Matthew 25:20

And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) I have gained beside them five talents more.—The result of the right use of opportunities could not be otherwise expressed within the limits of the imagery of the parable. In the kingdom of God the gain commonly takes another form than the mere increase of the gifts or opportunities which we call “talents” (though even here that increase is often the result of faithfulness), and appears as good done to men and souls gained for God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:14-30 Christ keeps no servants to be idle: they have received their all from him, and have nothing they can call their own but sin. Our receiving from Christ is in order to our working for him. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. The day of account comes at last. We must all be reckoned with as to what good we have got to our own souls, and have done to others, by the advantages we have enjoyed. It is not meant that the improving of natural powers can entitle a man to Divine grace. It is the real Christian's liberty and privilege to be employed as his Redeemer's servant, in promoting his glory, and the good of his people: the love of Christ constrains him to live no longer to himself, but to Him that died for him, and rose again. Those who think it impossible to please God, and in vain to serve him, will do nothing to purpose in religion. They complain that He requires of them more than they are capable of, and punishes them for what they cannot help. Whatever they may pretend, the fact is, they dislike the character and work of the Lord. The slothful servant is sentenced to be deprived of his talent. This may be applied to the blessings of this life; but rather to the means of grace. Those who know not the day of their visitation, shall have the things that belong to their peace hid from their eyes. His doom is, to be cast into outer darkness. It is a usual way of expressing the miseries of the damned in hell. Here, as in what was said to the faithful servants, our Saviour goes out of the parable into the thing intended by it, and this serves as a key to the whole. Let us not envy sinners, or covet any of their perishing possessions.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I have gained - Gained by trading or by honest industry, Matthew 25:16.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; behold, I have gained besides them five talents more—How beautifully does this illustrate what the beloved disciple says of "boldness in the day of judgment," and his desire that "when He shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming!" (1Jo 4:17; 2:28).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Matthew 25:23".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And so he that had received five talents,.... Or the greatest gifts: as this man is the first to whom his Lord gave any talents, and the first that went and traded with them; he is also the first that is reckoned with; who

came and brought other five talents: he came freely and cheerfully, with a holy confidence and intrepidity of mind, and gave in his account very readily, both of what he had received, and of what he had gained;

saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents, behold I have gained besides them five talents more. True ministers of the Gospel frankly own, that what gifts they have are delivered to them by Christ; and such are willing that he should have all returned to him, principal and increase: it is not to be imagined that this will be said in so many express words by them, nor will there be any need thereof; for Christ will not be ignorant of what they have been doing, and of what use they have been of; but the sense is, that as all will be manifest to Christ the searcher of hearts, with whom they have to do, so the account will stand fair and open; and it will be seen and known by all, that such and such faithful ministers of Christ have behaved in this agreeable manner, and have been thus and thus serviceable in his interest.

Geneva Study Bible

And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Matthew 25:20 f. Ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς] in addition to them; comp. on Colossians 3:14. The ἵδε points the master to what had been gained; the boldness of a good conscience.

εὖ] is generally taken absolutely: excellent! that is right! But this would have required εὖγε (Plat. Gorg. p. 494 C; Lach. p. 181 A; Soph. Phil. 327), which reading (taken from Luke 19:17, where εὖγε is the original one) Fritzsche actually adopts, following A*, Vulg. It. Or. (once). Consequently we should connect εὖ with ἦς πιστός: Thou wast admirably (probe) faithful in regard to a little. For εὗ when separated from the word to which it belongs, comp. Xen. Cyr. i. 6. 24; Mem. ii. 1. 33, and Kühner thereon. Ἀγαθέ and πιστέ represent the genus and species of an upright character. The opposite of this: Matthew 25:26.

εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίον σου] χαρά is not to be understood of a feast (Clericus, Schoettgen, Wolf, Michelsen, Kuinoel, Schott), a sense in which the word is not used (LXX. Esther 9:17 is an inaccurate rendering), and which the context does not sanction any more than it countenances the idea of a festival in honour of the master’s return (in opposition to de Wette and Lange); but what is meant is that the slave is invited to participate in the happiness which his master is enjoying (Chrysostom admirably: τὴν πᾶσαν μακαριότητα διὰ τοῦ ῥήματος τούτου δεικνύς), thus exhibiting the thought of Romans 8:17. The use of the expression εἴσελθε is, in that case, to be regarded as due to the nature of the thing which the parable is meant to illustrate (the Messianic kingdom).

Expositor's Greek Testament

Matthew 25:20. he first servant gives his report: bringing five and five, he presents them to his master, and says: ἴδε, as if inviting him to satisfy himself by counting.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. moe] for more, the reading of the Authorised Version (1611), altered in later editions. Cp. Shaks. ful. Cæs. ii. 1:

“Bru.  Is he alone?

Luc.  No, sir, there are moe with him.”

(Bible Word-Book, p. 321).

Bengel's Gnomen

Matthew 25:20. Προσελθὼν, coming up to Him) sc. with confidence. The bad servant did so with diffidence; Matthew 25:24.—ὁ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα λαβὼν, he that had received the five talents) The righteous receive sentence before the wicked: cf. Matthew 25:34.—ἵδε, See!) The freedom of speech of a good servant.—ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς, on them) The servant does not attribute the gain to himself, but to his Lord’s goods.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - He that had received [the] five talents. The slaves appear in the same order as they had come to receive the deposits. The first comes joyfully, showing boldness in his day of judgment (1 John 2:17), because he has dealt faithfully and diligently, and prospered in his labours. Thou deliveredst unto me. He rightly acknowledges that all he had came from his lord, and that it was his duty and his pleasure to increase the deposit for his master's benefit. The long delay had not made him careless and negligent; rather, he had used the time profitably, and thereby added greatly to his gains. I have gained beside them (ἐπ αὐτοῖς). The two last words are omitted by Westcott and Hort, Tischendorf, and the Revised Version. If they are not genuine, they are, at any rate, implied in the account of the transaction. The Vulgate has, Alia quinque superlucratus sum. The good servant says, Behold, as if he pointed with joy to the augmented wealth of his master. He does not speak boastfully; he does not praise himself for his success; he had simply done his best with the means entrusted to him, and he can speak of the result with real pleasure (comp. 2 Corinthians 1:14; Philippians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:19). So in a religious sense the obligation to improve talents is even more imperative. "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one to profit withal" (1 Corinthians 12:7). The grace which he receives he must employ for his own sanctification, as a member of Christ, for the edification of others, for the interests of God's Church; such work will show that he is worthy of his Lord's trust and faithful in his stewardship. Matthew 25:20