Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for [him], and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.


Alternative: The lord of this servant will return on a day when he is unexpected and at an hour that is unknown and shall divide him in two and put his parts with the actors where [they] will whine and chatter their teeth.

The great thing about the Greek here is the idea of hypocrites begin punished by being "torn in two." Christ favorite criticism of religious leaders is that they are "actors," that is, hypocrites. They preach one thing and do another. They pretend. In Mat 6:24, Christ says that we cannot serve two masters. We put our trust either in God or our worldly life. The actors are those who try to pretend that they are one thing, when they are really another. Here, this servant is behaving the same way: pretending to be faithful only when he is being watched.

What we see as death, Christ sees as a return, a return of our Master or our return to Him. The question is what happens at that time: are we taken or let free, are we taken up or let down? I like the idea of actors, being torn in two, a fate matching their two faces. They are neither taken or left, but divided in two, torn apart.

On a more metaphysical level, I have mentioned before how certain statements by Christ seem to indicated that he taught reincarnation (one here). Another way to interpret being "taken or left" is the idea that some move on to a higher plane while others are reborn on earth. However, hypocrites have neither fate. Being torn in two, they are left out in the cold, in limbo, at least until the next age.

This again explains why God must remain hidden in our world if we are to be free and make our own decisions. If our Master was present and obviously watching, we would do what is right because he has power over us. Because we cannot see him, we are free to make our own choices, that is, to do good or ill, to serve others or take from them, to be productive or to be worthless, to improve our understanding of the world or to lose ourselves in empty distractions.

As I explain in a more detailed post, my sense is that Christ uses the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" in same dramatic and almost humorous way that that we say in English "whining and complaining" or "bitching and moaning." The "gnashing of teeth" could indicate the chattering of teeth, conveying the sense that this person is tossed out "in the cold," except that Christ uses this same phrase in several places when people are "cast out," weeds cast into a fire, the unattired wedding guest out of the party.

"Come" is from hêkô, (heko), which means "to have come," "to be present," "to have reached a point," "to have come back," and "to return"

"When he looks" is from prosdokaô (prosdokao), which means "expect," "think," "look for," and "suppose."

"Aware of" is ginôskô (ginosko) which means "to know" and "to recognize." It has the sense of recognizing people and recognizing facts.

"Cut assunder" is from dichotomeô (dichotomeo), which "to cut in two," "to bisect," and "to divide in two."

"Appoint" is from tithêmi (tithemi), which means "to put," "to place," "to propose," "to suggest," and a metaphor for "to put in one's mind."

"His portion" is from meros (meros), which means "share," "portion," "lot," "destiny," "heritage," "one's turn," the part one takes," and "part" (as an opposite of whole).

"Weeping" is from klauthmos which means "a weeping."

"Gnashing" is from brugmos , which means "biting," "gobbling," and "chattering."