Matthew 24:45-51
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
45 (A)“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?[a] 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. 47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 48 [b]But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, 50 the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour 51 (B)and will punish him severely[c] and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
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- 24:45 To distribute…proper time: readiness for the master’s return means a vigilance that is accompanied by faithful performance of the duty assigned.
- 24:48 My master…delayed: the note of delay is found also in the other parables of this section; cf. Mt 25:5, 19.
- 24:51 Punish him severely: the Greek verb, found in the New Testament only here and in the Lucan parallel (Lk 12:46), means, literally, “cut in two.” With the hypocrites: see note on Mt 6:2. Matthew classes the unfaithful Christian leader with the unbelieving leaders of Judaism. Wailing and grinding of teeth: see note on Mt 8:11–12.
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