ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Matthew 18.26
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Passage

Matthew 18.26

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

24. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, that owed him ten thousand talents. 25. But forasmuch as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

  1. And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28. But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred shillings: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou owest. (Matthew 18:24-28, ASV)
WEB

24. When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25. But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26. The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’

  1. The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28. “But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ (Matthew 18:24-28, WEB)
KJV

24. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. talents: a talent is 750.ounces of silver, which after five shillings the ounce is 187.li. 10.s. 25. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. worshipped him: or, besought him

  1. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. pence: the Roman penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which after five shillings the ounce is seven pence halfpenny; about fourteen cents (Matthew 18:24-28, KJV)
YLT

24. and he having begun to take account, there was brought near to him one debtor of a myriad of talents, 25. and he having nothing to pay, his lord did command him to be sold, and his wife, and the children, and all, whatever he had, and payment to be made.

26. The servant then, having fallen down, was bowing to him, saying, Sir, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all;

  1. and the lord of that servant having been moved with compassion did release him, and the debt he forgave him. 28. 'And, that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him an hundred denaries, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which thou owest. (Matthew 18:24-28, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Jesus, telling a parable
  • Audience: Peter and the disciples, after Peter asks, "how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" (18:21)
  • Location: Capernaum (17:24)
  • Time period: C. AD 28-30, during Jesus' Galilean ministry

Theological reading

"The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all" (Matthew 18:26, KJV).

An unpayable debt. The servant owes "ten thousand talents" (18:24). A talent was a large sum, commonly reckoned at about six thousand denarii, each a day's wage for a labourer. Ten thousand of them is a debt no servant could ever repay. His promise, "I will pay thee all," is impossible, and the king knows it. He does not grant time; he "loosed him, and forgave him the debt" (18:27).

The point of the parable. The forgiven servant then throttles a fellow servant over a hundred denarii (18:28). The parable answers Peter's question about limits on forgiveness: those forgiven an impossible debt cannot set limits on forgiving small ones. "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" (18:35).

What "worshipped" means here. The verb is proskuneō (Strong's G4352). The KJV margin offers "besought him." Here it plainly means falling at a king's feet in supplication, and no one is worshipping the king as God. The Jehovah's Witnesses vs the Christian God comparison cites this verse honestly: the word has a wide range, so the word alone cannot prove that worship of Jesus is worship of God. Context has to settle it, and in passages such as Hebrews 1:6 and Revelation 5:13-14 the context does. See Matthew 28.9.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.