Matthew 18:23-34

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. 18:28 After ⁹  he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. ¹⁰  So ¹¹  he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, ¹²  saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ¹³  18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ¹⁴  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ 18:30 But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. 18:31 When ¹⁵  his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. 18:32 Then his lord called the first slave ¹⁶  and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! 18:33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ 18:34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him ¹⁷  until he repaid all he owed.

[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.

[18:28]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “one hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be about three month’s pay.

[18:28]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so.” A new sentence was started at this point in the translation in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[18:28]  ¹² tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”

[18:28]  ¹³ tn The word “me” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:29]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[18:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Therefore when.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[18:32]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:34]  ¹⁷ 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.