Matthew 18:25-35

18:25 Because¹ he was not able to repay it,² the lord ordered him to be sold, along with³ his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. 18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground⁴ before him, saying,⁵ ‘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 After⁶ he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins.⁷ So⁸ he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him,⁹ saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’¹⁰ 18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him,¹¹ ‘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 When¹² 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 slave¹³ 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 him¹⁴ until he repaid all he owed. 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your¹⁵ brother¹⁶ from your heart.”

¹tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

³tn Grk “and his wife.”

⁴tn 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.

⁵tc 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.

⁶tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷tn 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.

⁸tn 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.

⁹tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”

¹⁰tn The word “me” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

¹¹tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹²tn Grk “Therefore when.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

¹³tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴tn 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.

¹⁵tn Grk “his.” The pronoun has been translated to follow English idiom (the last pronoun of the verse [“from your heart”] is second person plural in the original).

¹⁶tn 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.