Luke 16:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

NIV: So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

NASB: And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

CSB: "So he summoned each one of his master's debtors. 'How much do you owe my master? ' he asked the first one.

NLT: So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’

KJV: So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

NKJV: “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

A steward for a rich man is being fired for poor performance. He's desperate to find a comparable job because manual labor and begging are beneath him. The owner is demanding the financial records. The steward has a limited amount of time to work (Luke 16:1–3). His goal is to do such a favor for his master's debtors that they will think of him kindly and give him a job or at least help him in some way (Luke 16:4). He's decided to lessen their debt. He begins by calling the debtors to him and asking them how much they owe. He knows precisely what the amount is, of course, but asking them reiterates how generous he is.

He then takes a substantial amount of the debt away by having them change their contracts. He cuts one debt in half and another by twenty percent. His former master will praise him—perhaps grudgingly—for being so clever (Luke 16:6–8). Jesus will use this principle to teach a lesson, while not endorsing the specific events of the parable.

Within the story itself, modern scholars struggle to understand why the manager is not charged as a criminal for his actions. Is this not theft, or fraud? Several possibilities are suggested:

•He removed the interest.
•He took out the "fee" that Jews at the time used in place of interest.
•He forfeited his personal commission, much like Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1–10).

In the first two cases, the owner cannot charge him with a crime because interest and the fee were both illegal according to the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 23:19). In the last case, he was wise enough to realize the debtors would never pay him once he was fired: he would be gone long before he could collect his fee.

Luke 16:1–8 is the parable of the dishonest manager. A wealthy man learns his money is being wasted by a hired supervisor. With no time to escape being fired, the manager calls on the owner's debtors. He tells them to decrease the amount they are expected to pay back. This favor earns the manager their approval and hopefully their help later. The owner notes that this was a clever ploy to make allies. Jesus uses this negative example to teach His followers a good lesson: to be equally sharp when interacting with the world.

Teaching His disciples and confronting the Pharisees, Jesus offers several lessons about wealth and devotion to God. The first is a parable about a dishonest manager. This illustrates the value of being careful and clever with earthly resources. Jesus then uses remarks about the Law and marriage to introduce the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This not only highlights the dangers of greed, but it also debunks the common claim that a non-believer would submit to God if only they saw "a little more evidence" or a miracle.

The prior chapter included Jesus' teachings centered on lost things: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. Luke 16 includes several of Jesus' lessons about living in the kingdom of God compared to the world system, beginning and ending with parables (Luke 16:1—17:10). Chapter 16 includes the parable of the dishonest manager, Jesus' teaching on how money reveals faith, and the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 17:1–10 teaches about whether Christ-followers bear responsibility for others' sin, lessons about faith, and the parable of the unworthy servants.

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.