Talants and the Temple Scroll

Accounting for the money-obsession of the writer of Matthew is his own declaration of his priestly profession as a tax collector in 9:9. Tithes and taxes collected in a treasury are the lifeblood of a temple system and guarded as zealously as (the now proverbial) Fort Knox.

Only one Greek Testament writer uses a word fourteen times, which a footnote in the NRSV defines as worth more than fifteen times the annual wage of a laborer (neither source specifies a precious metal). Matthew 25 uses "talant" 13 times in his parable of generic fortunes entrusted by a man to three of his slaves. Each of these slaves says a word that only appears four times in Matthew (the chief priest uses it after he tore his garments at 26:65). Barbara Thiering posits this verb of exclamation denotes a specific location at Qumran and is our tie-in with the Copper Scroll discovered near its ruins in 1952.

First, it is very important to realize the numerical significance of the largest measure of metals which is the source of all coins. A man who writes of such impressive amounts of gold or silver most likely would have been employed as a treasurer. A treasury would also contain any valuable objects and precious stones, such as war booty or even national treasures. This last is where the writer of Matthew 25 and the writers of the Copper Scroll are connected by a verb and a noun.

A unit of weight of about 75 pounds, "talants | τάλαντα" is used to describe a treasure trove of biblical proportions to be discovered by deciphering the clues engraved on the Copper Scroll. Matthew's first mention of such wealth is in a parable of "one ower | εἷς ὀφειλέτης" who is indebted to a king for "myriads of talants | μυρίων ταλάντων" (18:24). One "myriad" means 10,000 in Greek; "myriads of talants" would at the minimum be at least 1,500,000 pounds.

Is Matthew mad? Maybe not. Obviously, no king would have such material wealth to lend to anyone, and especially not to just one man. Perhaps the most wise reading would be to understand this mountain of mammon as mythical. The reading is greatly enhanced as we explore several threads of numerical significance of the noun itself and verbs associated with τάλαντα.

It is used once in the first parable as book word 10733 (18:24). Both slaves in the second parable that have doubled their allotment are each connected similarly: τάλαντα is talk word 333 (444) for the first slave loaned five, and τάλαντα is talk word 333 (555) for the second who is loaned two. The slave's that buried the one he was loaned is talk word 444 (555). [This is the methodology used in the sermon to generate the sixth of six times that "God" is used as both talk word 666 (444) and 533 (555).] In 18:24, the "one ower" is marked by three words: two pronouns as talk word 40 and book word 10740 and one verb as talk word 44 (444). "The Lord" is talk word 44 (333); his verb is talk word 40 (444).

In the other parable, the first τάλαντα is book word 15180 (first slave's five at 25:15); the last is talk word 1080 (same slave's investment and interest remain to him at 25:28) and 499 (444). Each one receives his portion according to "the own power" (talk word 844 at 25:15). The first slave with five τάλαντα (book word 15199 at 25:16) is the same one with ten τάλαντα at 25:28 (talk word 499 in column 444). Notice the symmetry of numbers ending with double-nines.

The reckoning in 25:29 of the slave who buried his portion appears connected numerically to the "one ower" in the first parable who defaulted on "myriads of talants" (18:24). The first's loan is marked by book word 10733 and the last is identified by book word 15433. The one who lost what he had buried is specifically associated with similar numbers. His "talant" is book word 15340 plus talk word 366 (555) at 25:24 and talk word 444 (555) at 25:28. The parallels between parables (10733 at 18:24 and 15433 at 25:29) continue with emphasis now on fours and eights. A common construction of a definite article with a particle as a descriptor instead of a pronoun is talk word 1088, followed by two verbs: "not having" (80x88) and "it shall be lifted" as book word 15440 at 25:29 ("talant" at 25:24 is book word 15340). The ultimate connection between the slave, his lord and the loan is one number: 444. His rationalization is that although nothing was gained, nothing was lost and "Lo! thou have yours | ἴδε ἔχεις τὸ σόν" (25:25). The "talant" that earned nothing and passes to the slave whose five earned five more is talk word 444 (555); the verb describing its return to his lord is talk word 444 (444) and is 77x88 of "to have" verb forms. What the slave lost (noun) and how it was lost (verb) are matched by similar numbers: 366 (555) at 25:24 and 466 (555) at 25:29.

The symmetry continues as we turn to the explanations of the three slaves. The two who doubled the lord's gift each use ten words, but the one who buried his lord's gift uses three times as many words. Matthew's first of four uses of the exclamatory verb "Lo! | ἴδε" is by the 5+5 slave as talk word 288 (555) at 25:20. The next is the 2+2 slave's as talk word 330 (555) at 25:22. Matthew seems to emphasize the non-performance of the slave who buried his by arranging the numbering to be identical, as if showing "now I bury it" (444) and "now you have it" (444). He even gives the last "Lo! | ἴδε" to the high priest. This is where we segue from Barbara Thiering to Jim Barfield.

In "Jesus of the Apocalypse" in the definition of "hence" on page 303 she defines it as the northern of the two round bases outside the vestry and writes: "In Sentence 21 of the Copper Scroll, it is called 'the east seat north of the Blue' (the Blue was the south base, the two being associated with the colours worn outside, scarlet, purple and blue)." This adverb is used six times in John, 66.6% of them in speech (it is the last word of chapter 14 which is a three-word break from his three-chapter monologue of 14:23 to 16:16).

In Jim Barfield's "The Copper Scroll & Temple Treasures" is a map of the Qumran ruins. It is an inverted image so the top left is the south-west corner (the two bases form a colon behind the first "i" of the word "building"). In another book by Dr Thiering, she defines the south base with the exclamatory "Lo! | ἴδε" which is truly uncanny. Matthew has the wicked slave say: "I have hidden in the earth: Lo!" The verb is the eighth of eight and talk word 388 (555). Preposition "in" is book word 15366 and talk word 440 (444). Two exclamatory verbs ("Behold | ἰδοὺ" and "Lo! | ἴδε" ) are used in a contrary manner by two authors: Matthew uses ἴδε only four times and John uses ἰδοὺ only four times but ἴδε 19 times.

Is it stretching credulity to consider that Matthew, Barbara and Jim are cosmically connected by a hybrid ("hἴδε") of two languages: ἴδε of the Greek and the English verb "hide"?

https://youtu.be/ORV5f-uiLIM?t=1372