What Does Matthew 25:20 Mean?

And so the one who had received five talents came and brought five more talents, saying, Lord, you handed over five talents to me. Behold, I have gained five more beside them.

Matthew 25:20 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

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.

THE KEY

The talents are weight-measured wealth, and the verse reveals that what is entrusted becomes fruitful as it moves through your hands.

THE MEANING

What comes into your hands from the Lord carries weight and possibility; it is not only something to possess. What is entrusted can move through your life and return bearing increase.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that faithfulness means keeping a gift untouched. Here, the entrusted portion bears increase as it is put to work and brought back.

THE ROOT

ἐκέρδησα

ekerdēsa

GROWS FROM

⁨κερδ-⁩ (kerd-), from ⁨κερδαίνω⁩ (kerdainō)

Gain, profit, or obtain an advantage.

“gained” in this verse is ekerdēsa. The Greek word names gain as an outcome, not just a larger count. The verb itself does not settle what is worth gaining; that tension appears when the same word is used for gaining the world while losing one’s life.

ALSO GROWS

kerdos: Gain or profit.

κέρδος

The related noun names the outcome expressed by the servant’s verb.

kerdainō: To gain or profit.

κερδαίνω

This is the verb’s base form and the word family behind “I have gained.”

παρέδωκας

paredōkas

GROWS FROM

δίδωμι

didōmi

Give, grant, set, or place; ⁨παραδίδωμι⁩ means to hand over.

The word translated “deliveredst” is built on the Greek root for giving. Its related forms include giving back and sharing, so the verse holds the entrusted gift and its return within one movement of giving.

ALSO GROWS

paradidōmi: Hand over or entrust.

παραδίδωμι

This is the verb used for what the Lord places in the servant’s care.

apodidōmi: Give back, render, or repay.

ἀποδίδωμι

This related form illuminates the servant bringing back what has grown from what he received.

metadidōmi: Share or impart.

μεταδίδωμι

The same root can describe a gift moving onward into another’s hands.

THE PATTERN

What is placed in someone’s care bears fruit through tending, use, and sharing.

And the LORD God took Adam and set him down in the garden of Eden, to serve it and to guard it.

Genesis 2:15 · SDVThe garden is placed in the human’s care, where tending and guarding make stewardship active.

As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.

1 Peter 4:10 · SDVA received gift moves into shared service instead of remaining private possession.

Now the one who supplies seed to the sower supplies bread for eating, and fills out your sown seed, and makes grow the fruits of your alignment.

2 Corinthians 9:10 · SDVSeed supplied to the sower is multiplied through being sown, yielding both provision and increase.

THE THREAD

For what does it profit a human, if he gains the whole world and is damaged in his living soul? Or what will a human give in exchange for his living soul?

Matthew 16:26 · SDV

The same Greek verb for “gain” appears in both verses. Here, gain follows entrusted resources into increase; there, the question asks whether gaining the world can still mean losing what matters most.

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