Lukas 7:40-42

7:40 So ¹  Jesus answered him, ²  “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He replied, ³  “Say it, Teacher.” 7:41 “A certain creditor ⁴  had two debtors; one owed him ⁵  five hundred silver coins, ⁶  and the other fifty. 7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled ⁷  the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

[7:40]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the connection with the preceding statement recording the Pharisee’s thoughts.

[7:40]  ² tn Grk “answering, said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “answered him.”

[7:40]  sn Jesus answered him. Note that as the Pharisee is denying to himself that Jesus is a prophet, Jesus is reading his thoughts.

[7:40]  ³ tn Grk “he said.”

[7:41]  ⁴ sn A creditor was a moneylender, whose business was to lend money to others at a fixed rate of interest.

[7:41]  ⁵ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[7:41]  ⁶ tn Grk “five hundred denarii.”

[7:41]  sn The silver coins were denarii. The denarius was worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth not quite two years’ pay. The debts were significant: They represented two months’ pay and one and three quarter years’ pay (20 months) based on a six day work week.

[7:42]  ⁷ tn The verb ἐχαρίσατο (ecarisato) could be translated as “forgave.” Of course this pictures the forgiveness of God’s grace, which is not earned but bestowed with faith (see v. 49).