Matthew 18:23-35

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Matthew 18:23 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.
2. Matthew 18:24 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
3. Matthew 18:24 sn A talent was a huge sum of money, equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual day’s wage for a worker. L&N 6.82 states, “a Greek monetary unit (also a unit of weight) with a value which fluctuated, depending upon the particular monetary system which prevailed at a particular period of time (a silver talent was worth approximately 6,000 denarii with gold talents worth at least thirty times that much).”
4. Matthew 18:25 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
5. Matthew 18:25 tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
6. Matthew 18:25 tn Grk “and his wife.”
7. Matthew 18:26 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.
8. Matthew 18:26 tc The majority of mss (א L W Γ Δ 058 0281 ƒ^{1, 13} 33 565 579 1241 1424 M it sy^p,h co) begin the slave’s plea with “Lord” (κύριε, kurie), though a few key witnesses lack this vocative (B D Θ 700 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.
9. Matthew 18:28 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
10. Matthew 18:28 tn Grk “one hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be about three month’s pay.
11. Matthew 18:28 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so.” A new sentence was started at this point in the translation in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
12. Matthew 18:28 tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”
13. Matthew 18:28 tn The word “me” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
14. Matthew 18:29 tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
15. Matthew 18:31 tn Grk “Therefore when.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.
16. Matthew 18:32 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17. Matthew 18:34 tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to L&N 37.126, it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matthew about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.
18. Matthew 18:35 tn Grk “his.” The pronoun has been translated to follow English idiom (the last pronoun of the verse [“from your heart”] is second person plural in the original).
19. Matthew 18:35 tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.