” and “for,” which Revised Standard Version renders For it will be as. Good News Translation has “At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this,” and Barclay has “What will happen in the Kingdom of Heaven is like what happened when a man went on a journey abroad.” Both Good News Translation and Barclay take seriously the need to restructure more radically.

Going on a journey translates the same verb represented as “went into another country” by Revised Standard Version in 21.33. In the Lukan parallel the man is identified as “A nobleman … to receive a kingdom,” and a different verb phrase (“went into a far country”) is used (19.12).

The man called his servants, that is, “he summoned them” or “called them to meet with him.”

Entrusted is the choice of several English translations (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, for example); Good News Translation has “put … in charge of.” The servants did not become owners of the property, but it was their responsibility to take good care of it.

Property translates the same noun used in 19.21 and again in 24.47. It occurs nowhere else in the Gospel. It is clear that the talents were his property, but it is not clear if other things were included, such as land and buildings.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .