What does Luke 16:4 mean?

Jesus is telling a large group of disciples the parable of the dishonest manager. A man is a steward for the possessions of a rich man. The rich man has heard that the manager has been negligent with his property and demands an accounting of his transactions before he is fired. The steward is concerned. He has become accustomed to his comfortable place. Begging on the streets or subjecting himself to hard labor are unthinkable (Luke 16:1–3). His solution is to use what little time and authority he has left to cozy up—to curry favor with—others in his master's position. Hopefully, one of them will give him a job or return the favor by some means of provision. He contacts his master's debtors and works on a deal.

The exact details of the man's plan are left unrecorded. In some way, he arranges for the debtors to change the amount they have agreed to pay back. This may have meant to forego interest, though Jews charging each other interest was against the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 23:19). Lenders got around that prohibition by charging exorbitant fees when providing loans. Perhaps the steward or the master followed that practice. This would mean the manager coordinates with debtors to erase all or parts of those fees. The manager would now have several new friends, and the master would be hampered to retaliate, since the fees were questionable in the first place (Luke 16:5–7).

Surprisingly, the rich man is impressed and congratulates the manager for being clever. Jesus points out that His followers should embrace shrewd thinking—not immoral practices—to ensure their eternal dwelling after death is a good one (Luke 16:8–9).