The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’
Parallel Translations
-
The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’
-
The servaunt fell doune and besought him sayinge: Sir geve me respyte and I wyll paye it every whit.
-
The seruant therefore fell downe, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, refraine thine anger toward me, and I will pay thee all.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Matthew 18:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 18:29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’
- Luke 7:43 Simon answered, “He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.” He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
- Matthew 8:2 Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
- Romans 10:3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Yield not too much to thine anger against me:…
Yield not too much to thine anger against me: so is God called in the Scripture, slow to anger, that is to say, gentle and one that refraineth the storming of his mind, Ps. 86:5, patient and of great mercy.
This was a civil reverence which was very usual in the East.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him,…
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Ver. 26. The servant therefore fell down] This was the ready way to disarm his master’s indignation, and procure his own peace, viz., to submit to justice and implore mercy. Thus Abigail pacified David; the prodigal, his father; nay, Benhadad, Ahab, that non-such, as the Scripture describes him. The very Turks at this day, though remorseless to those that bear up, yet receive humiliation with much sweetness. Humble yourselves under God’s great hand, saith St James, and he will lift you up, Jas 4:10. The Lion of Judah rends not the prostrate prey.
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 his fellow servant fell down at his feet,....…
And his fellow servant fell down at his feet,.... In the most humble and submissive manner, just as he himself had done a little before at the feet of his Lord:
and besought him, saying, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all; using the very same words, in which he had expressed himself to his Lord, and had succeeded.
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 26. Fell down and worshipped him] προσεκυνει αυτω,…
Verse 26. Fell down and worshipped him] προσεκυνει αυτω, crouched as a dog before him, with the greatest deference, submission, and anxiety.
Have patience with me] μακροθυμησον επ' εμοι, be long-minded towards me - give me longer space.
Read full note →
The means which a sinner should use to be saved, are,
1. Deep humiliation of heart - he fell down.
2. Fervent prayer.
3. Confidence in the mercy of God - have patience.
4. A firm purpose to devote his soul and body to his Maker - I will pay thee all.
A sinner may be said, according to the economy of grace, to pay all, when he brings the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus to the throne of justice, by faith; thus offering an equivalent for the pardon he seeks, and paying all he owes to Divine justice, by presenting the blood of the Lamb.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him -…
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him - This does not mean that he paid him religious homage, but that in a humble, reverent, and earnest manner he entreated him to have patience with him. He prostrated himself before his lord, as is customary in all Eastern nations when subjects are in the presence of their king. See the notes at Mat 2:2.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him--or did…
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him--or did humble obeisance to him.
saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all--This was just an acknowledgment of the justice of the claim made against him, and a piteous imploration of mercy.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 26. Pay thee all — Man can pay God…
26. Pay thee all — Man can pay God nothing. Yet, through Christ, he accepts our surrender of all, and forgives. See Mat_18:34.
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 26. worshipped him] The imperfect tense in the original…
26. worshipped him] The imperfect tense in the original denotes persistence.
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 (26) Fell down, and worshipped him.—The word implies simply…
(26) Fell down, and worshipped him.—The word implies simply the prostrate homage of a servant crouching before his master.
I will pay thee all.—The promise was, under such circumstances, an idle boast, but it describes with singular aptness the first natural impulse of one who is roused to a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. He will try to balance the account as by a series of instalments; he will score righteous acts in the future as a set-off against the transgressions of the past. In theological language, he seeks to be “justified by works.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Worshipped him. Prostrated himself before the monarch, and in…
Worshipped him. Prostrated himself before the monarch, and in this abject attitude sued for mercy. Have patience with me. Be long suffering in my case; give me time. And I will pay thee all. In his terror and anguish, he promises impossible things; even the revenues of a province would not in any convenient time supply this deficiency. The scene is very true to life. To save himself from a present difficulty, a debtor will make any promise that occurs to him, without considering whether he will ever be in a position to fulfil it. The defaulter in the parable must have thought well of the king"s generosity and tenderheartedness to make such a proposition at this extreme moment. If we take the spiritual sense of the parable, we see that no sinner could offer to pay, much less pay, the debt due from him to his Lord, "so that must be let alone forever". (Psa_49:8)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 26. Fell down, and worshipped him. In Oriental countries,…
26. Fell down, and worshipped him. In Oriental countries, almost all who approach monarchs prostrate themselves and offer homage. This is especially true of those who urge a petition. See Esther 8:3. Have patience, … I will pay thee all. This promise was one that could not possibly be fulfilled, though the servant might think it possible.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 fell down, bowed down
fell down, bowed down
This shows that the servant approached the king in the most humble way possible. (See: Symbolic Action)
Read full note →
before him
"before the king"
he was moved with compassion
"he felt compassion for the servant"
released him
"let him go"
translationWords
servant
bow
lord
patient
compassion
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:26 I will pay it all: The exaggerated debt…
18:26 I will pay it all: The exaggerated debt and the slave’s promise amplify the greatness of the king’s mercy and the slave’s unforgiving attitude (18:29-30).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.