Bible Strands
Luke 19:20
Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A third servant addresses his master after two others have presented their returns and received city-governorships. The master has just departed to a distant country to receive a kingdom and return.
The words — ἰδοὺ (idou) = behold/see, pointing to the physical presentation of the mina; κύριε (kurie) = lord, the servant’s formal address that frames his subsequent confession of fear.
The thread — The servant’s excuse echoes the parallel account in Matthew 25:24 and aligns with the proverbial pattern of the slacker’s fabricated obstacles in Proverbs 26:13. The master’s prior command to trade stands in Luke 19:13.
Why it lands — It demands a reader confront how fear and misrepresentation of a master’s character justify inaction. The text requires the reader to weigh the servant’s claim against the master’s earlier instruction to conduct business until his return.
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
King James Version
And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
Cross-references
- Proverbs 26:13 The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
- Matthew 25:24 Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
- Luke 19:13 Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said.
- James 4:17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
- Luke 3:9 The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
- Luke 6:46 Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say?