CHAPTER XVI. _The parable of the unjust steward_, 1-8. _Christ applies this to his hearers_, 9-13. _The pharisees take offence_, 14. _Our Lord reproves them, and shows the immutability of the law_, 15-17. _Counsels against divorce_, 18. _The story of the_ rich man _and the_ beggar, _commonly... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:2. _GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF THY_, c.] Produce thy books of receipts and disbursements, that I may see whether the accusation against thee be true or false. The original may be translated, _Give up the business_, τον λογον, _of the stewardship_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:3. _I CANNOT DIG_] He could not submit to become a common day-labourer, which was both a _severe_ and _base_ employment: _To beg_ _I am ashamed_. And as these were the only _honest_ ways left him to procure a morsel of bread, and he would not submit to either, he found he must continue... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:4. _THEY MAY RECEIVE ME_] That is, the debtors and tenants, who paid their debts and rents, not in money, but in _kind_; such as wheat, oil, and other produce of their lands.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:6. _A HUNDRED MEASURES OF OIL._] εκατον βατους, _A hundred_ _baths_. The בת _bath_ was the largest measure of capacity among the Hebrews, except the _homer_, of which it was the tenth part: see Luke 45:11; Luke 45:14. It is equal to the _ephah_, i.e. to _seven gallons and a half_ of ou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:7. _A HUNDRED MEASURES OF WHEAT._] εκατον κορους, _a_ _hundred cors_. κορος, from the Hebrew כר _cor_, was the largest measure of capacity among the Hebrews, whether for solids or liquids. As the _bath_ was equal to the _ephah_, so the _cor_ was equal to the _homer_. It contained abou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:8. _THE LORD COMMENDED_] Viz. the master of this unjust steward. He spoke highly of the _address_ and _cunning_ of his iniquitous servant. He had, on his own principles, made a very prudent provision for his support; but his master no more _approved_ of his conduct in _this_, than he d... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:9. _THE MAMMON OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS_] μαμωνα της αδικιας - literally, _the mammon_, or _riches, of injustice_. Riches _promise_ MUCH, and _perform_ NOTHING: they excite _hope_ and _confidence_, and _deceive_ both: in making a man _depend_ on them for _happiness_, they _rob_ him of the s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:10. _HE THAT IS FAITHFUL IN THAT WHICH IS LEAST_, c.] He who has the genuine principles of fidelity in him will make a _point of conscience_ of carefully attending to even the _smallest_ things and it is by habituating himself to act uprightly in _little things_ that he acquires the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:12. _THAT WHICH IS ANOTHER MAN'S_] Or rather _another's_, τω αλλοτριω. That is, worldly riches, called another's: 1. Because they belong to _God_, and he has not designed that they should be any man's portion. 2. Because they are continually _changing_ their _possessors_, being in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:13. _NO SERVANT CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS_] The heart will be either wholly taken up with God, or wholly engrossed with the world. Matthew 6:24, Matthew 6:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:14. _THEY DERIDED HIM_] Or rather, _They treated him with the_ _utmost contempt_. So we may translate the original words εξεμυκτηριζον αυτον, which literally signifies, _in illum_ _emunxerunt_-but must not be translated into English, unless, to come a little near it, we say, _they turn... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:15. _YE - JUSTIFY YOURSELVES_] _Ye declare yourselves to be_ _just_. Ye endeavour to make it appear to men that ye can still feel an insatiable thirst after the present world, and yet secure the blessings of another; that ye can reconcile God and mammon, - and serve two masters with eq... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:16. _THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS_ WERE _UNTIL JOHN_] The law and the prophets continued to be the sole _teachers_ till John came, who _first_ began to proclaim the _glad tidings_ of the _kingdom of God_: and now, he who wishes to be made a partaker of the blessings of that kingdom must _r... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:17. _FOR HEAVEN AND EARTH TO PASS_] Matthew 5:17, Matthew 5:17; _"_Matthew 5:18_"_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:18. _PUTTETH AWAY_ (or _divorceth_) _HIS WIFE_] See on Matthew 5:31; Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9; Matthew 19:10; Mark 10:12; where the question concerning _divorce_ is considered at large. These verses, from the 13th to the 18th Luke 16:13 inclusive, appear to be part of our Lord's ser... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:19. _THERE WAS A CERTAIN RICH MAN_] In the Scholia of some MSS. the name of this person is said to be _Ninive_. This account of the _rich man_ and _Lazarus_ is either a _parable_ or a _real_ _history_. If it be a _parable_, it is what _may be_: if it be a _history_, it is that which _h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:20. _THERE WAS A CERTAIN BEGGAR NAMED LAZARUS_] His name is mentioned, because his character was _good_, and his end _glorious_; and because it is the purpose of God that the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. _Lazarus_, לעזר is a contraction of the word אלעזר _Eliezar_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:21. _AND DESIRING TO BE FED WITH THE CRUMBS_] And it is likely this desire was complied with, for it is not intimated that he spurned away the poor man from the gate, or that his suit was rejected. And as we find, Luke 16:24, that the rich man desired that Lazarus should be sent with a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:22. _THE RICH MAN ALSO DIED, AND WAS BURIED_] There is no mention of this latter circumstance in the case of Lazarus; he was _buried_, no doubt-necessity required this; but he had the burial of a _pauper_, while the pomp and pride of the other followed him to the tomb. But what a diff... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:29. _THEY HAVE MOSES AND THE PROPHETS_] This plainly supposes they were all Jewish believers: they had these writings in their hands, but they did not permit them to influence their lives.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:30. _IF ONE WENT TO THEM FROM THE DEAD_, c.] Many are desirous to see an inhabitant of the other world, and converse with him, in order to know what passes there. Make way! Here is a damned soul, which Jesus Christ has evoked from the hell of fire! Hear him! Hear him tell of his tormen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 16:31. _IF THEY HEAR NOT MOSES_, c.] This answer of Abraham contains two remarkable propositions. 1. That the sacred writings contain such proofs of a Divine origin, that though all the dead were to arise, to convince an unbeliever of the truths therein declared, the conviction could not... [ Continue Reading ]