The ¹  master commended the dishonest ²  manager because he acted shrewdly. ³  For the people ⁴  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ⁵  than the people ⁶  of light.

biblegateway Luk 16:8

"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.

"The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light in dealing with their own people.

And the master praised the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder than the sons of light with regard to their own generation.

biblegateway Luk 16:8

"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.

The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

bibleoremus Luk 16:8

And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

And the master applauded the dishonest steward for acting so astutely. For in dealing with their own kind the children of this world are more astute than the children of light.

biblegateway Luk 16:8

"So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

biblegateway Luk 16:8

The ¹  master commended the dishonest ²  manager because he acted shrewdly. ³  For the people ⁴  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ⁵  than the people ⁶  of light.

¹ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² sn Is the manager dishonest because of what he just did? Or is it a reference to what he had done earlier, described in v. 1? This is a difficult question, but it seems unlikely that the master, having fired the man for prior dishonesty, would now commend those same actions. It would also be unusual for Jesus to make that point of the story the example. Thus it is more likely the reference to dishonesty goes back to the earliest events, while the commendation is for the cleverness of the former manager reflected in vv. 5-7.

³ sn Where this parable ends is debated: Does it conclude with v. 7, after v. 8a, after v. 8b, or after v. 9? Verse 8a looks as if it is still part of the story, with its clear reference to the manager, while 8b looks like Jesus’ application, since its remarks are more general. So it is most likely the parable stops after v. 8a.

⁴ tn Grk “sons” (an idiom).

⁵ tn Grk “with their own generation.”

⁶ tn Grk “sons.” Here the phrase “sons of light” is a reference to the righteous. The point is that those of the world often think ahead about consequences better than the righteous do.