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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil,’ he replied. ‘Well, bring the contract here and change it quickly to fifty,’ the manager said.![]()
OET-LV And he said:
A_hundred batos/(bat)_measures of_olive_oil.
And he said to_him:
Receive of_you the bills and having_sat_down quickly write fifty.
![]()
SR-GNT Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, ‘Ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου.’ Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, ‘Δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματα καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα.’ ‡
(Ho de eipen, ‘Hekaton batous elaiou.’ Ho de eipen autōi, ‘Dexai sou ta grammata kai kathisas taⱪeōs grapson pentaʸkonta.’)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT And he said, ‘100 baths of olive oil.’ Then he said to him, ‘Take your bill and, sitting down, quickly write 50.’
UST The man replied, ‘3,000 liters of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down, and quickly change it to 1, 500 liters!’
BSB ‘A hundred [measures] of olive oil,’[fn] he answered.
§ ‘Take your bill,’ said [the manager], ‘sit down quickly, [and] write fifty.’
16:6 Greek ‘A hundred baths of oil’; that is, approximately 870 gallons or 3,300 liters
MSB (Same as BSB above including footnotes)
BLB And he said, 'A hundred baths of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and having sat down quickly, write fifty.'
AICNT And he said [[to him]],[fn] ‘A hundred {baths}[fn] of oil.’ {And}[fn] he said [to him],[fn] ‘Take your bills, and [quickly sitting down,][fn] write fifty.’
16:6, to him: Some manuscripts include. ℵ(01)
16:6, baths: D(05) reads “jars.”
16:6, And: Some manuscripts read “But.” BYZ TR
16:6, to him: Absent from some manuscripts. W(032) Latin(e)
16:6, quickly sitting down: Absent from some manuscripts. D(05)
OEB “Four hundred and forty gallons of oil,” answered the man. “Here is your agreement,” he said; “sit down at once and make it two hundred and twenty.”
WEBBE He said, ‘A hundred batos[fn] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
16:6 100 batos is about 395 litres or 104 U. S. gallons.
WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)
NET The man replied, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’
LSV And he said, One hundred baths of oil; and he said to him, Take your bill, and having sat down write fifty.
FBV The man replied, ‘A hundred units[fn] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Sit down quickly. Take your bill, and change it to fifty.’
16:6 One batos “bath” was equivalent to around 6 gallons or 22 liters.
TCNT The man said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ The steward said to him, ‘Take yoʋr bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’
T4T The man replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit down and quickly change it to 400 gallons!’
LEB And he said, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your promissory note and sit down quickly and[fn] write fifty.’
16:6 *Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sit down”) has been translated as a finite verb
BBE And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty.
Moff "A hundred barrels of oil," he said. The factor told him, "Here is your bill; sit down at once and enter fifty barrels."
Wymth "`A hundred firkins of oil,' he replied. "`Here is your account,' said the steward: `sit down quickly and change it into fifty firkins.'
ASV And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty.
DRA But he said: An hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
YLT and he said, A hundred baths of oil; and he said to him, Take thy bill, and having sat down write fifty.
Drby And he said, A hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take thy writing and sit down quickly and write fifty.
RV And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty.
(And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy/your bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty. )
SLT And he said, An hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take thou thy book, and having quickly sat down, write fifty.
Wbstr And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
KJB-1769 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
( And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy/your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. )
KJB-1611 And hee said, An hundred [fn]measures of oyle. And hee saide vnto him, Take thy bill, and sit downe quickly, and write fiftie.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)
16:6 The word Batus in the originall conteineth nine gallons 3. quarts.
Bshps And he sayde, an hundreth measures of oyle. And he sayde vnto hym: Take thy byll, and syt downe quickely, and write fiftie.
(And he said, an hundredth measures of oil. And he said unto him: Take thy/your byll, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.)
Gnva And he said, An hudreth measures of oyle. And he saide to him, Take thy writing, and sitte downe quickely, and write fiftie.
(And he said, An hundredth measures of oil. And he said to him, Take thy/your writing, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. )
Cvdl He sayde: an hundreth tonnes of oyle. And he sayde: Take yi byll, syt downe quyckly, & wryte fiftie.
(He said: an hundredth tonnes of oil. And he said: Take ye/you_all byll, sit down quickly, and write fifty.)
TNT And he sayd: an hondred tonnes of oyle. And he sayd to him: take thy bill and syt doune quickly and wryte fiftie.
(And he said: an hondred tonnes of oil. And he said to him: take thy/your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty. )
Wycl And he seide, An hundrid barelis of oyle. And he seide to hym, Take thi caucioun, and sitte soone, and write fifti.
(And he said, An hundred barelis of oil. And he said to him, Take thy/your caucioun, and sit soon, and write fifti.)
Luth Er sprach: Hundert Tonnen Öles. Und er sprach zu ihm: Nimm deinen Brief, setze dich und schreib flugs fünfzig.
(He spoke: dogsrt Tonnen oil. And he spoke to/for him: Take your(s) Brief, set/put you/yourself and write flugs fifty.)
ClVg At ille dixit: Centum cados olei. Dixitque illi: Accipe cautionem tuam: et sede cito, scribe quinquaginta.[fn]
(But he/that_one he/she_said: Hundred cados oil. And_he_said them: Accipe cautionem your(sg): and sit_down quickly, scribe fifty. )
16.6 Centum cados. Cadus Græce, amphora dicitur Latine, continens tres urnas. Chorus modiis triginta impletur. Simpliciter sic potest accipi; quisquis indigentiam pauperis, vel ex dimidia, vel ex quinta parte alleviat misericordiæ suæ mercede donandus est.
16.6 Hundred cados. Cadus Greece, amphora it_is_said Latin, continens three urnas. Chorus modiis thirty is_fulfilled. Simpliciter so can be_accepted; whoever they_neediam poor, or from half, or from fifth in_part/partly alleviat of_mercy his/her_own reward donandus it_is.
UGNT ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματα καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα.
(ho de eipen, hekaton batous elaiou. ho de eipen autōi, dexai sou ta grammata kai kathisas taⱪeōs grapson pentaʸkonta.)
SBL-GNT ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου· ⸂ὁ δὲ⸃ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Δέξαι σου ⸂τὰ γράμματα⸃ καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα.
(ho de eipen; Hekaton batous elaiou; ⸂ho de⸃ eipen autōi; Dexai sou ⸂ta grammata⸃ kai kathisas taⱪeōs grapson pentaʸkonta.)
RP-GNT Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, Ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου. Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Δέξαι σου τὸ γράμμα, καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα.
(Ho de eipen, Hekaton batous elaiou. Kai eipen autōi, Dexai sou to gramma, kai kathisas taⱪeōs grapson pentaʸkonta.)
TC-GNT Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, Ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου. [fn]Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Δέξαι σου [fn]τὸ γράμμα, καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα.
(Ho de eipen, Hekaton batous elaiou. Kai eipen autōi, Dexai sou to gramma, kai kathisas taⱪeōs grapson pentaʸkonta. )
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
16:6 800 gallons . . . 400 gallons: The size of the bath—a standard liquid measure—is not known with certainty.
In the main part of this section, 16:1–8b, Jesus told a parable that appears only in Luke. In this parable a rich man had hired a man to manage his money and possessions for him. The manager was dishonest in his work, so the rich man said that he could not continue to be his manager. But before the manager left this work, he used his position and money to cause other people to like him. He did this so that they would help him when he no longer had an income.
The main point of this parable is that the manager knew how to use money to make things better for his own future. In this way he was a good example for Jesus’ disciples. The parable does not mean that Jesus approved of the manager’s dishonesty.
In 16:8c–16:9 Jesus commented on the parable and applied it to his disciples. In 16:10–13 he gave other teachings about the proper use of wealth.
Other possible headings for this section are:
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (NIV)
The dishonest man who was in charge of a rich man’s wealth
‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he answered.
And the man said, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’
And he answered, ‘I owe him one hundred drums of olive oil.’
A hundred measures of olive oil: This phrase is an ellipsis. The full form is:
I owe him a hundred measures of olive oil
Many languages use similar types of ellipsis in normal conversation. If it is not natural in your language in this context, you may supply the full form.
The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as A hundred measures is “one hundred baths.” A “bath” was a liquid measure of between eight and ten gallons, or thirty to forty liters.Marshall (pp. 618–19) estimates that the New Testament “bath” held 8.6 gallons or 39 liters. TH (p. 561) has about 8 gallons or 37 liters. Scholars are uncertain of the exact quantity. Some ways to translate this quantity are:
Use a standard liquid measure. For example:
Nine hundred gallons (NIV)
For areas that use liters instead of gallons you may say:
3,700 liters (TRT)
Use a commonly known local container or unit of measure for cooking oil. For example:
One hundred barrels (GNT)
A hundred jars (REB)
one hundred cans/measures
You may adjust the number of containers so that the total contents are approximately equal to 100 Greek “baths.” But the exact quantity is not in focus in this passage. Consider whether it will be important in your language area to use the same number as a national or trade language translation.
olive oil: Fruit from the olive tree is used to make olive oil. If in your culture olive oil is unknown, you could translate this with a general word that refers to cooking oil.
he answered: The BSB has placed the words he answered at the end of the quotation. You should place them where it is natural in your language.
‘Take your bill,’ said the manager.
Then the manager/employee said to him, ‘Here is your(sing) written/loan agreement/contract.
Take your bill: The manager had the bill that showed how much the man owed.The total debt probably included interest charges as well as a fee to the manager. Some scholars (Kistemaker, Marshall, Morris, Fitzmyer) suggest that when the manager told the debtors to change the amount they owed, he was only removing the high interest and other charges that he had planned to take for himself. If this is correct, it would help explain why the rich man was not angry when he found out. He now handed this written agreement to the man. The manager could not change the bill himself, because it was handwritten by the borrower. Any change would need to be made in the borrower’s handwriting. Other ways to translate this clause are:
Here is your account (GNT)
Here, take your original contract
‘Sit down quickly, and write fifty.’
Quickly sit down and write that you(sing) owe him four hundred gallons of olive oil.’
Hurry and replace what is written here with fifty drums/jars of cooking/vegetable oil.’ The man did this.
Sit down quickly, and write fifty: In this clause the Greek word that means quickly may describe both the verbs Sit down and write or one of these actions. The manager wanted the debtor to act quickly. The manager probably wanted to make changes to the bills before the master could stop him. Express this desire for haste in a natural way in your language. For example:
Quick! Sit down, and write “four hundred!” (GW)
The text does not say that the debtor did as the manager told him to. However, this information is implied. In some languages it may be necessary to make it explicit:
Quickly sit down and write four hundred. The man did this.
Sit down: The manager told the debtor to Sit down in order to be able to quickly and easily write down the new figures.
write fifty: There are two ways to interpret the command that the BSB translates as write fifty:
It means to write a new bill for half the amount. For example:
Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty. (NAB)
It means to change the figures on the old bill to half the amount. For example:
Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. (NLT)
Most English versions are ambiguous. If possible, translate this command so that it could have either meaning. If that is not possible, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with several scholars who comment on this issue.Marshall, Bock, Geldenhuys, and the Translator’s Handbook all prefer this interpretation. It also seems to the author of these Notes that it would look suspicious for the manager to turn in two or more loan agreements with figures that had been changed.
fifty: The suggested figure of fifty measures was half of the total amount. So whatever expression you used in 16:6a, you should divide it in half in 16:6c. For example, if you translated “one hundred barrels” in 16:6a, you should translate “fifty barrels” in 16:6c.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου
he he (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν Ἑκατόν βάτους ἐλαίου ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Δέξαι σοῦ τά γράμματα καί καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [This first debtor told the manager that he owed 100 baths of olive oil]
Note 2 topic: translate-bvolume
ἑκατὸν βάτους
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν Ἑκατόν βάτους ἐλαίου ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Δέξαι σοῦ τά γράμματα καί καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα)
The word baths is the plural of “bath,” an ancient measurement equal to about 30 liters or about 8 gallons. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use the equivalent modern measurement in your translation. Alternate translation: [3,000 liters] or [800 gallons]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματα καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα
he he (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν Ἑκατόν βάτους ἐλαίου ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Δέξαι σοῦ τά γράμματα καί καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [So the manager told him to take his bill and sit down and quickly change that to 50 baths]
Note 4 topic: translate-unknown
σου τὰ γράμματα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν Ἑκατόν βάτους ἐλαίου ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Δέξαι σοῦ τά γράμματα καί καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα)
A bill is a piece of paper that tells how much someone owes. Your language may have a specific term for this. Alternate translation: [your statement] or [your note]
Note 5 topic: translate-bvolume
πεντήκοντα
fifty
If it would be helpful in your language, you could use the equivalent modern measurement in your translation. Alternate translation: [1,500 liters] or [400 gallons]