The master takes the servant's own excuse and turns it against him: "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee" (Luke 19:22). If the servant really believed his master was a hard man, the least he could have done was put the money where it would earn something. Barnes explains the master's point: "By your own statement, or your own views of my character." Gill says the master is not approving of unlawful usury but "reproves hereby the sloth of this man." Matthew Henry spells out the minimum the servant owed: "If thou hadst had any regard to my interest, thou mightest have put my money into the bank." The question exposes that the real problem was not fear but neglect.

The servant gives no answer. The master turns to those standing by: "Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds" (Luke 19:24). They protest, "Lord, he hath ten pounds" (Luke 19:25). He answers, "unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him" (Luke 19:26). The parable ends with judgment on the citizens who said, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14, 27).

The "pound" was a sum of money; the ESV calls it a "mina." The "bank" is the Greek trapeza, literally a table. Thayer defines it in this sense as "the table or stand of a money-changer," where money was exchanged and loans or deposits were paid back with interest. Gill says it was the table "at which the bankers sat." "Usury" (Greek tokos) simply means interest here. Barnes glosses "Usury" simply as "Interest."

Barnes notes that a prince in Judea had to go away to receive his kingdom from Rome, and he names Archelaus as an example. Jesus told the parable "because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear" (Luke 19:11). The command "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13) means, Barnes says, not merely to hold the money but "to employ in business."

The parable answers a mistaken hope. Those listening thought the kingdom of God would "immediately appear" (Luke 19:11). Jesus tells them instead of a king who goes away, returns, and calls his servants to account. Barnes sees the nobleman as representing Christ, who would go away before His kingdom was fully established. This question shows that the King will ask each servant what was done with what He gave.

The question also shows how a servant's view of his master shapes his work. The servant called his master "austere," a word Barnes defines as "Hard, severe," and says the excuse is "designed to show the sinner's view of God." Yet the same master gave "authority over ten cities" for faithfulness "in a very little" (Luke 19:17). The servant's fear did not match the master's generosity.