Parable of the Minas: A Caricature of Zealot Political Economy

Abstract

In a recent article, I demonstrated that Jesus's parable of the talents given in Matthew (25: 14–30) describes a co‐operative or monastic economy of self‐starting servants that is both efficient because it maximises total output and equitable because distribution is based on needs. However, I did not analyse the ostensibly similar story, called the parable of the minas, appearing in Luke (19: 11–26). This article demonstrates that the message contained in the parable of the minas is not only radically different from that of the parable of the talents, but was intended to caricature the political and economic ideas propagated by the Zealots during the first and second centuries until their final destruction by the Romans in 135 AD.

Citation

Niedercorn, J.H. (1987), "Parable of the Minas: A Caricature of Zealot Political Economy", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 39-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb014065