Matthew 18:32

32 Then his master summoned him [and] said to him, 'Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me!

Matthew 18:32 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 18:32

Then his Lord, after that he had called him
Or ordered him to be called, and brought before him,

said unto him, O thou wicked servant!
Munster's Hebrew Gospel reads, "thou servant of Belial"; thou cruel and hard hearted man to thy fellow servant, and ungrateful creature to me, on whom my goodness to thee has not made any impression, nor taken any effect:

I forgave thee all that debt:
all that vast debt of ten thousand talents, and that freely:

because thou desiredst me:
not to forgive the debt, but to have patience, and give time, and therefore unasked forgave the whole sum, every farthing of it; which was such an instance of pure goodness, as was enough to have wrought upon an heart of stone, and engaged the most tender concern and pity for a fellow creature, as well as filled with thankfulness to the kind benefactor. The favour so lately bestowed on him is justly observed as an aggravation of his wickedness.

Matthew 18:32 In-Context

30 But he did not want to, but rather he went [and] threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed.

31 So [when] his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went [and] reported to their master everything that had happened.

32 Then his master summoned him [and] said to him, 'Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me!

33 Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave as I also showed mercy to you?'

34 And [because he] was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailers until he would repay everything that was owed.

Footnotes

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