The Unforgiving Servant

Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.

complete verse (Matthew 18:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 18:24:

  • Uma: “First, a slave was brought before him who owed millions.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When he began to check the books, one servant was brought to the sultan whose debt was thousands of pesos.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then while he was starting to check up on these, they brought to him one who had borrowed from him a thousand of pesos.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He had-just-begun to collect and there was an official who was brought to him who owed how-many millions.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The first who was brought to him owed ten million.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “He had begun to make accountings with his workers when there was brought to him a person who owed him millions of money.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 18:21-35)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 18:21-35:

“Forgiveness times seven is surely enough
       to offer anyone who offends me,” said Peter.

“Try seven times that amount!” answered Jesus,
“and listen to this story about the Ultimate Kingdom.”

       The CEO of a big corporation called in his employees
              to account for their use of the company funds.
       One of them came up fifty million dollars short,
              and he was broke.

       “His wife and children are just as guilty,” said the CEO.
       “Lock all of them up and throw away the key,
               until he pays back every cent he owes.”

       But the man begged for mercy
       and swore he’d repay every cent.
              So the soft-hearted CEO forgave his debt.

       On the way out of the office, the man happened to meet
              an office boy who owed him a measly fifty bucks.
       With his hands around the throat of he boy, he shouted,
              “Pay me every cent you owe!”

       The boy begged for mercy and swore to repay every cent.
       But there was no mercy, and the boy was thrown into jail
              until he could repay the full amount.

       Some other employees found out what had happened,
       and they reported the matter to the CEO,
              who called the man in and said, “You’re evil!
       When you begged for mercy, I forgave every penny.
              Isn’t that what you should have done for this boy?
       I’ll have your hide for this!
       You, your wife, and your family of four
              will perish impoverished in prison.”

“Listen up!” exclaimed Jesus.
“If you don’t forgive others with all your heart,
       my Father above will treat you like this.”

Translation commentary on Matthew 18:24

When he began (Good News Translation “He had just begun to do so”) translates a participial construction in Greek, which Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes into an adverbial phrase (“At the very first”).

Reckoning can be rendered by “checking the accounts” or, as in Good News Translation, with a phrase such as “began to do this.”

The passive was brought probably suggests that the man was in prison. In those languages which will not naturally use a passive, translators should say “his people (or, his other servants) brought to him.” “Took” or “led” will be better than brought in many languages.

One refers, of course, to “one of his servants” or “one of his people.”

Ten thousand talents is transformed into contemporary U.S. currency by Good News Translation: (“millions of dollars”). Both the sum (ten thousand) and the monetary unit (talent) are significant, for in the ancient Near East ten thousand was the highest number used in calculating, and the talent was the largest currency unit of that time. In other words, the amount is intended to stagger the imagination; it is the highest sum imaginable, to be contrasted with the trifling amount of the debt in verse 28. New English Bible indicates that the debt “ran into millions,” while the footnote of New Jerusalem Bible states “the amount is deliberately fantastic.” RSV’s footnote points out that a single talent was “more than fifteen years’ wages of a laborer.”

Some translators have maintained the biblical form, ten thousand talents, but tried to give it some meaning by using an expression such as “ten thousand huge units of money called talents” or “ten thousand talents, each one the money of fifteen years’ wages.” Others have followed the Revised Standard Version with a literal translation in the text and a footnote suggesting the value. Another common method translators have used is to employ a very general term such as “a huge sum of money.” There can be problems in using a modern local currency, as Good News Translation: (“millions of dollars”) and Barclay (“two and a half million pounds”) have done. For one thing, currencies can change value radically so that a few years after publication the meaning may be quite different. Then, too, to use modern money removes the passage from its historical context. Any expression that will indicate that the sum of money is almost beyond imagination can be considered by translators.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 18:24



18:24a

As he began the settlements: This clause indicates that the king had many servants to settle accounts with. They probably came to him one by one.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

When he began to do this (God’s Word)
-or-
When the king began to collect his money (New Century Version)
-or-
As began to collect his money

18:24b

a debtor was brought to him owing: The verb was brought indicates that other servants led in one by one each of the people who owed the king money. The picture is of the king perhaps on his throne with the servants who owed money waiting outside the throne room for their turn.

This verb is passive. Here are some other ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

one of them was brought in who owed him (Good News Translation)

• Use an active verb. For example:

⌊someone/they⌋ brought in one of the workers who owed him money

a debtor…owing: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a debtor…owing is more literally “one debtor.” It refers to one of the servants who owed him money.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

one of his debtors…who owed him (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
a man who owed him (New International Version)

ten thousand talents: This phrase refers to an enormous sum of money. The number ten thousand was the largest number that could be named in Greek. The word “talent” refers to the weight of metal such as silver or gold (1 talent = about 30 kilograms). It was the largest weight at that time. So the phrase ten thousand talents refers to an amount of money that was almost beyond imagination.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

• Use the number 10,000 and borrow the word “talent” from English or a national language. Then explain the whole expression in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:

The number 10,000 was the largest number you could say in Greek. A talent was the largest weight at the time. This was an enormous sum of money. It was so big you could not count it.

• Use the number 10,000 and replace “talent” with another expression. For example:

10,000 large pieces of money
-or-
ten thousand bags of gold (NIVUK)

• Use an expression that means “an enormous sum of money.” For example:

millions of coins

The last two options could also include a footnote. For example:

This was an enormous sum of money. It was so big you could not count it.

Some English versions use the American currency “dollars.” It is not recommended that you translate the term ten thousand talents 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.

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