Matthew 24:45

Who then is a faithful and wise servant The steward was generally a slave whom his master had chosen on account of his trustworthiness and intelligence to be the steward of his estate, his villicusor dispensator. The word "dispensation," in such expressions as "the present dispensation," "the Christian dispensation," has passed into religious language from this and the parallel passages.

his household all his other slaves, Lat. familia.

to give them meat in due season The daily (diarium) or monthly (menstruum) allowance; cp. "Cum servis urbana diaria rodere mavis?" Hor. Ep.i. 14. 41. This imagery, drawn from a large Roman estate (latifundium), has given rise to the often-recurring thought of the Stewardship of the Apostles and Ministers of Christ. "Stewards of the mysteries of God," 1 Corinthians 4:1; "blameless, as the steward of God," Titus 1:7.