![Unmerciful](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Unmerciful.jpg)
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (also known as ''Ungrateful Servant'', ''Unmerciful Servant'', or ''Wicked Servant'' but not to be confused with the
parable of the Two Debtors
The Parable of the Two Debtors is a parable of Jesus. It appears in , where Jesus uses the parable to explain that the woman who has anointed him loves him more than his host, because she has been forgiven of greater sins.
A similar anointing in ...
) is a
parable of Jesus
A parable is a succinct, Didacticism, didactic story, in prose or Verse (poetry), verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces ...
which appears in the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
. According to it is important to forgive others as we are forgiven by God, as illustrated by the negative example of the unforgiving servant.
Narrative
![Domenico Fetti 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Domenico_Fetti_001.jpg)
The parable is told as an answer to a question by
Peter about
forgiveness
Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may initially feel victimized or wronged, goes through a change in feelings and attitude regarding a given offender, and overcomes the impact of th ...
:
Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy seven times. Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand
talents. But because he couldn't pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!' The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
"But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred
denarii
The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...
, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
"So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you!' He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told to their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him in, and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?' His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds." Matthew 18:21–35
![Jan van Hemessen - The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Jan_van_Hemessen_-_The_Parable_of_the_Unmerciful_Servant.jpg)
The lines before the parable itself are similar to .
The
talent in this parable was worth about 6,000
denarii
The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...
, so that one debt is 600,000 times as large as the other.
[R. T. France, ]
The Gospel According to Matthew: An introduction and commentary
', Eerdmans, 1985, , p. 277. More significantly, 10,000 (a
myriad
A myriad (from Ancient Greek grc, μυριάς, translit=myrias, label=none) is technically the number 10,000 (ten thousand); in that sense, the term is used in English almost exclusively for literal translations from Greek, Latin or Sinospher ...
) was the highest Greek numeral, and a talent the largest unit of currency,
so that 10,000 talents was the largest easily described debt (for comparison, the combined annual tribute of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea around this time was only 600 talents,
[Craig S. Keener, ]
A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
', Eerdmans, 1999, , pp. 456–461. and one denarius was a day's wages,
so that 10,000 talents would be about 200,000 years' wages). The setting is the court of some king in another country, where the "servants" could rank as highly as provincial governors.
Historical context
There is no precedent in the scriptures of the Bible for a debtor paying debts from prison. However, there is a very relevant aspect of Roman law that may have been the cultural reference this parable is built around considering the Judeans of Jesus day were ruled by Rome. In the Roman Constitution known as th
(Table III, Laws IV-X), there is a detailed set of laws on debtors that shows a great deal of similarity to the scenario in the parable. A debtor who does not pay can be taken to court and put in chains and forced into a number of arrangements whereby they work off the debt through servitude. Also it states that others can come and pay the debt on their behalf, thus releasing them from prison. A debt that cannot be paid resulted in slavery to the creditor or sale on the slave market.
Commentary
Cornelius a Lapide comments on the phrase "was wroth" or "was angry". The
Syriac text reads that the Lord "burnt with anger". Lapide notes that under
Roman civil law, which the Jews of Christ's time were subject, debtors sometimes were delivered by their creditors to tormentors, who put them in prison, and scourged them. The Emperor
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
, from Christian kindness, ended the punishment of scourging debtors.
Remigius says that in this case the tormentors are demons, who torment the souls of the damned in hell in a thousand ways, where the phrase ''until he should pay'' means that they must be tormented forever, because they could never pay the full debt of ten thousand talents.
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies, preaching and public speaking, his denunciat ...
,
Euthymius the Great and
Theophylact of Ohrid give the same interpretation.
Concerning the phrase, ''unless you forgive from your hearts'' at the end of the parable,
John McEvilly writes that outward forgiveness is useless, but instead it must come from the "heart", with the threat of being refused forgiveness by God if we do not forgive. Similarly
St. James writes, "For judgement will be without
mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy" (
James 2:13).
Depictions
There have been numerous depictions of this parable in art, including:
*
Domenico Fetti
Domenico Fetti (also spelled Feti) (c. 1589 – 1623) was an Italian Baroque painter who had been active mainly in Rome, Mantua and Venice.
Biography
Born in Rome to a little-known painter, Pietro Fetti, Domenico is said to have apprenticed i ...
, ''Parable of the Wicked Servant'' (c. 1620),
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
*
Claude Vignon
Claude Vignon (19 May 1593 – 10 May 1670) was a French painter, printmaker and illustrator who worked in a wide range of genres.Paola Pacht Bassani. "Vignon, Claude." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 2 November ...
, ''
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant'' (1629),
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours
The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours (English: Museum of Fine Arts of Tours) is located in the bishop's former palace, near the Tours Cathedral, cathedral St. Gatien, where it has been since 1910. It displays rich and varied collections, including t ...
*
Willem Drost
Willem Drost (baptized 19 April 1633 – buried 25 February 1659) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker of history paintings and portraits.
Biography
He is a mysterious figure, closely associated with Rembrandt, with very few paintings ...
, ''The Unmerciful Servant'' (1655),
Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along w ...
, London
*
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
, ''The Unmerciful Servant'' (1864),
Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
Collection
See also
*
Five Discourses of Matthew
In Christianity, the term Five Discourses of Matthew refers to five specific discourses by Jesus within the Gospel of Matthew.''The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament'' by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kell ...
*
Life of Jesus in the New Testament
*
Ministry of Jesus
The ministry of Jesus, in the canonical gospels, begins with his baptism in the countryside of Roman Judea and Transjordan, near the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples.''Chri ...
* ''
Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim, BWV 89
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata (What shall I make of you, Ephraim), 89, in Leipzig for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 24 October 1723.
History and words
Bach wrote the cantata in his first year in Lei ...
''
References
External links
Parable Explained- BibleTools.org
- The Brick Testament
''La Deuda'', a short film- from The Salvation Army
{{Authority control
Unforgiving Servant, Parable of the
Gospel of Matthew