For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
Parallel translations
- WEB for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’
- BSB For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’
- NKJV For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’
- NASB for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’
- NLT I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The servant excuses himself by claiming he feared a harsh, demanding master. His distorted view of the master masks his own unfaithfulness.
Overview
The servant projects his own laziness onto a false picture of the master as severe and grasping. His "fear" is not reverence but resentment, and it becomes his excuse for doing nothing. The verse exposes how a wrong view of God can be used to justify disobedience.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Matt 25:24–25Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
- Rom 8:7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
- Rom 8:15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
- 2 Sam 6:9–11And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?
- 2 Tim 1:7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
- Ezek 18:25–29Yet ye say, The way of the LORD is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
- Job 21:14–15Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
- Jas 2:10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
- 1 Jn 4:18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
- Jude 1:15To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
- 1 Sam 12:20And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;
- Exod 20:19–20And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
- 1 Sam 6:19–21And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
- Mal 3:14–15Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 19:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.