Talent

A talent (Hebrew kikkar; Greek talanton) was the largest standard unit of weight and monetary value in the biblical world, equivalent to approximately 3,000 shekels (roughly 75 lbs or 34 kg). A talent of gold or silver represented an enormous sum — effectively a lifetime's wages for a laborer. David set aside 3,000 talents of gold and 7,000 talents of refined silver for the temple (1 Chr. 29:4). In Jesus' Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14–30), three servants receive 5, 2, and 1 talent respectively and are held accountable for how they employ them — a parable of faithful stewardship of what God entrusts. The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant features a debt of 10,000 talents (Matt. 18:24), a deliberately impossible sum representing humanity's unpayable moral debt to God.