Matthew 18:24

εἷς : one stood out above all the rest for the magnitude of his debt, who, therefore, becomes the subject of the story. ὀφειλέτης μ. τ.: a debtor of, or to the extent of, a thousand talents an immense sum, say millions sterling; payment hopeless; that the point; exact calculations idle or pedantic. It may seem to violate natural probability that time was allowed to incur such a debt, which speaks to malversation for years. But the indolence of an Eastern monarch must be taken into account, and the absence of system in the management of finance. As Koetsveld (De Gelijk., p. 286) remarks: “A regular control is not in the spirit of the Eastern. He trusts utterly when he does trust, and when he loses confidence it is for ever.”