Luke 19:23

23 And why then didst thou not give my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have exacted it with usury?

Luke 19:23 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 19:23

Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank,
&c.] Or "on the table", at which the bankers sat, and received and delivered money on interest. The Complutensian edition reads, "to the tablers", or "bankers": had Christ been such a person as he represents him, he ought to have been the more diligent, and made the greater use of his gifts, since he knew that he would, in a rigid manner, as he suggests, demand an account of them:

that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
not that Christ approves of usury in an unlawful way, by extortion, but reproves hereby the sloth of this man, and exposes his folly and wickedness upon his own principles.

Luke 19:23 In-Context

21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou didst not lay down: and thou reapest that which thou didst not sow.

22 He saith to him: Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not down and reaping that which I did not sow.

23 And why then didst thou not give my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have exacted it with usury?

24 And he said to them that stood by: Take the pound away from him and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

25 And they said to him: Lord, he hath ten pounds.