Matthew Chapter 18 verse 25 Holy Bible
But forasmuch as he had not `wherewith' to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
read chapter 18 in ASV
And because he was not able to make payment, his lord gave orders for him, and his wife, and his sons and daughters, and all he had, to be given for money, and payment to be made.
read chapter 18 in BBE
But he not having anything to pay, [his] lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and his children, and everything that he had, and that payment should be made.
read chapter 18 in DARBY
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
read chapter 18 in KJV
read chapter 18 in WBT
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.
read chapter 18 in WEB
and he having nothing to pay, his lord did command him to be sold, and his wife, and the children, and all, whatever he had, and payment to be made.
read chapter 18 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 25. - He had not to pay. He was absolutely bankrupt, and had no means whatever of meeting the deficit. To be sold. The Jewish Law ordered such process in the case of an impecunious debtor (see Exodus 22:3; Leviticus 25:39, 41; and the concrete case in 2 Kings 4:1; comp. also Isaiah 50:1; Psalm 44:12). But this law was mitigated by the enactment of the jubilee, which in the course of time restored the bondman to liberty. The instance in the parable appertains rather to Oriental depotism than to the proceedings under Mosaic legislation (see ver. 34, which is not in accordance with Jewish practice). The king, by this severity, may have desired to make the defaulter feel the weight of his debt, and to bring him to repentance, as we see that he was ready to accept the submission of the debtor, and to grant him forgiveness (St. Chrysostom). Payment to be made. The verb is put impersonally. Of course, the sale of himself, wife, family, possessions, would not produce enough to satisfy the debt; but the command is to the effect that the proceeds should be taken on account of the debt. The parable; must not be pressed in all its details; a false impression is often produced by fixing spiritual or allegorical meaning upon the unimportant accessories, which, in fact, merely give vividness to the offered picture. The sale of wife and children is of this character, though it may be said generally and experimentally that a man's sins react on his family in some sort, lowering position and reputation, and reducing to poverty etc.; but this result has no bearing on the lessening of the original debt.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(25) His lord commanded him to be sold.--The framework of the parable was necessarily drawn from human laws, and, except as indicating the sentence of condemnation passed upon the sinner himself, there is no occasion of pressing the details as we unfold the spiritual meaning that lies below the imagery.
