Lukas 16:6

6 And he said, One hundred jugs of olive oil. And the sochen said to him, Take your bill, sit down, quickly write fifty.

Lukas 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.

Lukas 16:6 In-Context

4 Oh! I have daas of what I may do, that when I am removed from the work of the sochen, they may receive me into their batim.
5 And having summoned his Adon’s debtors one by one, he was saying to the first, How much do you owe Adoni?
6 And he said, One hundred jugs of olive oil. And the sochen said to him, Take your bill, sit down, quickly write fifty.
7 Then to another he said, And you, how much do you owe? And he said, One hundred containers of wheat. He says to him, Take your bill and write eighty.
8 And the Baal Bayit praised the unrighteous sochen because he acted with chochmah. Because the Bnei HaOlam HaZeh have more seichel in dealing with their own generation than the Bnei HaOhr. [Psa 17:14; 18:26]
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