Lukas 14:28

14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down ¹  first and compute the cost ²  to see if he has enough money to complete it?

Lukas 16:6

16:6 The man ³  replied, ‘A hundred measures ⁴  of olive oil.’ The manager ⁵  said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ ⁶ 

[14:28]  ¹ tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:28]  ² tn The first illustration involves checking to see if enough funds exist to build a watchtower. Both ψηφίζω (yhfizw, “compute”) and δαπάνη (dapanh, “cost”) are economic terms.

[16:6]  ³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the first debtor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:6]  ⁴ sn A measure (sometimes translated “bath”) was just over 8 gallons (about 30 liters). This is a large debt – about 875 gallons (3000 liters) of olive oil, worth 1000 denarii, over three year’s pay for a daily worker.

[16:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the manager) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[16:6]  ⁶ sn The bill was halved (sit down quickly, and write fifty). What was the steward doing? This is debated. 1) Did he simply lower the price? 2) Did he remove interest from the debt? 3) Did he remove his own commission? It is hard to be sure. Either of the latter two options is more likely. The goal was clear: The manager would be seen in a favorable light for bringing a deflationary trend to prices.