Matthew 18:26

18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground ¹  before him, saying, ²  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’

Matthew 20:8

20:8 When ³  it was evening ⁴  the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay ⁵  starting with the last hired until the first.’

Matthew 24:45

The Faithful and Wise Slave

24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, ⁶  whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves ⁷  their food at the proper time?

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¹ 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.

² 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.

³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴ sn That is, six o’clock in the evening, the hour to pay day laborers. See Lev 19:13b.

⁵ tc ‡ Most witnesses (including B D W Θ Ë^1,13 33^vid Ï latt sy) have αὐτοῖς (autois, “to them”) after ἀπόδος (apodos, “give the pay”), but this seems to be a motivated reading, clarifying the indirect object. The omission is supported by א C L Z 085 Or. Nevertheless, NA²⁷ includes the pronoun on the basis of the greater external attestation.

⁶ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

⁷ tn Grk “give them.”