Text -- Luke 16:1-6 (NET)

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. 16:2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’ 16:3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg. 16:4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ 16:5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 16:6 The man replied, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 16:1

¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

³ sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

⁴ tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

NET Notes: Luk 16:2

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the reports the man received about his manager.

² tn Grk “him”; the referent (the manager) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn Although phrased as a question, the charges were believed by the owner, as his dismissal of the manager implies.

⁴ tn Or “stewardship”; the Greek word οἰκονομία (oikonomia) is cognate with the noun for the manager (οἰκονόμος, oikonomo").

NET Notes: Luk 16:3

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the parable.

² tn Grk “the stewardship,” “the management.”

³ tn Here “dig” could refer (1) to excavation (“dig ditches,” L&N 19.55) or (2) to agricultural labor (“work the soil,” L&N 43.3). In either case this was labor performed by the uneducated, so it would be an insult as a job for a manager.

⁴ tn Grk “I do not have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg.”

sn To beg would represent a real lowering of status for the manager, because many of those whom he had formerly collected debts from, he would now be forced to beg from.

NET Notes: Luk 16:4

¹ tn This is a dramatic use of the aorist and the verse is left unconnected to the previous verse by asyndeton, giving the impression of a sudden realization.

² sn Thinking ahead, the manager develops a plan to make people think kindly of him (welcome me into their homes).

NET Notes: Luk 16:5

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the manager’s decision.

² tn Grk “summoning.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

NET Notes: Luk 16:6

¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the first debtor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² 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.

³ 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.

⁴ 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.