Matthew 18:32

32 "Then the master called the first servant in. 'You evil servant,' he said. 'I forgave all that you owed me because you begged me to.

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 the first servant refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison. The man would be held there until he could pay back what he owed.

31 The other servants saw what had happened. It troubled them greatly. They went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 "Then the master called the first servant in. 'You evil servant,' he said. 'I forgave all that you owed me because you begged me to.

33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on the other servant just as I had mercy on you?'

34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers. He would be punished until he paid back everything he owed.