Matthew 25:18

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

King James Version (1611)
But hee that had receiued one, went and digged in the earth, and hid his lordes money.

King James Version
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

English Standard Version
But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

New American Standard Bible
"But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

New Century Version
But the servant who got one bag went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid the master's money.

Amplified Bible
"But the one who had received the one went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Legacy Standard Bible
But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Berean Standard Bible
But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

Contemporary English Version
But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master's money in the ground.

Complete Jewish Bible
But the one given one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Darby Translation
But he that had received the one went and dug in the earth, and hid the money of his lord.

Easy-to-Read Version
But the servant who got one bag of money went away and dug a hole in the ground. Then he hid his master's money in the hole.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But he that receiued that one, went & digged it in the earth, and hid his masters money.

George Lamsa Translation
But he who received one, went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord''s money.

Good News Translation
But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

Lexham English Bible
But the one who had received the one went away and dug up the ground and hid his master's money.

Literal Translation
But going away, the one who received the one dug in the earth and hid his lord's silver.

American Standard Version
But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

Bible in Basic English
But he who was given the one went away and put it in a hole in the earth, and kept his lord's money in a secret place.

Hebrew Names Version
But he who received the one went away and dug in the eretz, and hid his lord's money.

International Standard Version
But the one who received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

Etheridge Translation
But he who had received one went, dug in the earth, and hid the money of his lord.

Murdock Translation
But he that received one, went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But he that receaued that one, went and digged in the earth, and hyd his Lordes money.

English Revised Version
But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

World English Bible
But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But he that had received one, went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's mony.

Weymouth's New Testament
But the man who had received the one went and dug a hole and buried his master's money.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But he that hadde takun oon, yede forth, and dalf in to the erthe, and hidde the money of his lord.

Update Bible Version
But he that received $1 million went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

Webster's Bible Translation
But he that had received one, went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

New English Translation
But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money in it.

New King James Version
But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.

New Living Translation
But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master's money.

New Life Bible
The servant who had received the one piece of money went and hid the money in a hole in the ground. He hid his owner's money.

New Revised Standard
But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, he who the one had received, went away, and digged up ground, and hid the silver of his lord.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But he that had received the one, going his way, digged into the earth and hid his lord’s money.

Revised Standard Version
But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
But he yt receaved ye one went and digged a pit in the erth and hyd his masters money.

Young's Literal Translation
and he who did receive the one, having gone away, digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But he that receaued ye one wente and dygged a pyt in the earth, and hyd his lordes money.

Mace New Testament (1729)
but he that had received one, went to dig a hole in the ground, and hid his lord's money.

Simplified Cowboy Version
But the cowboy with one colt was afraid to even work with the horse. He locked it in a stall so nothing would go wrong and the horse would be safe. He didn't ride it or even halter break it.

Contextual Overview

¹⁴"It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money. ¹⁹"After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' ²²"The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' ²⁴"The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.' ²⁶"The master was furious. ‘That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. ²⁸"‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

and hid: Proverbs 18:9, Proverbs 26:13-16, Haggai 1:2-4, Malachi 1:10, Luke 19:20, Hebrews 6:12, 2 Peter 1:8

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 7:8 - hid it

Cross-References

Genesis 10:7
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba, Dedan.

Genesis 13:10
Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God 's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom. The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God . After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I'll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you." Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God .

Genesis 14:10
The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram's nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.

Genesis 20:1
Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman." Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, ‘She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, ‘He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this." God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family." Abimelech was up first thing in the morning. He called all his house servants together and told them the whole story. They were shocked. Then Abimelech called in Abraham and said, "What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you that you would bring on me and my kingdom this huge offense? What you've done to me ought never to have been done." Abimelech went on to Abraham, "Whatever were you thinking of when you did this thing?" Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, ‘Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'" Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and along with her sent sheep and cattle and servants, both male and female. He said, "My land is open to you; live wherever you wish." And to Sarah he said, "I've given your brother a thousand pieces of silver—that clears you of even a shadow of suspicion before the eyes of the world. You're vindicated." Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his maidservants, and they started having babies again. For God had shut down every womb in Abimelech's household on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Genesis 21:14
Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, "I can't watch my son die." As she sat, she broke into sobs.

Genesis 25:24
When her time to give birth came, sure enough, there were twins in her womb. The first came out reddish, as if snugly wrapped in a hairy blanket; they named him Esau (Hairy). His brother followed, his fist clutched tight to Esau's heel; they named him Jacob (Heel). Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

1 Samuel 15:7
Then Saul went after Amalek, from the canyon all the way to Shur near the Egyptian border. He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive. Everyone else was killed under the terms of the holy ban. Saul and the army made an exception for Agag, and for the choice sheep and cattle. They didn't include them under the terms of the holy ban. But all the rest, which nobody wanted anyway, they destroyed as decreed by the holy ban.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But he that received one,.... Talent, or the least degree of gifts, for the ministry of the word:

went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "silver", and the Ethiopic, "gold"; but whether these talents were silver or gold, is not certain. Where he buried it; that is, he neglected the gift that was in him, he made no use of it, either to his own advantage, or to the good of others, and the interest of his Lord; he either never went into the ministry, or if he did, he left it as Demas did, having too great affection for the world, and the things of it: he minded earth and earthly things, and employed himself in them, and not in his master's work and service. The phrase seems to point out the earthly mindedness of the man, his worldly disposition, and his eager pursuit after the things of life; which were the reason why he disregarded his talent, and made no use of his ministerial gifts: he could not deny worldly self, nor leave all to follow Christ; but rather than drop the world, he chose to bury his talent in it: it was his Lord's money and not his own, and he was accountable to him for it, and should have used it in another manner.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Digged in the earth ... - This represents the conduct of those who neglect the abilities that God has given, and fail to do what he has required. This is done often:

1. On the plea that they do not occupy a high station.
2. That they have slender abilities, and can do little good.
3. As it was in this case, that God had not given them as much as he did others, and they will therefore do nothing.

These pleas are without foundation; because:

1. God does not require us to do as much as those who have greater abilities; but this is not a reason why we should do nothing, 2 Corinthians 8:12.
2. Any situation is honorable, and may be useful, where God has placed us; and though humble, yet in that we may do much good, 1 Corinthians 12:11-31.
3. People of slender abilities may often do more good in the world than people of much greater talents. It is rather a warm heart than a strong head which is required to do good. A humble Christian, by his life, example, and conversation, may often do much more good than “is” done by those in more elevated stations and with far greater gifts.

We are not to suppose by this, however, that our Saviour meant to teach that only those of feeble talents neglected their duty. The parable does not require us to do this; and the Fact is, perhaps, that those most highly endowed are the farthest from properly improving their talents.