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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Matthew 18:28 - 18:28
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A hundred pence (hekaton dēnaria). A denarius was worth about eight and a half pence. The hundred denarii here were equal to some “fifty shillings” (Bruce), “about 4 pounds” (McNeile), “twenty pounds” (Moffatt), “twenty dollars” (Goodspeed), “100 shillings” (Weymouth) . These are various efforts to represent in modern language the small amount of this debt compared with the big one.
Took him by the throat (epnigen). “Held him by the throat” (Allen). It is imperfect, probably inchoative, “began to choke or throttle him.” The Roman law allowed this indignity. Vincent quotes Livy (iv. 53) who tells how the necks were twisted (collum torsisset) and how Cicero (Pro Cluentio, xxi.) says: “Lead him to the judgment seat with twisted neck (collo obtorto).”
What thou owest (ei ti opheileis). Literally, “if thou owest anything,” however little. He did not even know how much it was, only that he owed him something. “The ‘if’ is simply the expression of a pitiless logic” (Meyer).