Luke 19:18

The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The second servant approaches his master during a financial reckoning, reporting after the first servant has already been commended and granted authority over ten cities. The master is now addressing this second servant to determine his assigned reward.

The words — The Greek μνᾶ (mna) refers to a mina, a heavy silver coin or weight unit representing the principal capital entrusted to the servant. The verb ἦλθεν (ēlthen) literally means “came,” denoting the servant’s physical arrival to render his account.

The thread — The text states the servant doubled the entrusted mina before the master pronounces any judgment. This pattern of entrusted resources yielding multiplied return runs through the parable of the sower’s good soil (Mark 4:20; Matthew 13:23) and Paul’s note that God accepts a gift according to what one has (2 Corinthians 8:12).

Why it lands — The passage demands a direct accounting of actual returns on what was given, not a defense of unspent potential. A reader must evaluate whether to actively multiply what is entrusted or to risk being measured against the baseline of inaction.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

ΚαὶKaiAnd ἦλθενēlthencame ὁhothe δεύτεροςdeuterossecond λέγων·legōnsaying;ἡhēThe μνᾶmnamina σου,souof you,κύριε,kurielord,ἐποίησενepoiēsenhas made πέντεpentefive μνᾶς.mnasminas.

King James Version

And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.

Cross-references

Matthew 13:23 But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”
Mark 4:20 Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”
2 Corinthians 8:12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.