Matthew 18:26

18:26 I will pay it all: The exaggerated debt and the slave’s promise amplify the greatness of the king’s mercy and the slave’s unforgiving attitude (18:29-30).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 18:26. Μακροθύμησον, have patience) Do not act hastily towards me.—πάντα, all) The servant could not procure so large a sum in the whole period of the world’s existence; he merely exhibits, therefore, his contrition.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 18:26 . μακροθύμησον : a Hellenistic word, sometimes used in the sense of deferring anger (Pro 19:11 (Sept [106] ), the corresponding adjective in Psa 86:15 ; cf. 1Co 13:4 ; 1Th 5:14 ). That sense is suitable here, but the prominent idea is: give me time; wrath comes in at a later stage (Mat 18:34 ). πάντα ἀποδώσω : easy to promise ; his plea: better wait and get all than take hasty measures and get only a part.

[106] Septuagint.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yield not too much to thine anger against me: so is God called in the Scripture, slow to anger, that is to say, gentle and one that refraineth the storming of his mind, Ps. 86:5, patient and of great mercy.

This was a civil reverence which was very usual in the East.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him--or did humble obeisance to him.

saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all--This was just an acknowledgment of the justice of the claim made against him, and a piteous imploration of mercy.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 26. Fell down and worshipped him] προσεκυνει αυτω, crouched as a dog before him, with the greatest deference, submission, and anxiety.

Have patience with me] μακροθυμησον επ' εμοι, be long-minded towards me - give me longer space.

The means which a sinner should use to be saved, are,

1. Deep humiliation of heart - he fell down.

2. Fervent prayer.

3. Confidence in the mercy of God - have patience.

4. A firm purpose to devote his soul and body to his Maker - I will pay thee all.

A sinner may be said, according to the economy of grace, to pay all, when he brings the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus to the throne of justice, by faith; thus offering an equivalent for the pardon he seeks, and paying all he owes to Divine justice, by presenting the blood of the Lamb.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(26) Fell down, and worshipped him.—The word implies simply the prostrate homage of a servant crouching before his master.

I will pay thee all.—The promise was, under such circumstances, an idle boast, but it describes with singular aptness the first natural impulse of one who is roused to a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. He will try to balance the account as by a series of instalments; he will score righteous acts in the future as a set-off against the transgressions of the past. In theological language, he seeks to be “justified by works.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. worshipped him] The imperfect tense in the original denotes persistence.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And his fellow servant fell down at his feet,.... In the most humble and submissive manner, just as he himself had done a little before at the feet of his Lord:

and besought him, saying, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all; using the very same words, in which he had expressed himself to his Lord, and had succeeded.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

Ver. 26. The servant therefore fell down] This was the ready way to disarm his master’s indignation, and procure his own peace, viz., to submit to justice and implore mercy. Thus Abigail pacified David; the prodigal, his father; nay, Benhadad, Ahab, that non-such, as the Scripture describes him. The very Turks at this day, though remorseless to those that bear up, yet receive humiliation with much sweetness. Humble yourselves under God’s great hand, saith St James, and he will lift you up, Jas 4:10. The Lion of Judah rends not the prostrate prey.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him - This does not mean that he paid him religious homage, but that in a humble, reverent, and earnest manner he entreated him to have patience with him. He prostrated himself before his lord, as is customary in all Eastern nations when subjects are in the presence of their king. See the notes at Mat 2:2.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. Pay thee all — Man can pay God nothing. Yet, through Christ, he accepts our surrender of all, and forgives. See Mat_18:34.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Worshipped him. Prostrated himself before the monarch, and in this abject attitude sued for mercy. Have patience with me. Be long suffering in my case; give me time. And I will pay thee all. In his terror and anguish, he promises impossible things; even the revenues of a province would not in any convenient time supply this deficiency. The scene is very true to life. To save himself from a present difficulty, a debtor will make any promise that occurs to him, without considering whether he will ever be in a position to fulfil it. The defaulter in the parable must have thought well of the king"s generosity and tenderheartedness to make such a proposition at this extreme moment. If we take the spiritual sense of the parable, we see that no sinner could offer to pay, much less pay, the debt due from him to his Lord, "so that must be let alone forever". (Psa_49:8)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. Fell down, and worshipped him. In Oriental countries, almost all who approach monarchs prostrate themselves and offer homage. This is especially true of those who urge a petition. See Esther 8:3. Have patience, … I will pay thee all. This promise was one that could not possibly be fulfilled, though the servant might think it possible.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

fell down, bowed down

This shows that the servant approached the king in the most humble way possible. (See: Symbolic Action)

before him

"before the king"

he was moved with compassion

"he felt compassion for the servant"

released him

"let him go"

translationWords

servant

bow

lord

patient

compassion

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

26. προσεκύνει. The imperfect tense denotes persistence.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26.] Luther explains this as the voice of mistaken self-righteousness, which when bitten by sense of sin and terrified with the idea of punishment, runs hither and thither, seeking help, and imagines it can build up a righteousness before God without having yet any idea that God Himself will help the sinner. Trench remarks, “It seems simpler to see in the words nothing more than exclamations characteristic of the extreme fear and anguish of the moment, which made him ready to promise impossible things, even mountains of gold.” p. 127.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. Therefore the servant fell down, and did homage to him, saying, Lord, have forbearance with me, and I will pay thee all.]

(L)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.