Matius 18:23-27

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

18:23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. ¹  18:24 As ²  he began settling his accounts, a man who owed ten thousand talents ³  was brought to him. 18:25 Because ⁴  he was not able to repay it, ⁵  the lord ordered him to be sold, along with ⁶  his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. 18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground ⁷  before him, saying, ⁸  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 18:27 The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt.

[18:23]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[18:24]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:24]  ³ sn A talent was a huge sum of money, equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual day’s wage for a worker. L&N 6.82 states, “a Greek monetary unit (also a unit of weight) with a value which fluctuated, depending upon the particular monetary system which prevailed at a particular period of time (a silver talent was worth approximately six thousand denarii with gold talents worth at least thirty times that much).”

[18:25]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:25]  ⁵ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:25]  ⁶ tn Grk “and his wife.”

[18:26]  ⁷ tn Grk “falling therefore the slave bowed down to the ground.” The redundancy of this expression signals the desperation of the slave in begging for mercy.

[18:26]  ⁸ tc The majority of mss (א L W 058 0281 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy^p,h co) begin the slave’s plea with “Lord” (κύριε, kurie), though a few important witnesses lack this vocative (B D Θ 700 pc lat sy^s,c Or Chr). Understanding the parable to refer to the Lord, scribes would be naturally prone to add the vocative here, especially as the slave’s plea is a plea for mercy. Thus, the shorter reading is more likely to be authentic.