Luke 16:6

The man ¹  replied, ‘A hundred measures ²  of olive oil.’ The manager ³  said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ ⁴ 

"‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. "The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’

"And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

The man replied, ‘I owe him eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Tear up that bill and write another one for four hundred gallons.’

"He replied, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' "The manager said, 'Here, take your bill, sit down here--quick now--write fifty.'

And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty.

He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’

"And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

The man ¹  replied, ‘A hundred measures ²  of olive oil.’ The manager ³  said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ ⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the first debtor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn A measure (sometimes translated “bath”) was just over 8 gallons (about 30 liters). This is a large debt – about 875 gallons (3000 liters) of olive oil, worth 1000 denarii, over three year’s pay for a daily worker.

³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the manager) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

⁴ sn The bill was halved (sit down quickly, and write fifty). What was the steward doing? This is debated. 1) Did he simply lower the price? 2) Did he remove interest from the debt? 3) Did he remove his own commission? It is hard to be sure. Either of the latter two options is more likely. The goal was clear: The manager would be seen in a favorable light for bringing a deflationary trend to prices.