THE PARABLE OF THE POUNDS

 "But the man who received one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money" (Matthew 25:18).

 "A nobleman going into a far country to receive a kingdom" would be  utterly unintelligible, had we not fortunately know that this was done both by Archelaus and by Antipas (Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae, Bellum Judaicum, Richter, 1826). After the death of Herod the Great, his son Archelaus traveled to Rome to receive the title of king.  A delegation  of 50 Jews appeared in Rome before  Caesar Augustus to recount his cruelties and to oppose his request. Although not given the title of king, Archelaus was made ruler ofer Judea and Samaria.  Philippus defended the property of Archelaus during his absence from the encroachments of the Proconsul Sabinus. In the unsettled conditions of Palestine in Jesus' time, it was not unusual to guard valuables by burying them in the ground.

 The magnificent palace which Archelaus had built at Jericho would naturally recall these circumstances to the mind of Jesus, and the parable is another striking example of the manner in which He utilised the most ordinary circumstances around Him, and made them the basis of His highest teachings. It throws an important light on the general interpretation of such parables as those of the Unjust Steward, and the Unjust Judge, and shows that their incidental details are not to be theologically pressed.

Jesus is not on his way to Jerusalem to receive the kingly power; for that, He must go away and only after returning from the distant country ( a reference to the parousia) will reward and judgment take place.

The historical fact of Archelaus is also another unsuspected indication of the authenticity and truthfulness of the Gospels. (Farrar) 

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