MAT 18:28 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) “But when the slave got outside, he found one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a few thousand. He grabbed him and was strangling him with his hands saying, ‘Give back what you owe!’

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 But having gone out, that slave found one of his fellow slaves, who owed him 100 denarii, and having seized him, he choked him, saying, ‘Repay whatever you owe.’

UST When the servant left the king, he noticed another servant who owed him only 100 small coins. He grabbed that servant around the throat and began to squeeze it. He demanded, ‘Pay me the money that you owe!’

18:28 A denarius was customarily a day’s wage for a laborer; see Matthew 20:2.

18:28 CT does not include me.

BLB But the same servant having gone out, found one of his fellow servants who was owing him a hundred denarii, and having seized him, he was throttling him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.'

AICNT “But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay [[me]][fn] what you owe.’

18:28, me: Later manuscripts add.

OEB But, on going out, that same servant came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. Seizing him by the throat, he said “Pay what you owe me.”

WEBBE “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii,[fn] and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

18:28 100 denarii was about one sixtieth of a talent, or about 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of silver.

WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)

NET After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

LSV And that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him one hundred denarii, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which you owe.

FBV But when that same servant went out he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him just a hundred denarii.[fn] He grabbed him by the neck and choked him, saying, ‘Pay me back what you owe me!’

18:28 A denarius was a small coin. The contrast is between the huge amount forgiven the first servant and the very small amount owed to him by the second servant.

TCNT But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Repay [fn]me what yoʋ owe.’

18:28 me ¦ — CT

T4T Then this official went to another one of the king’s officials who owed him a bit less than a year’s wages. He grabbed him by the throat, started choking him, and said to him, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

LEB But that slave went out and[fn] found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke him,[fn] saying, ‘Pay back everything that you owe!’

18:28 *Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went out”) has been translated as a finite verb

18:28 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE But that servant went out, and meeting one of the other servants, who was in debt to him for one hundred pence, he took him by the throat, saying, Make payment of your debt.

Moff But as that servant went away, he met one of his fellow-servants who owed him twenty pounds, and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay your debt!'

Wymth But no sooner had that servant gone out, than he met with one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 shillings; and seizing him by the throat and nearly strangling him he exclaimed, "`Pay me all you owe.'

ASV But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred shillings: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou owest.

DRA But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow servants that owed him an hundred pence: and laying hold of him, throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest.

YLT 'And, that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him an hundred denaries, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which thou owest.

Drby But that bondman having gone out, found one of his fellow-bondmen who owed him a hundred denarii. And having seized him, he throttled him, saying, Pay [me] if thou owest anything.

RV But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him a hundred pence: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou owest.
(But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him a hundred pence: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou/you owest/owe. )

SLT But that servant having come, found one of his fellow-servants who owed him one hundred drachmas, and having seized, he choked him, saying, Give back to me what thou owest.

Wbstr But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what thou owest.

KJB-1769 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
( But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou/you owest/owe. )

KJB-1611 But the same seruant went out, and found one of his fellow-seruants, which ought him an hundred [fn]pence: and hee layd handes on him, and tooke him by the throte, saying, Pay mee that thou owest.
(But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which ought him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou/you owest/owe.)

18:28 The Romane penie is the eighth part of an ounce, which after 5. shillings the ounce is 7. d. ob.

Bshps But the same seruaunt went out, and founde one of his felowes, which ought hym an hundred pence: and he layde handes on hym, and toke hym by the throte, saying: pay me that thou owest.
(But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellows, which ought him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying: pay me that thou/you owest/owe.)

Gnva But when the seruant was departed, hee found one of his felow seruants, which ought him an hundred pence, and he layde hands on him, and thratled him, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
(But when the servant was departed, he found one of his fellow servants, which ought him an hundred pence, and he laid hands on him, and thratled him, saying, Pay me that thou/you owest/owe. )

Cvdl And the same seruaunt wete out, & foude one of his felowes, which ought him an hudreth pens, and layed hande vpon him, and toke him by the throte, and sayde: paye me that thou owest.
(And the same servant went out, and found one of his fellows, which ought him an hundredth pens, and laid hand upon him, and took him by the throat, and said: pay me that thou/you owest/owe.)

TNT And the sayde servaut wet oute and founde one of his felowes which ought him an hundred pence and leyed hondes on him and toke him by the throote sayinge: paye me that thou owest.
(And the said servant wet out and found one of his fellows which ought him an hundred pence and leyed hands on him and took him by the throote saying: pay me that thou/you owest/owe. )

Wycl But thilke seruaunt yede out, and foonde oon of his euen seruauntis, that ouyte hym an hundrid pens; and he helde hym, and stranglide hym, and seide, Yelde that that thou owest.
(But that servant went out, and found one of his even servants, that ought him an hundred pens; and he held him, and strangled him, and said, Yelde that that thou/you owest/owe.)

Luth Da ging derselbige Knecht hinaus und fand einen seiner Mitknechte, der war ihm hundert Groschen schuldig. Und er griff ihn an und würgete ihn und sprach: Bezahle mir, was du mir schuldig bist!
(So went the_same servant/farmhand out and found a his Mitknechte, the/of_the what/which him hundred Groschen guilty. And he handle/grip(v) him/it at/to and würgete him/it and spoke: Bezahle to_me, what/which you(sg) to_me guilty are!)

ClVg Egressus autem servus ille invenit unum de conservis suis, qui debebat ei centum denarios: et tenens suffocavit eum, dicens: Redde quod debes.[fn]
(Egressus however servant he/that_one he_found one from/about conservis to_his_own, who/which debebat to_him hundred pennys: and tenant suffocavit him, saying: Redde that debes. )

18.28 Invenit unum. Gentilem populum, quasi sibi debitorem fatigabat: gratiam Christi non esse eis ad salutem dicens, carnales observantias ab eis non modo persuasionibus, sed etiam tormentis exspectabat.

18.28 Invenit one. Gentilem the_people, as_if to_himself debitorem fatigabat: grace of_Christ not/no to_be to_them to health saying, carnal observantias away to_them not/no just/only persuasionibus, but also torments waitbat.

UGNT ἐξελθὼν δὲ, ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ, ὃς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια, καὶ κρατήσας αὐτὸν ἔπνιγεν λέγων, ἀπόδος εἴ τι ὀφείλεις.
(exelthōn de, ho doulos ekeinos heuren hena tōn sundoulōn autou, hos ōfeilen autōi hekaton daʸnaria, kai krataʸsas auton epnigen legōn, apodos ei ti ofeileis.)

SBL-GNT ἐξελθὼν δὲ ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ ὃς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια, καὶ κρατήσας αὐτὸν ἔπνιγεν λέγων· ⸀Ἀπόδος εἴ τι ὀφείλεις.
(exelthōn de ho doulos ekeinos heuren hena tōn sundoulōn autou hos ōfeilen autōi hekaton daʸnaria, kai krataʸsas auton epnigen legōn; ⸀Apodos ei ti ofeileis.)

RP-GNT Ἐξελθὼν δὲ ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ, ὃς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια, καὶ κρατήσας αὐτὸν ἔπνιγεν, λέγων, Ἀπόδος μοι εἴ τι ὀφείλεις.
(Exelthōn de ho doulos ekeinos heuren hena tōn sundoulōn autou, hos ōfeilen autōi hekaton daʸnaria, kai krataʸsas auton epnigen, legōn, Apodos moi ei ti ofeileis.)

TC-GNT Ἐξελθὼν δὲ ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ, ὃς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια, καὶ κρατήσας αὐτὸν ἔπνιγε, λέγων, Ἀπόδος [fn]μοι [fn]εἴ τι ὀφείλεις.
(Exelthōn de ho doulos ekeinos heuren hena tōn sundoulōn autou, hos ōfeilen autōi hekaton daʸnaria, kai krataʸsas auton epnige, legōn, Apodos moi ei ti ofeileis. )

18:28 μοι ¦ — CT

18:28 ει ¦ ο TR

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 18:21–35: Jesus told a parable about a servant who did not forgive

In this section, Jesus continued to talk about relationships among believers. He did this by telling a parable about a servant and a king. The king canceled the servant’s large debt. But the servant refused to cancel the small debt of his fellow servant. As a result the king punished the servant.

Jesus told this parable to show us that God has forgiven our many sins. So we should forgive the few sins that other people commit against us. If we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The parable of the servant who refused to forgive

The necessity for forgiveness (JBP)

18:28a

But when that servant went out,

¶ But that servant left
¶ Then that servant left there and

But: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between a king who forgave a large debt (18:24–27) and a servant who did not forgive a small debt (18:28–30). Some English versions (like the BSB) indicate this contrast by beginning this paragraph with the conjunction But.

In some languages, the contrast is obvious, and it may not be natural to introduce it with a conjunction like But. If that is true in your language, it may be more natural to begin this paragraph with a simple time word or phrase. For example:

Then (GNT)

Later (NCV)

You should do what is most natural in your language.

when that servant: This servant was the same man from 18:27. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

when that same servant (ESV)

Then the man (GNT)

went out: The Greek word that the BSB translates as went out indicates that the servant left the presence of the king or left the house of the king. If including the location is more natural in your language, you should use a general reference such as “there.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

left there

left the palace/house and then

18:28b

he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.

and later went to another servant who owed him a hundred denarii.
went searching and found another servant who owed him only a hundred coins.

he found: There are several ways to interpret the Greek verb that the BSB translates as found:

The servant went searching for the other servant. For example:

he went to (NLT) (NLT)Nolland on page 758 says, “Does the released slave seek out his fellow slave or simply come upon him? εὗρεν (‘found’) could connote either, but since the verb is used in v. 13 for a deliberate seeking out, that is more likely here. This also offers the best counterpart to the master’s initiative in the previous meeting.”

The servant met the other servant without planning to. For instance:

he came upon (RSV)

he happened to meet (CEV) (RSV, REB, NJB, CEV, GNT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). There are several contrasts in this story, and this is one of them. The king had the servant brought to him. The king could do that because he was of higher status than the servant. But the servant did not have a higher status than his fellow servant. He had to go find him to get his money.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he went to (NLT)

he went searching for and found

one of his fellow servants: The words fellow servants refer to the fact that both people referred to in this verse were servants of the king.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

another servant (NCV)

a second servant of the king

a hundred denarii: The Greek word that the BSB transliterates as denarii is the plural of “denarius.” A denarius was the name of a Roman coin. This coin was worth the same as the wages for a farm worker for one day of work.

One hundred denarii was almost nothing in comparison with ten thousand talents.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

Transliterate the word denarii or “denarius.” For example:
a hundred denarii (NIV) It you use this option, you may want to include a footnote. A sample footnote is:
A hundred denarii were worth the same as the wages for a farm worker for a hundred days of work. This may have been a large debt for the second servant. But it was very, very small compared to the debt of the first servant.
Use the name of a general kind of coin. For example:
a hundred silver coins (NET)
Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
an amount much smaller than his own debt
a small debt

Some English versions use the American currency “dollars.” It is not recommended that you translate the term a hundred denarii using an amount of money in your national currency. The value of the currency used may change over time. In addition, using a modern currency removes this story from its historical setting.

18:28c

He grabbed him and began to choke him,

He grabbed him and started choking him
He grabbed him around the throat/neck and started squeezing

He grabbed him: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as grabbed means to “take hold of” or “seize” something. In this context, it probably means that he grabbed him by the throat. For example:

he grabbed him by the throat (NET)

he grabbed him around the neck

began to choke him: In this context, the Greek verb that the BSB translates as choke refers to putting his hands around the other servant’s throat and squeezing with an intent to kill.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he started choking him (CEV)

he started squeezing his neck

18:28d

saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

saying, ‘Pay back all that you owe me!’
and said, ‘Give me the money that you owe me!’

saying: In Greek, the form of the verb saying indicates that the first servant spoke while he was choking the second servant.

Here are some other ways to indicate this:

at the same time he said

While he was doing this he said

Pay back what you owe me!: The Greek word that the BSB translates as what refers to the hundred denarii that he owed.

Here are some other ways to translate this command:

Pay back all that you owe me!

Pay me the money you owe me! (NCV)

Reimburse what you owe me!

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐξελθών Δέ ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ ὅς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατόν δηνάρια καί κρατήσας αὐτόν ἔπνιγεν λέγων Ἀπόδος εἰ τὶ ὀφείλεις)

Here, the word But introduces the next thing that happened. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave But untranslated. Alternate translation: [Then,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / go

ἐξελθὼν

In a context such as this, your language might say “come” instead of gone. Alternate translation: [having come out]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εὗρεν

found

Here Jesus could mean that the slave: (1) happened to meet the fellow slave. Alternate translation: [encountered] (2) intentionally looked for the fellow slave. Alternate translation: [looked for]

Note 4 topic: translate-bmoney

ἑκατὸν δηνάρια

A denarius was a silver coin equivalent to about one day’s wage for a hired worker. You could try to express this amount in terms of current monetary values, but that might cause your Bible translation to become outdated and inaccurate, since those values can change over time. So instead you might state something more general or give the equivalent in wages. This is a much smaller amount than the 10,000 talents that the first slave owed, so make sure that is clear in your translation. Alternate translation: [100 silver coins] or [100 days’ wages]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

κρατήσας αὐτὸν ἔπνιγεν

˓having˒_apprehended (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐξελθών Δέ ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ ὅς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατόν δηνάρια καί κρατήσας αὐτόν ἔπνιγεν λέγων Ἀπόδος εἰ τὶ ὀφείλεις)

Here Jesus could be indicating that the slave took: (1) one action, which was seizing his fellow slave around the neck so that he choked him. Alternate translation: [he choked him by seizing him around the neck] (2) two actions, one of which was seizing his fellow slave and the other of which was choking him. Alternate translation: [he seized him and was choking him]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἔπνιγεν

˱he˲_˓was˒_strangling_‹him›

Here Jesus means that the slave seized his fellow slave by the throat and made it hard for him to breath. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [he began to strangle him]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations

λέγων, ἀπόδος εἴ τι ὀφείλεις

saying (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐξελθών Δέ ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ ὅς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατόν δηνάρια καί κρατήσας αὐτόν ἔπνιγεν λέγων Ἀπόδος εἰ τὶ ὀφείλεις)

It may be more natural in your language to have an indirect quotation here. Alternate translation: [saying that he needed to repay whatever he owed]

Note 8 topic: writing-quotations

λέγων

saying

Consider natural ways of introducing direct quotations in your language. Alternate translation: [and he said]

Parallel MAT 18:28

Section 18:21–35: Jesus told a parable about a servant who did not forgive

18:28a

18:28b

18:28c

18:28d