Luke 16:1-9 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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Bible Comments

Parable of the Unjust Steward (Lk. only). It has been suggested that a better title would be The Shrewd Agent. At any rate the epithet unrighteous has as much reference (if not more) to Luke 16:1 as to Luke 16:5-7. A steward in danger of dismissal for mismanagement of his master's estate seeks to provide for the future by making friends with the tenants. That this is at his master's expense has nothing to do with the point of the parable-, it is a parable, not an allegory. The agent summons the tenants, who are under bond to pay part of their rent in kind (or perhaps they are merchants having supplies of goods on credit) and encourages them to alter their contracts in their own favour. Who is the lord that praises the overseer for his action? Apparently it is the landlord (cf. Luke 16:5), himself a man of the world, though some commentators, e.g. Wellhausen and J. Weiss, say it is Jesus (cf. Luke 18:6). In any case the steward's cleverness is commended (along the lines of Matthew 10:16), and the comment is made (by Jesus) that the children of this world display more shrewdness and common-sense, at least in their everyday and present life affairs, than the children of light. (There is a Johannine ring about this antithesis.) The former are keener on temporal, than the latter on eternal, well-being. Men are more resourceful, resolute, and zealous about material gain (and we may add sport) than in social and moral reform, or the spread of the Kingdom of God. An interesting but not convincing interpretation of the parable is given in Latham, Pastor Pastorum, pp. 386- 398. Luke 16:9 refers not to general alertness or worldly wisdom, but to a wise use of money, especially money wrongly acquired, and we could understand it better if it were addressed to tax-gatherers (like Zacchæ us). Unjust gains cannot always be restored to their owners, but they can be given in alms, and so win friends or even heaven. It is perhaps better to take the parable as ending with Luke 16:8, and Luke 16:9 as a comment on it, a link with Luke 16:10-13, and a prelude to Luke 16:19-31.

Luke 16:1. accused: the papyri have the Gr. word diaballô in the sense of complain, so we need not assume any malice or falsehood in its use here.

Luke 16:4. they: the tenants or debtors of Luke 16:5

Luke 16:8. The emphasis is on wisely (which is not honestly).

Luke 16:9. when it fails: we should probably read when you fail, i.e. die. the eternal tabernacles: in contrast to the houses of Luke 16:4. The parallel does not necessarily stamp the verse as a moralising accretion to the parable.

Related Commentaries of Luke 16:1

Luke 16:1-9

1 And he said also unto his disciples,There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

6 And he said, An hundred measuresa of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measuresb of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammonc of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.