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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The servant entrusted with one talent approaches his master immediately after the first two servants receive commendation. He addresses the master directly to explain why he returned the exact amount without generating profit.

The words — προσελθὼν (proselthōn) means “having come,” denoting the physical approach to deliver his report. εἰληφὼς (eilēphōs) translates to “having received,” stressing his acknowledged possession of the master’s resources.

The thread — The same excuse of hiding entrusted funds appears in Luke 19:20, while Malachi 3:14 and Luke 15:29 document similar complaints about serving God or a father.

Why it lands — The passage requires readers to confront whether they are using fear or a distorted view of authority as a pretext for inaction. It demands an honest accounting of what has been entrusted rather than defensive justification.

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

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

Cross-references

Luke 19:20 Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth.
Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
Luke 15:29 But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
Jeremiah 2:31 You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’?
Ezekiel 18:25 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
Job 21:14 Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
Isaiah 58:3 “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
Jeremiah 44:16 “As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!
Malachi 1:12 “But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.