Discovery BoxLuke 7:40-42 
Context7:40 So 1 Jesus answered him, 2 “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He replied, 3 “Say it, Teacher.” 7:41 “A certain creditor 4 had two debtors; one owed him 5 five hundred silver coins, 6 and the other fifty. 7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled 7 the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the connection with the preceding statement recording the Pharisee’s thoughts.
2 tn Grk “answering, said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “answered him.”
sn Jesus answered him. Note that as the Pharisee is denying to himself that Jesus is a prophet, Jesus is reading his thoughts.
3 tn Grk “he said.”
4 sn A creditor was a moneylender, whose business was to lend money to others at a fixed rate of interest.
5 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
6 tn Grk “five hundred denarii.”
sn The silver coins were denarii. The denarius was worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth not quite two years’ pay. The debts were significant: They represented two months’ pay and one and three quarter years’ pay (20 months) based on a six day work week.
7 tn The verb ἐχαρίσατο (ecarisato) could be translated as “forgave.” Of course this pictures the forgiveness of God’s grace, which is not earned but bestowed with faith (see v. 49).
