What Does Luke 19:18 Mean in the King James?

And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.

Luke 19:18 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The servant says the entrusted mina itself “made” five more.

THE MEANING

The entrusted portion is not inert: in the servant’s account, it produces beyond its original measure. Even as the increase is reported, the servant calls the original “thy pound,” keeping its source in view.

THE ROOT

ἐποίησεν

epoiēsen

GROWS FROM

ποιέω

poieō

To make or do.

“hath gained” in this verse is epoiēsen. The Greek says the mina “made” five minas; the thing entrusted is the grammatical maker of the increase. The wording lets the increase appear as an outcome of what was placed in the servant’s hands, rather than as a separate possession with no connection to its source.

ALSO GROWS

poiēma: A thing made; workmanship.

ποίημα

This branch makes the family’s language of making concrete: an outcome can be recognized by what has been made.

poiētēs: A maker or doer.

ποιητής

The related word names one who acts or makes, echoing the verse’s emphasis on productive action.

THE PATTERN

What is planted or entrusted can become fruitful beyond its first measure.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Genesis 1:11 · KJVLife brings forth fruit with seed within it, carrying the capacity for further growth.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalm 1:3 · KJVThe planted tree’s fruitfulness appears as the expression of what sustains it.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:5 · KJVFruit comes through connection to its source, just as the servant’s increase remains tied to what was entrusted.

THE THREAD

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:5 · KJV

The Greek uses the same verb family for the mina that “made” five more and the branch that “bringeth forth” fruit. Both verses describe increase as something made through connection to a source.

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