αὐστηρός

From the study of Luke 19:22

Range of meaning

The word first described taste: sour, sharp, astringent, like unripe fruit or rough dry wine. From there it came to describe people who are strict, severe, unbending, exacting, hard to please, or stern in demanding what they are owed. It can be a compliment (a strict, serious person) or a criticism (a harsh one). In this context it is clearly a criticism.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'austere'. BSB has 'harsh', WEB and NASB 'exacting', ESV 'severe', NIV and NLT 'hard'. 'Exacting' and 'severe' come closest to the sense of someone strict about what is owed to him.

How it drifted

English 'austere' comes from this Greek word by way of Latin, but its common meaning has moved toward 'plain, spare, unadorned, self-denying' (austere decor, austerity budgets, an austere monk). A modern reader of the KJV may picture a frugal or ascetic master. The slave meant a hard, demanding one.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used in classical and Hellenistic Greek of sour wine and fruit, and of stern people (LSJ). In the Septuagint, 2 Maccabees 14:30 says Nicanor began to treat Judas 'more harshly' (austēroteron). In the New Testament it appears only here and in v. 21. Matthew's parallel (Matt 25:24) has sklēros, 'hard'.

From the study of Luke 19:21

Range of meaning

The basic meaning is about taste: harsh, rough, dry, sour, the way unripe fruit or dry, puckering wine tastes. From there it was used of people: strict, stern, severe, exacting, hard to please, especially someone who insists on every last thing owed. Depending on context it could be praise (a strict, disciplined man) or blame (harsh, grasping).

Against the English

BSB 'harsh', ESV 'severe', WEB/NASB 'exacting', NIV 'hard', KJV/YLT 'austere'. 'Exacting' fits the money context best: someone who demands full returns. 'Harsh' and 'severe' carry the emotional tone. 'Austere' was accurate in 1611 but has since drifted (see drift).

How it drifted

English 'austere' comes from this Greek word through Latin austerus. In older English it meant stern, harsh or severe. Today it mostly means plain, without decoration, self-denying or frugal ('austere décor', 'austerity budget'). So a modern reader of the KJV may picture a frugal, ascetic master. The servant is describing a demanding, grasping one.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears in the New Testament only here and in v. 22. In 2 Maccabees 14:30 Nicanor deals with Judas 'more harshly' (austēroteron), meaning coldly and sternly. Classical writers use it of dry wines and sour fruit. Polybius and others use it of strict, severe people. Moulton–Milligan note uses in documentary papyri for a strict or exacting person. In the parallel parable, Matthew 25:24 has σκληρός (sklēros, 'hard').