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Luke 16:7
ESV Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
NIV Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' ''A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. 'He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
NASB Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
CSB "Next he asked another, 'How much do you owe? '" 'A hundred measures of wheat,' he said." 'Take your invoice,' he told him, 'and write eighty.'
NLT ‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels. ’
KJV Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

What does Luke 16:7 mean?

The soon-to-be-fired manager of a wealthy man is scrambling. The rich employer has discovered that the manager has been mishandling property. This may have been corruption or simple incompetence. The manager needs to find another administrative position. He decides to change the financial records of his master's debtors, and to be sure those borrowers know he's done so (Luke 16:1–4).

First, the manager calls the debtors in and helps himself by reminding them how much they owe. Then he cuts their debts significantly (Luke 16:5–6). It's unclear how he can do this, but scholars have several ideas.

It's unlikely the steward forgives the principal of the debt: he did not pretend as if the men borrowed a different amount. That crime would be difficult for the owner to prosecute since the manager and the debtors had the only records, but it would not be impossible. And it wouldn't be easy for the manager to find another job if he was openly stealing from his employer.

It may be that the manager dropped interest from the total owed. Charging other Jews interest is against the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 23:19). To get around the law, lenders often charged a "fee," claiming this was not "interest." The manager could have forgiven either the owner's fee or his own commission, which he may have been allowed to add for his own benefit.

The rich man praises the manager's shrewdness (Luke 16:8). That doesn't mean he approves of his actions, but he does recognize the cleverness involved. If the steward lost the rich man money, he is now within the law and looks charitable to those who owe him a significant debt. If the steward lost his own commission, he wouldn't have been able to collect it anyway, and he is now in the good graces of several other businessmen.

Jesus has a practice of using nearly unpayable amounts in His parables. Here, the amount of wheat owed is the equivalent of what could be harvested from one hundred acres. The happy debtor now only owes eighty acres worth.
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