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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - Luke 19:11 - 19:11
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Luk 19:11-27. Parable of the pounds.
A different parable from that of the Talents (Mat 25:14-30). For,
(1) This parable was spoken “when He was nigh to Jerusalem” (Luk 19:11); that one, some days after entering it, and from the Mount of Olives.
(2) This parable was spoken to the promiscuous crowd; that, to the Twelve alone. Accordingly,
(3) Besides the “servants” in this parable, who profess subjection to Him, there is a class of “citizens” who refuse to own Him, and who are treated differently, whereas in the parable of the talents, spoken to the former class alone, this latter class is omitted.
(4) In the Talents, each servant receives a different number of them (five, two, one); in the Pounds all receive the same one pound, which is but about the sixtieth part of a talent; also, in the talents, each shows the same fidelity by doubling what he received (the five are made ten; the two, four); in the Pounds, each receiving the same, render a different return (one making his pound ten, another five).
Plainly, therefore, the intended lesson is different; the one illustrating equal fidelity with different degrees of advantage; the other, different degrees of improvement of the same opportunities; yet with all this difference, the parables are remarkably similar.