So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done.
Parallel Translations
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So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done.
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When his other felowes sawe what was done they were very sory and came and tolde vnto their lorde all that had happened.
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And when his other felowe seruants sawe what was done, they were very sory, and came, and declared vnto their Lord all that was done.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Matthew 18:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.
- Mark 3:5 When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
- Hebrews 13:3 Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body.
- Genesis 37:2 This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.
- Psalms 119:136 Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they don’t observe your law.
- Jeremiah 9:1 Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Luke 14:21 “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
- Luke 19:41 When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,
- Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
- Psalms 119:158 I look at the faithless with loathing, because they don’t observe your word.
- Romans 9:1-3 I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done,…
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Ver. 31. So when his fellow servants] The angels, say some, who when they see us backward to business of this nature, are sorry, and say our errand to their and our common Lord, Angeli vident, dolent, et Domino omnia referunt (Aret.). The angels see, are grieved and refer all matters to God. Or the saints on earth groan out their discontents, against the unmerciful, to God, who soon hears them, for he is gracious, Exo 22:27; yea, the cries of the poor oppressed do even "enter into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth," Jas 5:4.
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 Lord was wroth,.... Very angry, greatly incensed,…
And his Lord was wroth,.... Very angry, greatly incensed, and justly provoked at such inhuman treatment:
and delivered him to the tormentors, or jail keepers. The Ethiopic version renders it, "to them that judge", or the judges; Munster's Hebrew Gospel, "to the punishers", or such that inflicted punishment according to the decree of the judge: from both, the sense may be, that he was delivered over to proper judges of his case, to be treated as the nature of it required, to be cast into prison, and there endure all the severities of law and justice:
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till he should pay all that was due unto him; which being so vast a sum, and he but a servant, could never be done: but inasmuch as this man was fully and freely pardoned before, how comes it to pass, that full payment of debt is yet insisted on? It is certain, that sin, once pardoned by God, he never punishes for it; for pardon with him is of all sin; he forgives all trespasses, though ever so many, and remits the whole debt, be it ever so large; which act of his grace will never be revoked: it is one of his gifts which are without repentance; it proceeds upon, and comes through a plenary satisfaction for sin made by his own Son, and therefore it would be unjust to punish for it: by this act, sin is covered out of sight; it is blotted out, and entirely done away, and that for ever. Hence some think this man had only the offer of a pardon, and not that itself; but it is not an offer of pardon, that Christ, by his blood, has procured, and is exalted to give, but that itself; and this man had his debt, his whole debt forgiven him: others think, that this was a church forgiveness, who looked upon him, judged him, and received him as one forgiven; but for his cruel usage of a fellow member, delivered him to the tormentors, passed censures on him, and excommunicated him, till he should give full satisfaction, which is more likely: others, this forgiveness was only in his own apprehensions: he presumed, and hoped he was forgiven, when he was not; but then his crime could not have been so aggravated as is: rather, this forgiveness is to be understood of averting calamities and judgments, likely to fall for his iniquities, which is sometimes the sense of this phrase: see Kg1 8:34 and so his being delivered to the tormentors may mean, his being distressed with an accusing guilty conscience, an harassing, vexing devil, many misfortunes of life, and temporal calamities. Though after all, this is not strictly to be applied to any particular case or person, but the scope of the parable is to be attended to; which is to enforce mutual forgiveness among men, from having received full and free pardon at the hands of God; and that without the former, there is little reason to expect the latter, as appears from what follows.
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 31. His fellow-servants saw what was done] An…
Verse 31. His fellow-servants saw what was done] An act of this kind is so dishonourable to all the followers of Christ, and to the spirit of his Gospel, that through the respect they owe to their Lord and Master, and through the concern they feel for the prosperity of his cause, they are obliged to plead against it at the throne of God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 18:31-35. When his fellow-servants saw what was done…
Mat 18:31-35. When his fellow-servants saw what was done — When they beheld such inhumanity, in such circumstances, and from such a man; they were very sorry — Exceedingly grieved at such an instance of unexampled cruelty from a man who had himself experienced such mercy; and came and told their lord — Gave their lord the king an exact and faithful account of the whole matter. Then his lord said, O thou wicked servant — Hard-hearted and unmerciful; I forgave thee all that debt — The vast sums due to me; because thou desiredst me — Didst acknowledge the debt, fell down at my feet, and humbly begged me to have patience with thee; shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant —
Who in like manner acknowledged his debt, and promised payment, showing thee, in his supplication, though thine equal, as much respect as thou showedst to me, thy lord and king? And his lord was wroth — Was exceedingly enraged; and delivered him to the tormentors — Not only revoked the grant of remission which he had just before made, as forfeited by so vile a behaviour; but put him in prison, commanding him to be there fettered and scourged; till he should pay all that was due unto him — That is, without any hope of release, for the immense debt which he owed he could never be able to pay. Instead of tormentors, here, Dr. Campbell reads jailers, observing that “the word βασανιστης, here used, properly denotes examiner, particularly one who has it in charge to examine by torture. Hence it came to signify jailer, for on such, in those days, was this charge commonly devolved. They were not only allowed, but even commanded, to treat the wretches in their custody with every kind of cruelty, in order to extort payment from them, in case they had concealed any of their effects; or, if they had nothing, to wrest the sum owed from the compassion of their relations and friends, who, to release an unhappy person for whom they had a regard from such extreme misery, might be induced to pay the debt; for the person of the insolvent debtor was absolutely in the power of the creditor, and at his disposal.” But it must be observed that imprisonment is a much severer punishment in the eastern countries than in ours. State criminals especially, when condemned to it, are not only confined to a very mean and scanty allowance, but are frequently loaded with clogs or heavy yokes, so that they can neither lie nor sit at ease; and by frequent scourgings, and sometimes rackings, are brought to an untimely end. How observable is this whole account; as well as the great inference our Lord draws from it! 1, The debtor was freely and fully forgiven; 2, He wilfully and grievously offended; 3, His pardon was retracted, the whole debt required, and the offender delivered to the tormentors for ever. And shall we still say, that when we are once freely and fully forgiven, our pardon can never be retracted? Verily, verily I say unto you, So likewise will my heavenly Father do to you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain So when his fellow-servants ... - This is a…
So when his fellow-servants ... - This is a mere circumstance thrown into the story for the sake of keeping, or making a consistent narrative. It cannot be intended to teach that other Christians should go and tell God what a brother has done; for God well knows all the actions of his children, and does not need us surely to inform him of what is done. It is abusing the Bible, and departing from the design of parables, to press every circumstance, and to endeavor to extract from it some spiritual meaning. Our Saviour, in this parable, designed most clearly to exhibit only one great truth - the duty of forgiving our brethren, and the great evil of not forgiving a brother when he offends us. The circumstances of the parable are intended only to make the story consistent with itself, and thus to impress the general truth more fully on the mind.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 31. Fellow servants… very sorry — They were sorry,…
31. Fellow servants… very sorry — They were sorry, but God was wroth. God’s servants grieve over their fellow’s sins; but vengeance belongeth to God. Even in expulsion from the visible Church, their true feeling is grief and love for the excommunicated; the act being done truly for his salvation. Told unto their Lord — God’s saints are forever laying the sins of men before him in confessory prayer. But God’s own omniscience is forever taking evidence of man’s sins.
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 31. when his fellowservants saw what was done, they…
31. when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry] This seems to point to the common conscience of mankind approving or anticipating the divine sentence.
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 (31) They were very sorry.—The fellow-servants are, of course,…
(31) They were very sorry.—The fellow-servants are, of course, in the inner meaning of the parable, those who are members of the same spiritual society. Our Lord appeals as by anticipation to the judgment which Christians in general, perhaps even to that which mankind at large, would pass upon such conduct. It is suggestive that He describes them, not as being angry or indignant (though such feelings would have been natural enough), but as “exceeding sorry.” Sorrow, rather than anger, is the mood of the true disciple of Christ as he witnesses the sins against love which are the scandals of the Christian society. Anger, the righteous wrath against evil, belongs rather, as in Mat_18:32, to the Lord and Judge.
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 Fellow servants. Those in the same condition of life…
Fellow servants. Those in the same condition of life as the incarcerated debtor. Mystically, they would be the angels, who, like those in the parable of the tares, tell the Lord what was done; or the saints who plead with God against oppression and injustice. They were very sorry. It is well remarked that anger against sin is God"s attribute (ver. 34), sorrow appertains to men. These have a fellow feeling for the sinner, in that they are conscious that in their own heart there are germs of evil which, unchecked, may develop into similar wickedness. Told (diesafhsan); told clearly. They took the part of their comrade, and, not in revenge or malice, but as an act of justice, gave their lord full information of what had happened. The just cannot hold their peace at the sight of oppression and wrong, and God confirms their judgment.
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 31. His fellow-servants … were very sorry. Unmerciful treatment…
31. His fellow-servants … were very sorry. Unmerciful treatment of the unfortunate is always wont to excite compassion. The servants were not only sorry for their wretched comrade, but they carried the case to their lord. It is always proper to carry the wrongs of fellow-beings which we cannot redress to our Heavenly Father.
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The result:
The result:
v. 31. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
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v. 32. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me.
v. 33. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?
v. 34. And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due unto him.
The treatment which had been accorded to their fellow-servant filled those that had witnessed the inhuman proceeding with deep sorrow and grief. Coming to their lord, they made a report of all that had happened. Cited into the presence of the king, the guilty one was speechless. He could not bring forth a single argument in defense of his action. But the lord characterizes him and his treatment of his fellow-servant: Having received such a large measure of mercy upon his imploring pleading, would it not have been a matter of obligation to pass on this mercy to his own debtor? And so, since the king’s wrath mounted high over such cruelty, the servant was delivered, not only to the keepers of the prison, but to the tormentors, with instructions that his life be made as miserable as possible, to atone, at least in part, for his total lack of humaneness, not to speak of decency and gratitude.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.