Matthew 18:21-27

18:21 Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother ¹  who sins against me? As many as seven times?” 18:22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times! ² 

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. ³  18:24 As ⁴  he began settling his accounts, a man who owed ten thousand talents ⁵  was brought to him. 18:25 Because ⁶  he was not able to repay it, ⁷  the lord ordered him to be sold, along with ⁸  his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. 18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground ⁹  before him, saying, ¹⁰  ‘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.

Matthew 18:34

18:34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him ¹¹  until he repaid all he owed.

Luke 7:40-48

7:40 So ¹²  Jesus answered him, ¹³  “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He replied, ¹⁴  “Say it, Teacher.” 7:41 “A certain creditor ¹⁵  had two debtors; one owed him ¹⁶  five hundred silver coins, ¹⁷  and the other fifty. 7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled ¹⁸  the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 7:43 Simon answered, ¹⁹  “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” ²⁰  Jesus ²¹  said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 7:44 Then, ²²  turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, ²³  but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 7:45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, ²⁴  but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. 7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet ²⁵  with perfumed oil. 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much; ²⁶  but the one who is forgiven little loves little.” 7:48 Then ²⁷  Jesus ²⁸  said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” ²⁹ 

Luke 11:4

11:4 and forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins ³⁰  against us.

And do not lead us into temptation.” ³¹ 

[18:21]  ¹ tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.

[18:22]  ² tn Or “seventy times seven,” i.e., an unlimited number of times. See L&N 60.74 and 60.77 for the two possible translations of the phrase.

[18:23]  ³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[18:24]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:24]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:25]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “and his wife.”

[18:26]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.

[18:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to L&N 37.126, it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matthew about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.

[7:40]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the connection with the preceding statement recording the Pharisee’s thoughts.

[7:40]  ¹³ tn Grk “answering, said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “answered him.”

[7:40]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he said.”

[7:41]  ¹⁵ sn A creditor was a moneylender, whose business was to lend money to others at a fixed rate of interest.

[7:41]  ¹⁶ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[7:41]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “five hundred denarii.”

[7:42]  ¹⁸ 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).

[7:43]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answering, said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “answered.”

[7:43]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the one to whom he forgave more” (see v. 42).

[7:43]  ²¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[7:44]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:44]  ²³ sn It is discussed whether these acts in vv. 44-46 were required by the host. Most think they were not, but this makes the woman’s acts of respect all the more amazing.

[7:45]  ²⁴ tn Grk “no kiss.” This refers to a formalized kiss of greeting, standard in that culture. To convey this to the modern reader, the words “of greeting” have been supplied to qualify what kind of kiss is meant.

[7:46]  ²⁵ sn This event is not equivalent to the anointing of Jesus that takes place in the last week of his life (Matt 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8). That woman was not a sinner, and Jesus was eating in the home of Simon the leper, who, as a leper, could never be a Pharisee.

[7:47]  ²⁶ tn Grk “for she loved much.” The connection between this statement and the preceding probably involves an ellipsis, to the effect that the ὅτι clause gives the evidence of forgiveness, not the ground. For similar examples of an “evidentiary” ὅτι, cf. Luke 1:22; 6:21; 13:2. See discussion in D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:703-5. Further evidence that this is the case here is the final statement: “the one who is forgiven little loves little” means that the one who is forgiven little is thus not able to love much. The REB renders this verse: “her great love proves that her many sins have been forgiven; where little has been forgiven, little love is shown.”

[7:48]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:48]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:48]  ²⁹ sn Jesus showed his authority to forgive sins, something that was quite controversial. See Luke 5:17-26 and the next verse.

[11:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “who is indebted to us” (an idiom). The picture of sin as debt is not unusual. As for forgiveness offered and forgiveness given, see 1 Pet 3:7.

[11:4]  ³¹ tc Most mss (א¹ A C D W Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33 Ï it sy^c,p,h) add “but deliver us from the evil one,” an assimilation to Matt 6:13. The shorter reading has better attestation (Ì⁷⁵ א*^,2 B L 1 700 pc vg sa Or). Internally, since the mss that have the longer reading here display the same tendency throughout the Lord’s Prayer to assimilate the Lukan version to the Matthean version, the shorter reading should be regarded as authentic in Luke.