Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 18:23
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
23. a certain king, which would take account of his servants ] The picture is drawn from an Oriental Court. The provincial governors, farmers of taxes, and other high officials are summoned before a despotic sovereign to give an account of their administration.
would ] “chose,” “resolved:” all is subject to his sole will.
servants ] i. e. subjects, for all subjects of an Eastern monarch are “slaves.” The scholar will remember how often Demosthenes makes a point of this.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened … – The phrase, the kingdom of heaven, here has reference to the church, or to the way in which God will deal with his people. It shall be in my church as it was with a certain king; or God will deal with the members of his church as a certain king did with his servants. See the notes at Mat 3:2. This parable (see Mat 13:3) is related to show the duty of forgiving others. It is not necessary to suppose that it was a true narrative, but only that it illustrated the truth which he was teaching. At the same time it may be true that such an occurrence really took place.
Would take account of his servants – To take account means to reckon, to settle up affairs. The word servants here means, probably, petty princes, or, more likely, collectors of the revenue or taxes. Among the ancients kings often farmed out, or sold for a certain sum, the taxes of a particular district or province. Thus, when Judea was subject to Egypt or Rome, the kings frequently sold to the high priest the taxes to be raised from Judea on condition of a much smaller sum being paid to them. This secured to them a certain sum, but it gave occasion to much oppression in the collection of the taxes. It is probable that some such persons are intended by the word servants.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 18:23-35
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
The unmerciful servant
I. That we are all Gods debtors. Debt in the New Testament is a common figure for sin; but duty is a moral thing, not a commercial. It is used figuratively to denote an obligation which one has failed to meet. Let us compare our character with the requirements of Gods law.
II. That none of us has anything wherewith to pay his debt to God. Few will admit this. They say, Have patience with me and I will pay thee all. They will try to make themselves better.
III. That God is willing to forgive us all our debt.
IV. That the reception of this forgiveness by us involves in it the obligation to forgive those of our fellow-men who have trespassed against ourselves. How far this obligation extends. It does not imply that we are to take no notice of the wrong done us; this would be selfish indifference alike to our brother and his guilt. But how comes it that the obligation to cherish this forgiving spirit is connected with our reception of Gods mercy. All who accept Gods pardon are at the same time renewed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit; and so resembling Him in character, they seek to do unto others as He has done to them. Gratitude will take this form (Eph 4:32). Lessons:
1. That our sins against God are vastly greater than our neighbours trespasses against us.
2. We are constantly needing the forbearance of God and the long-suffering of our fellow-man.
3. That implacability on our part is an evidence that we are as yet unforgiven by God. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Mans unavailing effort to pay his sin debts
Commonly the very last thing which he will admit is that he can do nothing to make atonement for it. He will go about to establish his own righteousness. He will try to make himself better. He will promise future obedience, as if that could be a satisfaction for the sins of the past. It is thus with him as it is too often with business men in a time of embarrassment; for, no matter how involved his affairs may be, the very last thing that a merchant will admit is that he is hopelessly insolvent. Hugh Miller, in his autobiography, thus describes what he learned by his experience as a clerk in the branch bank of Linlithgow: I found I could predict every bankruptcy in the district; but I usually fell short from ten to eighteen months of the period in which the event actually took place. I could pretty nearly determine the time when the difficulties and entanglements which I saw, ought to have produced their proper effects, and landed in failure; but I missed taking into account the desperate efforts which men of energetic temperament make in such circumstances, and which, to the signal injury of their friends and the loss of their creditors, succeed usually in staving off the catastrophe for a season. So the sinner, in his attempts to work out his own redemption, sinks only the deeper into the mire. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Forgiveness-one law for lord and servant
It is a parable to show us that our life must be a repetition of the life of God. How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
I. The answer of the Lord, folded up in this parable, is as often as God forgives us. As soon as the lord began to reckon with his servants, he found this great defaulter; in any company God would immediately find such an one. What our Lord represents as one act, is really a continued flow of acts; every hour we are the subjects of forgiveness. Just as often you are to let forgiveness flow forth to others; the heart of the servant must be in unison with the heart of the master.
II. Gods mercy to us is to be a spring of mercy in us to others. The unmerciful servant would not resemble his master. We are receivers mainly that we may be givers. Observe the circumstances in which as Christians we are expected to exercise a forgiving spirit. Christ does not ask us to make bricks without straw. Everything that we need for the fulfilment of the command is provided. The Holy Spirit is given to mould us to the form of mercy which is in Him. It is a reasonable and ample provision. Christ endeavours to open our hearts by kindness; not by reproaches or commands, but by forgiveness. He dies that our transgressions may be put away. If the power to forgive be greater in us in this way than any other, the responsibility under which we lie to put forth that power is enormously increased.
III. We must take the entire gift, or lose all. The entire gift of the king was something more than forgiveness. It was also a forgiving heart. It is the gift of a new life. He took the liberty, joy, relief, and then stopped. He took the remission of his debt; but not the debt-remitting heart. Pardon is not salvation; there must be holiness as well. (A. Macleod, D. D.)
Gods mercy reproduced in the life of the Christian
If you cleave a stem of rock crystal into fragments, every fragment will be found a repetition more or less complete of the unbroken crystal. In a single drop of seawater you will find all the elements of the sea itself. Pluck a leaf from the oak, the beech, the plane, or any forest tree; place it between you and the light-you will find that the profile of the leaf is the profile of the perfect tree. Look at its veins; they are a little map of the branches of the tree. The tree reproduces itself in the leaf; the leaf is a picture of the whole tree. The form of the fragment, of the drop, of the leaf is the form of the whole to which it belongs. This law holds throughout the wide variety of nature. A single bone reveals the animal: a single ray of light contains the mysteries of all light; the pebble you start with your foot is an epitome of the globe we inhabit. (A. Macleod, D. D.)
The unmerciful servant-
This parable.
I. The circumstances which led to its delivery. Our Lord had been giving instructions to his disciples concerning the restoration of an erring brother. The injured party should be ready to forgive.
II. The several parts of which it is composed. The king is intended to represent the Most High; but He is not too exalted to attend to the concerns of His subjects.
1. A servant is in debt to his sovereign.
(1) Its amount exceedingly great. Our sin is great.
(2) This servant being unable to meet his heavy liabilities, the claims of justice are advanced.
(3) To arrest the execution of the sentence a humble and earnest plea is presented.
(4) Touched with a feeling of pity the king relinquishes his claims and extends to the debtors a full and free pardon.
2. One servant in debt to another: even to him who had been so heavily in debt himself, but was most generously released from all his obligations.
(1) A contrast truly appalling.
(2) A punishment richly deserved.
III. The practical lessons it enforces. (Expository Outlines)
Twenty-seceded Sunday after Trinity
Warn against misapplications of the parable.
1. It would be an error to apply it to the subject of property obligations and money-debt.
2. Neither does it relate to civil punishments (Rom 13:1-5).
3. Neither are we to see in this parable the history of any particular persons, but simply the exhibition of the nature and working of the Divine principle of grace first in absolving us, and then in the temper which it begets in the hearts of those who are the subjects of it.
4. Neither is it intended to teach us by this parable that our exercise of forgiveness is in any way the procuring cause of Gods forgiveness.
The way thus cleared, consider some of the elements of the parable itself.
1. Man is an immense debtor.
2. Sad is mans estate in view of this enormous indebtedness. There is a way, however, for these terrible consequences to be averted.
4. But there may be great debtors to whom the Lords word of entire forgiveness has been spoken, who yet in the end fail of the advantages of it.
5. Gods forgiveness is not bestowed that we may indulge our selfishness and greed.
6. There are other servants spoken of besides the two debtors. When they saw what was done they were very sorry. This is the form which true charity takes when called to witness sinfulness. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
The unmerciful servant
I. The practice of forgiving injuries.
II. The principle of forgiving injurious. (W. Arnot.)
Mercy uncommunicated, not truly received
If the channel of his heart had really been inserted into the fountain-head of mercy for receiving, mercy would infallibly have flowed in the way of giving, wherever the need of a brother made an opening; if the vessel had been charged, it would certainly have discharged. No compassion flowed from that heart to refresh a fellow-creature in distress, because that heart had never truly opened to accept mercy from God; the reservoir was empty, and therefore the outbranching channels remained dry. (W. Arnot.)
The magnitude of injury determined by our temper towards it
Most of the injuries with which we are called to deal are small, even in relation to human capacity; they are, very often precisely of the size that our own temper makes them. Some people possess the art of esteeming great injuries small, and some the art of esteeming small injuries great. The first is like a traveller who throws a great many stones out of the burden which he carries, and so walks with ease along the road; the other is like a traveller who gathers a great many stones on the wayside, and adds them to his burden, and is therefore soon crushed by the load. (W. Arnot.)
Man freed from an unforgiving temper by the gentle influences of the Divine love, not by self-determination
A traveller in Burmah, after fording a certain river, found his body covered all over by a swarm of small leeches, busily sucking his blood. His first impulse was to tear the tormentors from his flesh; but his servant warned him that to pull them off by mechanical violence would expose his life to danger. They must not be torn off, lest portions remain in the wounds and become a poison; they must drop off spontaneously, and so they will be harmless. The native forthwith prepared a hath for his master, by the decoction of some herbs, and directed him to lie down in it. As soon as he had bathed in the balsam the leeches dropped off. Each unforgiven injury rankling in the heart is like a leech sucking the lifeblood. Mere human determination to have done with it, will not cast the evil thing away. You must bathe your whole being in Gods pardoning mercy; and these venomous creatures will instantly let go their hold. You will stand up free. (W. Arnot.)
A wide view of heavenly good lessens the power of earthly wrongs
While a few acres of cold barren moorland constitute all your heritage, if a neighbour encroaches on it by a hairs-breadth, you assert your right and repel the aggression; possibly you may, in your zeal, accuse him of an intention to trespass, if you see him digging his own ground near your border. While your property is very small, you are afraid of losing any of it; and perhaps you cry out before you are hurt. But if you become heir to a broad estate in a fertile valley, you will no longer be disposed to watch the motions of your neighbour, and go to law with him for a spadeful of moss that he may have taken from a disputed spot. Thus, while a human soul has no other portion than an uncertain shred of this uncertain world, be is kept in terror lest an atom of his property should be lost; he will do battle with all his might against any one who is, or seems to be, encroaching on his honour, or business, or property: but when he becomes a child of God, and an heir of an incorruptible inheritance-when he is a prince on the steps of a throne, he can afford to overlook small deductions from a possession that is insignificant in itself, and liable to be taken away at any time without an hours warning. (W. Arnot.)
The forgiving spirit aided by prayer
The miller, finding that some of the lumps are large and hard, and that the mill-stones are consequently almost standing still, goes quietly out and lets more water on. Go you, and do likewise. When injuries that seem large and hard are accumulated on your head, and the process of forgiving them begins to choke and go slow under the pressure, as if it would soon stop altogether; when the demand for forgiveness grows great, and the forgiving power in the heart is unable to meet it; then, enter into your closet and shut your door, and pray to your Father specifically for more experience of His forgiving love; so shall your forgiving love grow stronger, and overcome every obstacle that stands in its way. (W. Arnot.)
Sin as debt
I. That sin is a debt, a vast debt; or that there is much, yea great, exceeding great evil in sin, considered as a debt.
II. That sinners are debtors, and have nothing to pay, and therefore are forgiven freely, as an act of Gods mercy, all their debts without any satisfaction made by them.
III. That God doth and will call sinners who are debtors to Him, to an account, be they willing or no.
IV. That a pardoned person, or one that God hath forgiven, does forgive from his heart all those that have injured him, and they that do not so are not, nor shall be ever forgiven. (Benjamin Keach.)
Evil of sin
1. Sin is a vast debt, or an exceeding great evil in respect of God, against whom it is committed.
2. Sin is a vast debt, considering what wrong it hath done to God; it is a crossing His will, a violation of His law, a contemning His authority, a despising of His sovereignty and dominion, a defacing His image, and resisting His spirit, abuse of His patience, and a slighting of all His love, mercy, and goodness.
3. Sin is a great debt, because all men, yea, all the saints of the earth, nor angels of heaven can pay this debt.
4. Sin is a vast debt, because it exposes the sinner to eternal wrath and vengeance. (Benjamin Keach.)
Ways of being debtors
1. By owing money.
2. By being a trespasser, offender, or guilty person.
3. By robbery of a mans goods or good name.
4. By violating a covenant.
5. By receiving kindnesses. He owes the debt of gratitude and thankfulness. (Benjamin Keach.)
Sinners like debtors
1. In their unwillingness to be called to account.
2. Attended with shame.
3. They have many shifts and delays.
4. Do not like to meet their creditor.
5. Continually afraid of arrest. (Benjamin Keach.)
Compassion God-like
There is nothing that makes a man so unlike to God, as a hard heart; without pity, without patience. In the tabernacle, the doors of the sanctum santorum were of olive-wood (1Ki 6:31); which is the hieroglyphic of mercy: but the gates of that fearful dungeon, which is hell, are said to be of brass and iron; He hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder (Psa 107:16); the signs of hard hearts and instruments of destruction. Which serves to show, that the way to hell is by inhumanity; to heaven, by pity. Of all the passions in us, compassion is the best; and a man without this tenderness, is but the statue of a man; a mere stone in a human figure. The very stones will seem to weep, when foul weather is a-coming; and as if they had been once so full of sorrow for Christs sufferings, that their solid breasts could no longer contain it, they brake in pieces. There be men harder than stones, that have hearts more impenetrable, obdurate, and unrelenting, and less capable of remorse; nay, instead of pitying the wounds of the miserable, they make those miserable wounds. (T. Adams.)
Influence of forgiveness
The fate of the unmerciful servant tells us in the plainest language that the mere cancelling of our guilt does not save us. It tells us that unless the forgiveness of God humbles us, and begets within us a truly meek and loving spirit, we cannot be owned as His children. The best assurance that we are ourselves forgiven is the consciousness that the very spirit of the forgiving God is working in our own hearts towards others. (Marcus Dods.)
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is cheaper than revenge, and is sweeter and more valuable. Prudence as well as piety, counsels quiet to men under reproof or reproach. If a bee stings you, will you go to the hive and destroy it? Would not a thousand come upon you? If you receive a trifling injury, dont be anxious to avenge it. Let it drop. It is wisdom to say little respecting the injuries you have received. When enemies see they have hit you they know where to strike next time, while if you show no signs of disquiet, they think their stroke must have missed its mark. Lie quiet, and you will be likely to be let alone. (H. L. Hastings.)
The parable of the king that took account of his servant
Note–
I. The great goodness and clemency of god. Delay was asked for, and remission was given. How great the love; the gift exceeds the petition.
II. The great power of humility. The servant kneeled down and prayed in a few simple words, and he was forgiven his debt. Certain lions spare a prey that prostrates itself before them.
III. The punishment is one thing, the fault is another. There is a freeing from the dominion of Satan, and then there is a remission of the punishment. Two distinct acts. Absalom was pardoned, yet he was not admitted to Davids presence (2Sa 14:28).
IV. The inconstancy and mutability of man.
V. The need we have to forgive injuries. Like our blessed Lord and St. Stephen, we must pray for our murderers. (From the Latin.)
The just account
I. The sublimity of the judicial condition. A certain king, endowed with the highest powers, will be our judge-Jesus Christ (Rev 19:16). His three attributes are-
1. Infallible knowledge.
2. Inflexible justice.
3. Invincible power.
Hence He is to be greatly feared (Jer 10:7).
II. The impossibility of final avoidance-which would take account.
III. The necessity of obedient subjection. Servants, implying total subjection to Him (Lev 19:37). (From the Latin.)
Our great creditor
God is our great creditor on account-
I. Of original sin (Eph 2:3).
II. Of actual sin (Isa 59:2).
III. Of obedience by natural and Divine law (Rom 2:14-15).
1. Natural. God is our creator (Act 17:28). Jesus Christ is our Redeemer.
2. Divine. He is our King (Rom 13:1). We are His spiritual subjects and followers.
IV. Of gratitude for all blessings. Temporal and spiritual (1Co 12:6-11).
V. Of earnest love for any good which we may have done. To Him be all the praise and honour (Psa 115:1). (From the Latin.)
The tormentors
The torment of this place of tormentors (Mat 25:30), arises from-
I. The hopelessness of escape. The imprisonment here knows no end (Mat 3:12; Mat 25:46; Isa 66:24).
II. The weight which presses down the condemned.
III. The unceasing torment. Never any relief; not a moments ease or forgetfulness (Rev 14:11).
IV. The weariness and pain of being. A wakeful night seems multiplied into three. The same round, or rather, unvarying sameness, which makes an agony of itself.
V. The spectators of this wretchedness (Rev 14:10; Rev 6:16-17). This formed the agony of Samson (Jdg 16:27-28). It carries shame here; it will increase the agony of hereafter. (From the Latin.)
The debt of man
Let us consider the nature of our debt.
I. To god. Pay the debt of
(1) Love;
(2) Honour;
(3) Fear; for He is Lord of all.
II. To ourselves. Pay thy debt of
(1) Love; we ought to love ourselves since God loves us, and we ought to obey the commandment of love-to love ourselves; not in and for ourselves, but as in and belonging to God.
(2) Care; we ought to guard and preserve ourselves from dangers ghostly and bodily. Hence the gift of reason to defend and protect the course of life.
(3) Salvation (Php 2:12; Ecc 9:10).
III. To our neighbour. Pay thy debt of
(1) Love (Mat 19:19), dealing with him as with thyself.
(2) Instruction; if he wander, seek to lead him back into the paths of righteousness (Mat 18:15; Jam 5:20).
(3) Help and succour (1Jn 3:17-18; Isa 53:7).
Epilogue.
1. Husband and discipline every resource.
2. Strive and pray honestly to meet this triple debt. (From the Latin.)
What contrasts are here!
I. God, the King of kings, towards a servant; and again, a servant towards his fellow-servant.
II. An infinite debt, and again, a small debt.
III. Impossibility and inability; and again, possibility and ability.
IV. Compassion and kindness; and again, hardheartedness and cruel behaviour. (Heubner.)
The sinners debt
This servant, or minister, must have been some high functionary of state, who manipulated the revenues of provinces. He represents the sinner-every sinner. The debt for which every sinner is accountable, or liable, to God is enormous. It is not easy to determine exactly what was the value of the Hebrew talent. It contained 3,000 shekels of the sanctuary, and is supposed by some to have corresponded exactly to the Greek AEginetan talent, which exceeded the common Attic commercial talent. This common Attic talent is estimated by Boeckh as equivalent to 1,375 German thalers. Taking the German thaler as equivalent to 3s. sterling, a single Attic talent would amount to a little above 200; so then ten thousand talents would be something more than 2,000,000 sterling, an immense sum, more especially in those ancient times, when the relation of bullion to commodities was such that the prices of commodities in bullion were far smaller relatively than now, with our vast importations of gold from America and Australia. This immense sum, almost; baffling ordinary conception, represents the sinners spiritual debt or guilt. (J. Morison, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. Therefore is the kingdom] In respect to sin, cruelty, and oppression, God will proceed in the kingdom of heaven (the dispensation of the Gospel) as he did in former times; and every person shall give an account of himself to God. Every sin is a debt contracted with the justice of God; men are all God’s own servants; and the day is at hand in which their Master will settle accounts with them, inquire into their work, and pay them their wages. Great Judge! what an awful time must this be, when with multitudes nothing shall be found but sin and insolvency!
By servant, in the text, we are to understand, a petty king, or tributary prince; for no hired servant could possibly owe such a sum as is here mentioned.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All these verses (except the last) are but a parable, which (as I before showed) is a similitude brought from the usual actions of men, and made use of to open or apply some spiritual doctrine. The main scope, or the proposition of truth, which our Saviour designs to open or press, is that which is first and principally to be considered and intended; and that, as I before showed, is to be known, either by the particular explication given by our Saviour, or by what went immediately before, or followeth immediately after. The scope of this parable is plainly expressed, Mat 18:35,
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Nor is it obscurely hinted to us in what went before, where our Saviour was instructing Peter in the great duty of forgiving men their trespasses. This being agreed, as we use to say, that similitudes run not on four feet, so we are not to expect that all the actions of men, mentioned in the parable, should be answered by some correspondent actions of God: As similitudes always halt, so never more than when by them Gods actions are expressed and represented to us. The main points which this parable instructs us in are;
1. That it is our duty, especially theirs who have received forgiveness from God, to forgive their brethren.
2. That if they do not, they may justly question whether God hath forgiven them, and expect the same severity from him which they show unto their brethren.
These being the main things for instruction in which this parable is brought, and which we ought chiefly to eye as the things taught us by this parable, nothing hindereth but that it may also instruct us in some other things, though we cannot raise a proposition of truth from every branch of the parable, and some things be put in according to the passions and usual dealings of men, which possibly are in them unrighteous actions, and may follow from their ungoverned passions, which will by no means agree to the pure and holy nature of God. I will first open such terms in the parable as may be less intelligible to vulgar readers.
The kingdom of heaven; my administration of my kingdom: I am come to purchase remission of sins, and to dispense out remission of sins to those who are indebted to the justice of my Father; but in the application of my blood to men and women for the remission of their sins, both my Father and myself will do as a king, that took account of his servants, &c. Men must look for pardon from my Father, and benefit from me as their Redeemer, upon the following terms: see Mat 6:15.
Ten thousand talents; a certain for an uncertain number; a very great sum. Those who have computed it, say it amounts to a million eight hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds. He
commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had; a thing which our law will not suffer, but in use amongst other nations, and amongst the Jews in particular, as may be learned from 2Ki 4:1.
And delivered him to the tormentors; that is, to the keepers of the prison; so the next words teach us, and the Greek word often signifieth no more, though it doth indeed sometimes.
An hundred pence, Mat 18:28, signifieth a small sum, hardly exceeding in our money fifty shillings. This parable excellently instructs us in these truths:
1. That as men, by the law of nature and God, and the laws of men, may be debtors to us, to our reputation, to our estate; so we are all debtors to the glory, honour, and justice of God.
2. That it is a vast debt we owe to Gods honour and justice, to which no debt owing by any to us can bear any proportion.
3. That we have nothing to pay to God, in satisfaction for our debt.
4. That God hath a right to demand a full satisfaction of us.
5. That God, for Christs sake, upon our application to him for mercy, will forgive us our debts.
6. That we are not so ready to forgive our brethren their little injuries, as God is to forgive us.
7. That our difficulty to forgive our brethren, after Gods liberality in forgiving us, is a great charge, or will be a great charge against us in the court of heaven.
8. That we ought to set before us Gods compassion towards us, and free love in forgiving us, potently to move us to forgive those who have done us injury, and to forgive them out of that consideration.
9. That we ought from our hearts to forgive men their trespasses; that is, so as not to hate them, bear them any grudge or malice, seek any private revenge upon them, or public satisfaction, beyond what they are able to give, but be ready to do them what common offices of kindness in their straits are in our power.
10. That the not doing of this will be an ill evidence to our souls, that God hath not indeed forgiven us, as well as a bar against such forgiveness; and an ill omen, that some punishment from God expects us in this life, to bring us to a temper more conformable to the gospel, and if not, this life, yet in the life which is to come.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Therefore“withreference to this matter.”
is the kingdom of heavenlikened unto a certain king, which would take account of hisservantsor, would scrutinize the accounts of his revenuecollectors.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven,…. The Gospel church state, or the church of Christ under the Gospel dispensation, and the methods of God’s dealings in it;
likened unto a certain king: or “a man”, “a king”, pointing either to Christ, the king Messiah, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords, the King of saints and churches; who, as God, has a natural kingdom of providence, and as man and Mediator, a kingdom of grace; and will have a more visibly glorious one, both in this world and in the other; or rather, the Father of Christ, as appears from the application of the parable, in Mt 18:35, who is the living God, and everlasting King: whose is the kingdom of nature, grace, and glory:
which would take account of his servants; not all mankind, though these are all in a sense his servants, and accountable to him; nor only ministers of the Gospel, who are so in an eminent and peculiar sense, and must give an account to God of their time and talents, and souls committed to them; but all that bear the Christian name, that are professors of religion, that are either really or nominally the subjects and servants of God. These, it is sometimes the will and pleasure of God, to “take account of”: not of their persons, or number, but of their conduct and behaviour; which, as it will be more fully done at death, or at judgment, so sometimes is taken in this life: God sometimes calls, and brings, professors of religion to an account, and reckons with them by afflictive dispensations of providence; when he puts them upon reflecting how they have spent their time, made use of their talents and gifts, and have behaved in their families, and in the world, and church; or by dealing roundly with men’s consciences, awakening and convincing them of their sins, of omission and commission, which seems to be intended here.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Make a reckoning ( ). Seen also in 25:19. Perhaps a Latinism, rationes conferre. First aorist active infinitive of , to cast up accounts, to settle, to compare accounts with. Not in ancient Greek writers, but in two papyri of the second century A.D. in the very sense here and the substantive appears in an ostracon from Nubia of the early third century (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 117).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A certain king [ ] . Lit., a man, a king. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a human king.
Take account of his servants [ ] . The rendering of the A. V. is loose and inadequate, and might be taken to mean to reckon the number of his servants. The verb sunarai is compounded of sun, with, and airw, to take up, and means literally to take up together, i e., cast up, as an account. The A. V. also overlooks the force of meta, with. Therefore, Rev., better, make a reckoning with his servants.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
23. The kingdom of heaven is compared. As it is difficult to bend us to mercy, and as we are quickly seized with weariness, particularly when we have to bear with many faults of brethren, our Lord confirms this doctrine by a most appropriate parable, the substance of which is, that those who will not yield to pardon the faults of brethren judge very ill for themselves, and subject themselves to a very hard and severe law; for they will find God to be equally stern and inexorable towards themselves. There are three parts in which the resemblance mainly consists; for the master is contrasted with the servant, the large sum of money with small or ordinary sums, and extraordinary kindness with extreme cruelty. By attending to these three points, it will be easy to ascertain Christ’s meaning; for what are we, if we are compared with God? And how large is the sum which every one of us owes to God? Lastly, how inconsiderable are the offenses, with which brethren are chargeable towards us, if we take into account our obligation to God? How ill then does that man deserve the compassion of God, who, though oppressed with an immense load, implacably refuses to forgive even the smallest offenses to men like himself? So far as regards the words, the kingdom of heaven here denotes the spiritual condition of the Church; as if Christ had said, that the state of matters between God and men, in regard to the soul and the nature of spiritual life, is the same as between an ordinary or earthly master and his servants, in regard to money and the affairs of the present life.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened . . .Over and above the direct teaching of the parable it has the interest, as regards its form, of being, in some sense, an advance on those of chapter 13, i.e., as more fully bringing out human interests, and so more after the pattern of those that are characteristic of St. Luke.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Kingdom of heaven God’s administration of justice, under the Messiah’s reign. King the symbol here of God, who is king of the universe. Servants His officers of government; perhaps here the collectors of his revenue.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Parable Of The Forgiven Servant Who Could Not Himself Forgive
This subject of repentance and forgiveness was of such importance under the Kingly Rule of Heaven that Jesus now tells a parable about it. The parable again stresses the present nature of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, for the first servant finds forgiveness and then goes out and behaves unforgivingly towards another. The process is ongoing.
The basic meaning of the parable is simple yet profound. It first indicates the greatness of the level of God’s forgiveness. It is for the ‘billions of sins’ which each of us has committed. It is total forgiveness for a huge debt on the basis of repentance. In this regard we should recognise that we all sin every day continually. It is not just a question of what we do, but of what we do not do. We sin because we fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). We sin because we fail to do all the things that we should be doing to bring men to God and to make the world a better place. ‘He who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin’ (Jas 4:17). We sin because we often do not even recognise the good that we ought to do. It is not that we necessarily deliberately disobey God. It is because we are so sinful that we do not really realise in what ways we come short. Thus we all need forgiveness every day for being what we are.
The parable then stresses the small nature (in contrast with the size of God’s forgiveness) of any forgiveness that we are called on to offer. But its prime point is that God’s forgiveness has not genuinely been accepted by one who is then unable to forgive others. In the parable the king’s forgiveness is rescinded. But that can never be so with God’s forgiveness. Thus parables can never be applied too strictly. On the other hand it is a warning to us not to assume too readily God’s forgiveness, for Jesus warns that if we do not forgive those who sin against us and repent, so neither will God forgive us. This is not because forgiveness is conditional. It is because truly being forgiven will make a person ready to forgive others. Someone who has been truly forgiven will be forgiving because of the work of God within them.
Analysis.
Note that the small letters demonstrate the chiasmus. The capital letters draw attention to the inner sequence.
a “Therefore is the kingly rule of Heaven likened to a certain king, who would call his servants to account for their activities” (Mat 18:23).
b A “And when he had begun to call them to account, one was brought to him, who owed him ten thousand talents (that is in our terms ‘many billions of dollars/pounds’), but because he did not have the wherewithal to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made” (Mat 18:24-25).
c BC“The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you all’, and the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt” (Mat 18:26-27).
d AB “But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred denarii (one hundred day’s wages), and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you” (Mat 18:28-29).
e C “And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay what was due” (Mat 18:30).
d “So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were deeply sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done” (Mat 18:31).
c “Then his lord called him to him, and says to him, ‘You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on you?” (Mat 18:32-33).
b “And his lord was justly angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due” (Mat 18:34).
a “So also will my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts” (Mat 18:35).
Not that in ‘a’ the Kingly Rule of Heaven is likened to a king call his servants to account, and in the parallel we have the reaction of Jesus’ Heavenly Father to those who do not forgive. In ‘b’ the king was requiring his servant to pay all his debt and in the parallel he is still required to pay all his debt. In ‘c’ the servant pleads for mercy and is forgiven all his debt, and in the parallel the king reminds him that this was what had happened. In ‘d’ we have that servant’s treatment of a fellow-servant described, and in the parable the fact that this is reported to the king. Centrally in ‘e’ is the failure of the servant to forgive his fellow-servant, the basic point that called for the parable.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
“Therefore is the kingly rule of Heaven likened to a certain king, who would call his servants to account for their activities.”
At first sight this appears to be another example of a parable of the final judgment, but in fact it turns out not to be so. It is rather a parable of the ongoing nature of the Kingly Rule of Heaven on earth prior to the final judgment. It is a good example of how the Kingly Rule of Heaven has commenced on earth, prior to it merging with the ‘heavenly’ Kingly Rule of Heaven.
In the parable the king is seen as ruling over those within his kingly rule, and regularly calling his servants to account. It can to some extent be compared with the scenes in Job 1-2, but here it is His earthly servants who are called to account. This ‘calling to account’ is that which takes place when a person is faced up by God with the size of their debt to Him. They are then ‘called to account’. He is seeking to call them to repentance.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.
v. 23. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. “Therefore,” because unlimited forgiving in disposition and action is expected of disciples of Christ. This is an essential feature of the Church of Christ that this cheerful willingness be found. We have here an illustration both of the manner and of the extent of Christian forgiveness. A man, a king, a great monarch, one whose wealth and power seem limitless as measured by the standard of men, found it necessary, determined to hold a reckoning with his servants, with the men that were employed by him and had, in the course of time, contracted debts.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 18:23. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened, &c. “For this reason, or, with respect to this matter, I may properly say that the kingdom of heaven, in its constitution and final process, may be likened to, or illustrated by the instance of a certain king who ruled over a large country, and who, as he had a great number of officers under him, was determined at length to settle accounts with his servants.” Thus our Lord illustrates the excellent morality in the preceding verse, by a lively parable; in which is shewn the necessity of forgiving the greatest injuriesa necessity of the strongest kind, arising from this law of the divine government, an invariable rule of which is, that God will not forgive us our trespasses, if we do not forgive others. See ch. Mat 6:12.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 18:23 . ] must refer to the reply to Peter’s question, for a new scene was introduced at Mat 18:21 . Therefore to be explained thus: “because I have enjoined such unlimited forgiveness” (not merely a conciliatory disposition generally, in answer to de Wette and Bleek). The duty of unlimited forgiveness proves any shortcoming in regard to this matter to be but the more reprehensible, and to point this out is the object of the parable which follows.
. . . ] See note on Mat 13:24 .
The are the king’s ministers who are indebted to him through having received money on loan ( , Mat 18:27 ), or, relatively, as treasurers, land stewards, or the like. But it is not without reason that is joined to , seeing that the kingdom of heaven is likened to a human king. Comp. the of Homer.
] to hold a reckoning, to settle accounts , occurs again in Mat 25:19 , but nowhere else. Classical writers would say: , Dem. 1236. 17.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Ver. 23. Which would take account of his servants ] This God doth daily. 1. In the preaching of the law with its direction or correction, which he that trembleth not in hearing, saith that martyr, shall be crushed to pieces in feeling. 2. In trouble of conscience, which when open, tells us all we have done, and writes bitter things against us, though they be legible only (as things written with the juice of lemons) when held to the light fire of God’s fierce wrath. 3. In the hour of death; for every man’s death’s day is his particular doom’s day. 4. At the day of judgment, when we shall appear to give an account, 2Co 5:10 . Good therefore is the counsel of Cicero, 4 in Verr., Ita vivamus ut rationem nobis reddendam arbitremur, Let us so live, as that we forget not our last reckoning. Rationem cum domino crebro putet Villicus, Let the steward often reckon with his master, saith Cato.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23. ] ‘because this is so,’ because unlimited forgiveness is the law of the Kingdom of Heaven. The here are not slaves , but ministers or stewards. By the of Mat 18:25 they could not be slaves in the literal sense.
But in Oriental language (see Herodotus passim) all the subjects of the king, even the great ministers of state, are called . The individual example is one in high trust , or his debt could never have reached the enormous sum mentioned. See Isa 1:18 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 18:23-35 . Parable of unmerciful servant .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 18:23 . suggests that the aim of the parable is to justify the apparently unreasonable demand in Mat 18:22 : unlimited forgiveness of injuries. After all, says Jesus, suppose ye comply with the demand, what do your remissions amount to compared to what has been remitted to you by God? : a man, a king; king an afterthought demanded by the nature of the case. Only a great monarch can have such debtors, and opportunity to forgive such debts. (found again in Mat 25:19 ), to hold a reckoning. : all alike servants or slaves in relation to the king. So human distinctions are dwarfed into insignificance by the distance between all men and God.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 18:23-35
23″For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’27And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’29So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’30But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all the debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’34And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
Mat 18:23 “a king” This parable is unique to Matthew. In Aramaic (Jesus spoke Aramaic, not Hebrew) this term could have meant “a king’s official.”
Mat 18:24 “ten thousand talents” This was a huge amount. Six hundred talents was the yearly Roman tax for southern Palestine. This parable is purposeful oriental exaggeration (hyperbole). Often Jesus used this literary technique to drive home the point of His parables. See Special Topic at Mat 17:24.
Mat 18:25 People (and their families) could be sold into slavery for debts (cf. Lev 25:39; 2Ki 4:1; Neh 5:5; Isa 50:1). The king’s threat was a real threat!
Mat 18:26; Mat 18:29 “have patience with me and I will repay you everything” These are the exact words of both Mat 18:26; Mat 18:29. This is the heart of the parable. In Mat 18:30 he has no mercy on another human who pleads for it!
Mat 18:34 “the torturers” In Aramaic this was possibly ” jailers.”
Mat 18:35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart” This is a third class conditional sentence which meant potential future action. Forgiveness should/must result in forgiving (cf. Mat 5:7; Mat 6:14-15; Mat 7:1-2; Mat 10:8; Luk 6:36; Col 3:13; Jas 2:13; Jas 5:9). Forgiveness is not the basis of our salvation but a sure evidence of being forgiven. However, Jesus leaves open the question about those who claim to know Him, but refuse to forgive other believers! Parables cannot, do not, answer all the theological questions!
“heart” See Special Topic at Mat 5:8.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Therefore = On account of this. Greek. dia (App-104. Mat 18:1), touto.
a certain king = a man (App-123.) a king (Hebraism).
would = wished. Greek. thelo. App-102.
take account = to compare accounts. Greek. sunairo. Occurs only in Matthew (here, Mat 18:24, and Mat 25:19). Said not to be classical Greek: but the colloquial Greek is found in the Papyri in Cent. II. in two letters, one from Oxyrhynchus, and the other from Dakkeh in Nubia, dated March 6, 214 A.D. See Deissmann’s Light, &c., pp 118, 119.
of = with. Greek. meta.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23. ] because this is so, because unlimited forgiveness is the law of the Kingdom of Heaven. The here are not slaves, but ministers or stewards. By the of Mat 18:25 they could not be slaves in the literal sense.
But in Oriental language (see Herodotus passim) all the subjects of the king, even the great ministers of state, are called . The individual example is one in high trust, or his debt could never have reached the enormous sum mentioned. See Isa 1:18.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 18:23. , therefore) understand, I say.-, willed, determined) of His own free will, by His supreme authority.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
kingdom
(See Scofield “Mat 3:2”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
is: Mat 3:2, Mat 13:24, Mat 13:31, Mat 13:33, Mat 13:44, Mat 13:45, Mat 13:47, Mat 13:52, Mat 25:1, Mat 25:14
which: Mat 25:19-30, Luk 16:1, Luk 16:2, Luk 19:12-27, Rom 14:12, 1Co 4:5, 2Co 5:10, 2Co 5:11
Reciprocal: Gen 40:20 – lifted up Dan 6:2 – that Mar 11:25 – forgive Luk 7:41 – a certain Luk 19:15 – that he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE KING AND HIS SERVANTS
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:23
The parable shows how absolutely the forgiveness of our sins by Almighty God depends upon our forgiveness of others. But, above all, it warns us of the fearful danger we incur by being of an unforgiving spirit.
I. The king and his servants.We are not only to look on each other as brothers, but as subjects of one King, or fellow-servants of a common Master. God is a King of infinite Majesty, as well as of infinite Mercy: As is His Majesty, so is His Mercy (Sir 2:18). It follows, therefore, that sin against Him is infinitely sinful, and wilful sin infinitely rebellious, and infinitely ungrateful as against His mercy.
II. The unforgiving servant.See how unmerciful the unforgiving servant was. He has no grateful recollection of the blessing he had but then received. How terrible an aggravation of his sin was this behaviour to his fellow-servant! And yet the parable may apply to many amongst ourselves. Sin, and especially anger, or a sense of wrong done to us by another, so thoroughly blinds our eyes that it sweeps away the memory of past mercies and kindnesses which we have received from others.
III. The final reckoning.The first call to account was a reckoning indeed, but a reckoning which was a warning. The next is the reckoning followed by the punishment. And then, at the end of the parable, comes the fearful warning to ourselvesSo likewise, etc. For he, says St. James, shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy. Are we each of us in charity with our neighbour? Let us, above all things, be most careful to avoid the bitter, revengeful, brooding, rankling spirit, come from what source or cause it may; for let us remember that without showing mercy we shall never obtain mercy (St. Mat 5:7). In being of an unforgiving disposition, in not freely forgiving others, we sin against God the Father, against our Lord Jesus Christ, against our neighbour, against ourselves. The grace of God will, even at the last, abandon one who refuses pardon.
The Rev. J. B. Wilkinson.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
8:23
See the comments at chapter 13:3 on the scope and subject matter of the parables. No one of them was intended to cover everything pertaining to the scheme of human redemption. Some of them were suggested by a special circumstance, and then Jesus spoke a parable to compare the incident or conversation that called for it. The subject of selfishness toward those who have done us wrong, while forgetting our own sins, was suggested by the question that Peter asked of Jesus. The sins of one brother against another are illustrated by a commercial relationship, evidently because that would make the point easier to see. Yes, this parable was spoken to make the subject easier to understand, but Jesus was talking to his disciples and not to the multitude.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 18:23. Therefore. Because this readiness of forgiveness is the Christian principle.
A man that is a king. Perhaps in antithesis to the heavenly king, what is true of the former is much more true of the latter.
Would, desired to, make a reckoning with his servants, represented as stewards over his property, or collectors of his revenues. The special application is to those enjoying high trusts in the Church. The final reckoning will be at the final judgment, but there is also a continual reckoning which Gods justice makes respecting the conduct of men.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our blessed Saviour, to enforce the foregoing doctrine of mutual forgiveness, propounds a parable; the main scope of which is to shew, that unless we do actually forgive and pass by injuries done to us, we cut ourselves off from all interest in God’s pardoning mercy, and must expect no forgiveness at the hands of God.
From the whole, Note, 1. That as we all stand in need of forgiveness from God, so likewise of forgiveness from one another.
2. That we all stand bound by the laws of our holy religion, to forbear and forgive one another.
3. That Almighty God has made the forgiving one another, the certain and necessary condition of his forgiving us.
4. That such as are inexorable towards their brethren, shall find God Almighty hard to be intreated towards themselves. We may expect the same rigour and severity from God, which we shew to men.
5. That the freeness of God’s love in forgiving us, ought to be both an argument to excite us to forgive one another, and also a rule to direct us in the manner of forgiving each other.
Doth God forgive us when he has power in his hand to punish us? So must we when we have ability and opportunity for revenge. Doth God forgive universally all persons? So must we all provocations. Doth he forgive us freely and willingly, heartily and sincerely? So must we; we must be as forward in forgiving, as they in provoking.
Learn from the whole, The equity of unlimited forgiveness of our brother, because our God and Saviour forgives us more numerous and heinous sins than our brother is capable of committing against us. Let all unmerciful and unchristian creditors remember this text, who cast poor men into prison for debt, who have nothing to pay; surely he who bids us lend, looking for nothing again, will not allow us to imprison where nothing can be hoped for.
It is to be feared, such will find but little mercy hereafter, who have shewed no mercy here; for it at the great day such shall be condemned as did not visit Christians in prison, what will their condemnation be, who cast them into prison?
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 18:23. Therefore In this respect; the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king Here our Lord illustrates the excellent morality of the preceding verse by a lively parable; in which is shown the necessity of forgiving the greatest injuries in every case where the offending party is sensible of his fault, and promises amendment; a necessity of the strongest kind, arising from this law of the divine government, that it is the condition on which God forgives our offences against him. Macknight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Since Jesus required His disciples to forgive this way, the kingdom had become similar to what He proceeded to describe, not the king in the parable but the whole parable scene. The whole parable taught a certain type of interpersonal relationship based on forgiveness. This parable illustrates kingdom conditions, conditions that will prevail when Jesus establishes His kingdom. Jesus was not saying the kingdom was in existence then any more than He was saying that the conditions He described were already in existence. He argued that kingdom conditions should be those that the King’s disciples should seek to follow in their lives now since they already live under the King’s authority (cf. chs. 5-7; esp. Mat 6:12; Mat 6:14-15).
The whole parable deals with repeated personal forgiveness and the reason for it. The King had already forgiven them much more than they could ever forgive their fellow disciples.
Immediately Jesus put the disciples in the position of servants (Gr. douloi) of a great king who is God. This is one of the relationships that disciples have to God that we must never forget. We are His servants as well as His sons.