The Similar Sayings: Matthew 25:29, Mark 4:25 & Luke 19:26

For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

This article is part of a series on the Jesus verses that are similar, but not the same, in different Gospels. The list of articles in this series is here.

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Todays’ article looks at not two similar verses, but three. In this case, we see several different factors possibly driving the differences between these verses. Here are the modern biblical translations of these verses from the NIV:

Matthew 25:29: For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
Mark 4:25: Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
Luke 19:26: I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

• The words in boldface are explained below.

All three of these verses are spoken in contexts that the Gospel writers describe differently. The Matthew version is given after two parables: the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Bags of Gold. The Mark version is delivered after the Parable of the Seeds and the Lamp on a Stand. The Luke version is given after the Meal with Zacharias and the Parable of the Ten Minas, which is similar to the Bags of Gold Parable in Matthew.

These differences in narrative are strong evidence that these verses were delivered at different times. However, only the Mark version seems to be a different context. Since Matthew and Luke follow two similar parables about the benefits of good money-management, they are more clearly related to the accumulation of wealth.

The Greek

The Greek of these verses looks as different as their English translations. However, the biblical translations are not always an accurate reflection of the Greek.

In each verse, three different verbs——”have,” “given,” “shall be taken away,”—are the keys to the meaning here, but one verb, “have,” appears three times. “Have” is always from the same Greek word. In Matthew and Luke, it appears in three different forms, “to the one having”, “from the one…having”, and “he has”. In Mark, all three are in the form of “he has”. “Given” is always from the same Greek verb meaning “give” in the form “will be given.”

The final verb is always the same Greek verb, translated as "will be taken," but this is not the common word meaning “to take.” It is one of Jesus's favorite "multiple meaning" words. It means "to raise up," "elevate," and also "lifted" in the sense of "to cause to cease" as in lifting a restriction. It also means "remove,” as we say shop “lifting.” Jesus uses this verb to refer to what will happen to "the son of man" both in the negative sense, his being lifted up on the cross, and in the positive sense, his being raised from the dead. Unlike our word “shoplift,” the word has a sense that the removal is done from above, an earthly authority or divine power.

Notice that Matthew is both the longest verse. It also has one more keyword, translated as “he shall have in abundance”. The Greek word is a verb. It means "to be over and above," "more than enough," "to abound in," and, in a negative sense, "to be superfluous." It is not related to the Greek word “abundance.” It means “he will have more than enough.”

Evolution over Time

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