Be faithful 1/6

Matthew 25:21
His¹ lord² said³ to him,
Well done⁴, good⁵ and⁶ faithful⁷ servant⁸;
you were⁹ faithful¹⁰ over¹¹ a few things¹²,
I will make¹³ you¹⁴ ruler over¹¹ many things¹⁵.
Enter¹⁶ into¹⁷ the¹⁸ joy¹⁹ of²⁰ your²¹ lord²².

Study

¹) His — αὐτοῦ (autou) — Personal / Possessive Pronoun – Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular — He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.
²) Master — κύριος (kyrios) — Noun – Nominative Masculine Singular — Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.
³) Replied — Ἔφη (Ephē) — Verb – Imperfect Indicative Active – 3rd Person Singular — To say, declare. Properly, the same as the base of phos and phaino; to show or make known one’s thoughts, i.e. Speak or say.
⁴) Well done — Εὖ (Eu) — Adverb — Well, well done, good, rightly; also used as an exclamation. Neuter of a primary eus; well.
⁵) Good — ἀγαθὲ (agathe) — Adjective – Vocative Masculine Singular — A primary word; ‘good’.
⁶) And — καὶ (kai) — Conjunction — And, even, also, namely.
⁷) Faithful — πιστέ (piste) — Adjective – Vocative Masculine Singular — Trustworthy, faithful, believing. From peitho; objectively, trustworthy; subjectively, trustful.
⁸) Servant — δοῦλε (doule) — Noun – Vocative Masculine Singular — (a) (as adj.) enslaved, (b) (as noun) a (male) slave. From deo; a slave.
⁹) You have been — ἦς (ēs) — Verb – Imperfect Indicative Active – 2nd Person Singular — I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.
¹⁰) Faithful — πιστός (pistos) — Adjective – Nominative Masculine Singular — Trustworthy, faithful, believing. From peitho; objectively, trustworthy; subjectively, trustful.
¹¹) With — ἐπὶ (epi) — Preposition — On, to, against, on the basis of, at.
¹²) A few things; — ὀλίγα (oliga) — Adjective – Accusative Neuter Plural — Puny; especially neuter somewhat.
¹³) I will put — καταστήσω (katastēsō) — Verb – Future Indicative Active – 1st Person Singular — From kata and histemi; to place down, i.e. to designate, constitute, convoy.
¹⁴) You {in charge} — σε (se) — Personal / Possessive Pronoun – Accusative 2nd Person Singular — You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.
¹⁵) Many things — πολλῶν (pollōn) — Adjective – Genitive Neuter Plural — Much, many; often.
¹⁶) Enter — εἴσελθε (eiselthe) — Verb – Aorist Imperative Active – 2nd Person Singular — To go in, come in, enter. From eis and erchomai; to enter.
¹⁷) Into — εἰς (eis) — Preposition — A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.
¹⁸) The — τὴν (tēn) — Article – Accusative Feminine Singular — The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
¹⁹) Joy — χαρὰν (charan) — Noun – Accusative Feminine Singular — Joy, gladness, a source of joy. From chairo; cheerfulness, i.e. Calm delight.
²⁰) Of — τοῦ (tou) — Article – Genitive Masculine Singular — The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
²¹) Your — σου (sou) — Personal / Possessive Pronoun – Genitive 2nd Person Singular — You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.
²²) Master — κυρίου (kyriou) — Noun – Genitive Masculine Singular — Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master

Other translations

Berean Literal Bible
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

King James Bible
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

New American Standard Bible
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

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His lord said unto him, Well done

The original word, Ευ, well done, has a peculiar force and energy, far beyond what we can express in English. It was used by auditors or spectators in any public exercise, to express the highest applause, when any part had been excellently performed. (Doddridge). 

Good and faithful servant 

Those that own and honour God now, He will own and confess hereafter, and their diligence and integrity will be found to praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 

1. Their persons will be accepted. He that now knows their integrity will then bear witness to it; and they that are now found faithful, will then be declared to be Song of Solomon.
2. Their performances will be accepted, Well done. Christ will call those, and those only, good servants, who have done well; for it is by a patient continuance in well doing that we seek for and obtain this glory and honour: and it is on condition of our doing that which is good, that we shall have praise of the same.

Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler, &c.

It is usual, in the courts of princes and families of great men, to advance those to higher offices who have been faithful in lower.
Christ is a master that will prefer his servants who acquit themselves well.

He has honour in store for those that honour him, a crown, a throne, a kingdom.

Here they are beggars: in heaven they shall be rulers and princes.

Observe, the disproportion between the work and the rewards.
There are but few things in which the saints are serviceable to the glory of God, but many things wherein they shall be glorified with God.

The charge we receive from God, the work we do for God in this world, is but little, very little, compared with the joy set before us: 

put together

• all our services, all our sufferings,
• all our improvements,
• all the good we do to others,
• all we obtain to ourselves,

and they are but a few things, next to nothing, not fit to be named the same day with the glory to be revealed.

I will make thee ruler over many things.

Better, I will set thee over many things. 
The word “ruler” is not in the Greek.

Here again, as in Matthew 24:47, we have a glimpse given us into the future that lies behind the veil. So far as the parable brings before us prominently either the final judgment or that which follows upon each man’s death, we see that the reward of faithful work lies not in rest only, bat in enlarged activity.

The world to come is thus connected by a law of continuity with that in which we live; and those who have so used their “talents” as to turn many to righteousness, may find new spheres of action, beyond all our dreams, in that world in which the ties of brotherhood that have been formed on earth are not extinguished, but, so we may reverently believe, multiplied and strengthened.

Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord

• The joy which he himself has purchased and provided for his servants;
• the joy of the redeemed, bought with the sorrow of the Redeemer;
• the joy which he himself is in possession of, and which he had his eye upon when he endured the cross and despised the shame, Hebrews 12:2;
•the joy of which he himself is the fountain and centre; for it is joy in the Lord, who is our exceeding joy.

Into this joy glorified saints shall enter, that is, shall have a full and complete possession of it; as the heir, when he comes to age, enters upon his estate.
Here the joy of our Lord enters into the saints, in the earnest of the Spirit, but shortly they shall enter into it, and shall be in it to all eternity, possessing fulness of joy and unspeakable pleasures for evermore.

The words are almost too strong for the framework of the parable.
A human master would hardly use such language to his slaves.

But here, as yet more in the parable that follows, the reality breaks through the symbol, and we hear the voice of the divine Master speaking to His servants, and He bids them share His joy, for that joy also had its source (as He told them but a few hours later) in loyal and faithful service, in having “kept His Father’s commandments” (John 15:10-11).

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