Luke 16:6

6 And he said, 'A hundred measures of olive oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your promissory note and sit down quickly [and] write fifty.'

Luke 16:6 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 16:6

And he said an hundred measures of oil
Or "baths of oil", the same quantity as in ( Ezra 7:22 ) where Aben Ezra F9 calls them, (twdm) , "measures", as we do here; and Jarchi F11 observes, that they were, (twxnm lwlbl) , "to mingle with the meal, or flour offerings"; which illustrates the above observation, that they were for the temple service; and the bath was the measure of oil, as the ephah was of wheat F12; and they were both of the same quantity, ( Ezekiel 45:11 ) . According to Godwin F13 it held four gallons and a half; so that a hundred of them contained four hundred and fifty gallons; though some make the measure much larger. Some say the "bath" held six gallons, one pottle, and half a pint; and others, seven gallons, two quarts, and half a pint; and others, nine gallons, and three quarts.

Take thy bill,
or "writing"; which showed the bargain made for so many measures; and which acknowledged the receipt of them, and promised payment:

and sit down quickly;
for his case required haste;

and write fifty;
just half; that it might appear he had bought but fifty, and was accountable for no more.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 In Ezr. vii. 22.
F11 In ib.
F12 Kimchi in Ezek. xlv. 14.
F13 Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.

Luke 16:6 In-Context

4 I know what I should do, so that when I am removed from the management they will welcome me into their homes!'
5 And he summoned each one of his own master's debtors [and] said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6 And he said, 'A hundred measures of olive oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your promissory note and sit down quickly [and] write fifty.'
7 Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your promissory note and write eighty.'
8 And the master praised the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder than the sons of light with regard to their own generation.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("sit down") has been translated as a finite verb
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