Matthew 18:21-35

This passage occurs in the RCL "Pentecost"/"Ordinary"/"Proper" Season, Year A, most recently September 2023. 
 
Summary:  A classic tale of forgiveness.  A man owes an absurd amount (Roughly 6 billion by my calculations).  After being forgiven he arrests his friend who owes him a couple thousand dollars.  I would like to put it in terms of relationship.  The man has misunderstood his relationship to God (as being a recipient of mercy) and his relationship to other humans (co-recipients and fellow-sharers of mercy).  This causes him to further sin.  Jesus warns us of dire consequences when we fail to understand the true nature of our relationship with God and with others.

I suggest this is Matthew's version of the prodigal God and prodigal son, except the younger son became the older son.

Show me the money

μυριων ταλεντων ("ten thousand talents", 18.24)  A talent is roughly 5,000 to 6,000 denarii.  This means that 10,000 talents is like 500,000 denarii.  A denarii is a roughly a day's wages.  @120/day this is about 6 billion!  (Or almost 2,000 years of labor).  In comparison the few hundred denarii would be about $30,000.  That is quite a difference.

Theologically significant words

σπλαγχνισθεις (form of σπλαγχνιζομαι, meaning "compassion", 18.27)  The master has compassion on the slave.  This is also the word that describes the father's heart toward the son in the prodigal son.  That a father would have this kind of compassion for his son is not the most shocking; however, in this case, the master has compassion on his servant.  This kind of compassion and forgiveness suggests to me that the master is grafting this slave into the family, although the slave doesn't realize it.

αφηκεν (from αφιημι) and απελυσεν (from απολυω)  Both of these verbs, which appear throughout the story, are related.  The first means "forgive" or "let go"; the second means "set free."  It is interesting that even though the slave's debt was freed, the relationship status did not change.  To what extent was he freed?   It is an interesting parable in that the masters work of forgiving and setting free does not change the heart of the person.  Tough to ponder.  When we view (and even experience) the relationship between us and God as a transaction and not an opportunity for transformation we always go awry.  

ελεησαι (from ελεεω, meaning show mercy, 18.33)  To the extent this is revealing about God, the point is that God does not simply possess mercy, but actively shows mercy.  Mercy is rarely an adjective (merciful), sometimes a noun (mercy) but most likely a verb with God as the subject: "show mercy."

Likely lost in translation:

ειπεν vs λεγει (18:21)  Both of these are different tenses of the same verb.  ειπεν is aorist; λεγει is present.  The aorist usually connotes a single action whereas the present suggests an on-going action.  Peter asks one time: "How often..." but Jesus repeatedly says, "7*70".  Jesus needed to repeat himself for this to be heard.

"will sin" vs "would sin" (Future vs. Subjunctive:  Sins aren't subjunctive in this case!)  

The Greek language is obsessed with the future.  There are multiple ways to show the future implications of a given action.  Worth noting is that there is no future subjunctive.  Either something will happen in the future or it might happen starting from this moment forward in an unknown time.  But you cannot do "might happen in the future"; that simply means might happen.  Today, when Peter is asking Jesus about forgiving others, he does not put the verb αφησω (forgive) in the subjunctive.  The whole sentence is in the future.  In short, Peter expects sin and forgiveness. The sentence literally reads: "How often will my brother sin against me and will I forgive him? Until seven times?"

ει τι ("whatever" 18.28)  The exact construction of the phrase "Pay what you owe me" is rather interesting. It actually includes an "ει τι" phrase. This phrase is normally translated "if anything," as if to say, the man was not even really sure what the debt was, if in fact, it was anything.

συνδουλος ("fellow-slave" 18:28, 29, 31, and 33)  The Greek can put "fellow" and "slave" together in one word.  Powerful word.  Fellow slave.  Do we view each other as fellow slaves to sin!

βασανισταις (-στης, meaning "jailer" or "torturer", 18.34)  This is a hard word.  I don't like the idea of one being tortured.  On the one hand, the word means "jailer" so perhaps Jesus is simply referring to the act of the imprisonment.  The other way to think about this is that the word torture in Greek comes from the word test.  Perhaps this slave is put up to another time of testing, this time hopefully to succeed.  The word comes from a rag that was used to test whether gold was real.  The person needs to go and discover what he really is - a sinner yet a child of God!

δανειον  ("debt"; 18.27) The use of this word for "debt" here is unique in the NT.  The word normally carries with it a suggestion of interest, even usury with this debt.  Most simply it means a loan.  God is calling the loan and then forgives it.  What has God loaned you!?  It is interesting that in this parable, like the other classic parable of talents, the talents are loaned. never earned.  

παρακαλεω ("encourage"/"plead"; 18.29, 32)  The word for Holy Spirit is derived from this word:  "paraclete".  I want to connect Holy Spirit, pleading and forgiveness, but I can't quite sew this thread together.  Anyway, putting it here for someone else to run with it!