He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
Parallel Translations
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He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
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And he sayd: an hondred tonnes of oyle. And he sayd to him: take thy bill and syt doune quickly and wryte fiftie.
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And he said, An hudreth measures of oyle. And he saide to him, Take thy writing, and sitte downe quickely, and write fiftie.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Luke 16:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 16:12 If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
- Titus 2:10 not stealing, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things.
- Luke 16:9 I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil.…
6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
Ver. 6. Take thy bill] The scope of this parable is, ut profusionem charitate erga pauperes compensemus, saith Beza, that we expiate, as it were, our prodigality, by showing mercy to the poor, Dan 4:27.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he said an hundred measures of oil,.... Or…
And he said an hundred measures of oil,.... Or "baths of oil", the same quantity as in Ezr 7:22 where Aben Ezra (i) calls them, "measures", as we do here; and Jarchi (k) observes, that they were, , "to mingle with the meal, or flour offerings"; which illustrates the above observation, that they were for the temple service; and the bath was the measure of oil, as the ephah was of wheat (l); and they were both of the same quantity, Eze 45:11. According to Godwin (m) it held four gallons and a half; so that a hundred of them contained four hundred and fifty gallons; though some make the measure much larger. Some say the "bath" held six gallons, one pottle, and half a pint; and others, seven gallons, two quarts, and half a pint; and others, nine gallons, and three quarts.
Take thy bill, or "writing"; which showed the bargain made for so many measures; and which acknowledged the receipt of them, and promised payment:
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and sit down quickly; for his case required haste;
and write fifty; just half; that it might appear he had bought but fifty, and was accountable for no more.
(i) In Ezr. vii. 22. (k) In ib. (l) Kimchi in Ezek. xlv. 14. (m) Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. A hundred measures of oil.] εκατον βατους,…
Verse 6. A hundred measures of oil.] εκατον βατους, A hundred baths. The בת bath was the largest measure of capacity among the Hebrews, except the homer, of which it was the tenth part: see Luke 45:11; Luke 45:14. It is equal to the ephah, i.e. to seven gallons and a half of our measure.
Take thy bill] Thy account - το γραμμα. The writing in which the debt was specified, together with the obligation to pay so much, at such and such times. This appears to have been in the hand-writing of the debtor, and probably signed by the steward: and this precluded imposition on each part. To prevent all appearance of forgery in this case, he is desired to write it over again, and to cancel the old engagement. In carrying on a running account with a tradesman, it is common among the Hindoos for the buyer to receive from the hands of the seller a daily account of the things received; and according to this account, written on a slip of paper, and which remains in the hands of the buyer, the person is paid.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A hundred measures - The measure here mentioned is…
A hundred measures - The measure here mentioned is the “bath” which contained, according to Dr. Arbuthnot’s tables, 7 12 gallons, or, according to the marginal note, about 9 gallons and 3 quarts.
Oil - Oil of olives, or sweet oil. It was much used for lamps, as an article of food Exo 29:2, and also for anointing, and, of course, as an article of commerce, 1Ki 5:11. These were persons, doubtless, who had “rented” land of the rich man, and who were to give him a certain proportion of the produce.
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Thy bill - The contract, obligation, or “lease.” It was probably written as a “promise” by the debtor and signed by the steward, and thus became binding. Thus he had power to alter it, without supposing that his master would detect it. The bill or contract was in the hands of the steward, and he gave it back to him to write a new one.
Quickly - He supposed that his master would soon remove him, and he was, therefore, in haste to have all things secure beforehand. It is worthy of remark, also, that “all” this was wrong. His master had called for the account: but, instead of rendering it, he engaged in other business, disobeyed his lord still, and, in contempt of his commands, sought his own interest. All sinners would be slow to give in their account to God if they could do it; and it is only because, when God calls them by death, they “cannot but go,” that they do not engage still in their own business and disobey him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. Hundred measures—This is the Hebrew bath, containing nearly…
6. Hundred measures—This is the Hebrew bath, containing nearly nine gallons.
Oil—The tenants paid not in money, but in the products of their estate.
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Take thy bill—The account which is to be receipted,
Sit down— Said by way of picturing the transaction.
Quickly—In order that the whole may be done before detection.
Write fifty—So that they must pay but half the real due, and he will give the receipt in full of all demands.
[We have throughout given the interpretation of the parable which has for ages been generally adopted. This interpretation makes this lowering of the tenants debt a dishonest transaction on the steward’s part; and yet it follows in the next verse that he was commended for it; and from the whole parable, that a bad man is held up as, in one respect, a model.
But Van Oosterzee furnishes another explication which removes these last particulars. The key to the whole parable, which he gives, is briefly this: The steward had overcharged the tenants and pocketed the surplus; and so this marking the tenants at a lower figure really is a righting of the matter. The unjust steward therefore is commended for only the right part of his conduct.
Yet the principle still remains that the good may learn many things of the bad, in the way of example; and we therefore (while accepting Van Oosterzee’s modification) conclude to change nothing we have said on that point.] 7. To another—The parable narrates the case of two as specimens of the whole.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. measures] The Hebrew bath and the Greek metretes;…
6. measures] The Hebrew bath and the Greek metretes; rather less than, but roughly corresponding to, the firkin = 9 gallons. This remission would represent a large sum of money.
Take thy bill] Rather, Receive thy hill. The steward hands the bill back to the tenant to be altered.
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write fifty] Since Hebrew numerals were letters, and since Hebrew letters differed very slightly from each other, a very slight forgery would represent a large difference.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Take thy bill, and sit down quickly.—The better…
(6) Take thy bill, and sit down quickly.—The better MSS. give, thy bills, or thy documents, in the plural. These would include that which answered to the modern lease, the contract which specified the rent, and probably also the memorandum of the due delivery of the annual share of the produce. In this case the measure is the Hebrew bath, which has been variously estimated, the data being uncertain and conflicting, at from one to three gallons to the higher number stated in the marginal note. The steward by thus tempting the debtors with an immediate gain, and making them sharers in his frauds, took the readiest and most direct means of securing at once their favour and their silence. That which answered to this in the first application of the parable was the conduct of the Pharisees, just in proportion as they lost the moral force which they had once exercised, in accommodating their casuistry to the selfishness of their followers. Thus by their Corban teaching (see Note on Mat_15:5) they released men from the obligation of supporting parents, and made perjury easy by their artificial distinctions as to oaths (Mat_5:33; Mat_23:16-22), gave a wide license to lust by their doctrine of divorce (Mat_5:31; Mat_19:3), and substituted the paying tithes of mint, and anise, and cummin for the weightier matters of the Law (Mat_23:23). Like phenomena have been seen in analogous circumstances in the history of the Christian Church. When Leo X. sent forth his preachers of indulgences with their short and easy methods of salvation; when Jesuit confessors were to be found in every court of Europe, doing nothing to preserve their votaries from a fathomless licentiousness; when Protestant theologians tuned their voice according to the time, and pandered to the passions of a Henry VIII. or a Landgrave of Hesse; when the preachers of justification by faith turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, or made it compatible with a life of money-making worldliness; when men lower the standard of duty to gain support and popularity—there the act of the steward in bidding the debtor write fifty measures, when he owed a hundred, finds its counterpart.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 16:6 800 gallons . . . 400 gallons: The…
16:6 800 gallons . . . 400 gallons: The size of the bath—a standard liquid measure—is not known with certainty.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.