Luke 16:6

Contemporary English Version

"A hundred barrels of olive oil," the man answered. So the manager said, "Take your bill and sit down and quickly write ‘fifty'."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said.

King James Version (1611)
And hee said, An hundred measures of oyle. And hee saide vnto him, Take thy bill, and sit downe quickly, and write fiftie.

King James Version
And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

English Standard Version
He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

New American Standard Bible
"And he said, 'A hundred jugs of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

New Century Version
He answered, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.' The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write four hundred gallons.'

Amplified Bible
"He said, 'A hundred measures of [olive] oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

Legacy Standard Bible
And he said, ‘One hundred baths of oil.' And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

Berean Standard Bible
'A hundred measures of olive oil,' he answered. 'Take your bill,' said the manager. 'Sit down quickly, and write fifty.'

Complete Jewish Bible
‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. ‘Take your note back,' he told him. ‘Now, quickly! Sit down and write one for four hundred!'

Darby Translation
And he said, A hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take thy writing and sit down quickly and write fifty.

Easy-to-Read Version
He answered, ‘I owe him 100 jars of olive oil.' The manager said to him, ‘Here is your bill. Hurry! Sit down and make the bill less. Write 50 jars.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he said, An hudreth measures of oyle. And he saide to him, Take thy writing, and sitte downe quickely, and write fiftie.

George Lamsa Translation
He said to him, A hundred pounds of butter. He said to him, Take your note, sit down quickly, and write fifty pounds.

Good News Translation
‘One hundred barrels of olive oil,' he answered. ‘Here is your account,' the manager told him; ‘sit down and write fifty.'

Lexham English Bible
And he said, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.' So he said to him, ‘Take your promissory note and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

Literal Translation
And he said, A hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take your statements and sitting quickly write fifty.

American Standard Version
And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty.

Bible in Basic English
And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty.

Hebrew Names Version
He said, 'A hundred batos of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

International Standard Version
The man replied, 'A hundred jars of olive oil.' The managerHe">[fn] told him, 'Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write "fifty."'

Etheridge Translation
And he said to him, An hundred metres of oil. He saith to him, Take thy book, and sit down quickly, and write fifty metres.

Murdock Translation
And he said to him, One hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write Fifty measures.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he sayde, an hundreth measures of oyle. And he sayde vnto hym: Take thy byll, and syt downe quickely, and write fiftie.

English Revised Version
And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty.

World English Bible
He said, 'A hundred batos of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he said, An hundred measures of oil. He said to him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.

Weymouth's New Testament
"`A hundred firkins of oil,' he replied. "`Here is your account,' said the steward: `sit down quickly and change it into fifty firkins.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide, An hundrid barelis of oyle. And he seide to hym, Take thi caucioun, and sitte soone, and write fifti.

Update Bible Version
And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him, Take your bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

New English Translation
The man replied, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.' The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.'

New King James Version
And he said, 'A hundred measures [fn] of oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

New Living Translation
The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.' So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.'

New Life Bible
The first man said, ‘One hundred barrels of oil.' The boss said to him, ‘Take your bill. Sit down at once and change it to fifty.'

New Revised Standard
He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, he, said - A hundred baths of oil. And, he, said unto him - Kindly take thine accounts, and, sitting down, make haste and write - Fifty!

Douay-Rheims Bible
But he said: An hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly and write fifty.

Revised Standard Version
He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he sayd: an hondred tonnes of oyle. And he sayd to him: take thy bill and syt doune quickly and wryte fiftie.

Young's Literal Translation
and he said, A hundred baths of oil; and he said to him, Take thy bill, and having sat down write fifty.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He sayde: an hundreth tonnes of oyle. And he sayde: Take yi byll, syt downe quyckly, & wryte fiftie.

Mace New Testament (1729)
a hundred measures of oil, said he. take your bill, said the steward, sit down there, and write out one immediately for fifty.

THE MESSAGE
"He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.' "The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now—write fifty.'

Simplified Cowboy Version
"'One hundred barrels of olive oil,' the man answered. "'I'll reduce that debt by half if you can pay it now.'

Contextual Overview

¹ Jesus said to his disciples: A rich man once had a manager to take care of his business. But he was told that his manager was wasting money. ² So the rich man called him in and said, "What is this I hear about you? Tell me what you have done! You are no longer going to work for me." ³ The manager said to himself, "What shall I do now that my master is going to fire me? I can't dig ditches, and I'm ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I'll do, so that people will welcome me into their homes after I've lost my job." ⁵ Then one by one he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, "How much do you owe my master?" ⁶ "A hundred barrels of olive oil," the man answered. So the manager said, "Take your bill and sit down and quickly write ‘fifty'." ⁷ The manager asked someone else who was in debt to his master, "How much do you owe?" "A thousand bushels of wheat," the man replied. The manager said, "Take your bill and write ‘eight hundred'." ⁸ The master praised his dishonest manager for looking out for himself so well. That's how it is! The people of this world look out for themselves better than the people who belong to the light. ⁹ My disciples, I tell you to use wicked wealth to make friends for yourselves. Then when it is gone, you will be welcomed into an eternal home. ¹⁰ Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters. But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

measures: The word Batos in the original containeth nine gallons, three quarts. See Ezekiel 45:10-14.

Take: Luke 16:9, Luke 16:12, Titus 2:10

Reciprocal: Ezra 7:22 - baths of wine

Cross-References

Genesis 16:8
and asked, "Hagar, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She answered, "I'm running away from Sarai, my owner."

Genesis 16:9
The angel said, "Go back to Sarai and be her slave.

Genesis 24:10
Soon after that, the servant loaded ten of Abraham's camels with valuable gifts. Then he set out for the city in northern Syria, where Abraham's brother Nahor lived.

Exodus 2:15
When the king heard what Moses had done, the king wanted to kill him. But Moses escaped and went to the land of Midian. One day, Moses was sitting there by a well,

Job 2:6
"All right!" the Lord replied. "Make Job suffer as much as you want, but just don't kill him."

Proverbs 14:29
It's smart to be patient, but it's stupid to lose your temper.

Proverbs 15:1
A kind answer soothes angry feelings, but harsh words stir them up.

Proverbs 27:8
When you are far from home, you feel like a bird without a nest.

Proverbs 29:19
Even when servants are smart, it takes more than words to make them obey.

Ecclesiastes 10:4
Don't give up your job when your boss gets angry. If you stay calm, you'll be forgiven.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said an hundred measures of oil,.... Or "baths of oil", the same quantity as in Ezra 7:22 where Aben Ezra i calls them, מדות, "measures", as we do here; and Jarchi k observes, that they were, לבלול מנחות, "to mingle with the meal, or flour offerings"; which illustrates the above observation, that they were for the temple service; and the bath was the measure of oil, as the ephah was of wheat l; and they were both of the same quantity,

Ezekiel 45:11. According to Godwin m it held four gallons and a half; so that a hundred of them contained four hundred and fifty gallons; though some make the measure much larger. Some say the "bath" held six gallons, one pottle, and half a pint; and others, seven gallons, two quarts, and half a pint; and others, nine gallons, and three quarts.

Take thy bill, or "writing"; which showed the bargain made for so many measures; and which acknowledged the receipt of them, and promised payment:

and sit down quickly; for his case required haste;

and write fifty; just half; that it might appear he had bought but fifty, and was accountable for no more.

i In Ezr. vii. 22. k In ib. l Kimchi in Ezek. xlv. 14. m Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A hundred measures - The measure here mentioned is the “bath” which contained, according to Dr. Arbuthnot’s tables, 7 12 gallons, or, according to the marginal note, about 9 gallons and 3 quarts.

Oil - Oil of olives, or sweet oil. It was much used for lamps, as an article of food Exodus 29:2, and also for anointing, and, of course, as an article of commerce, 1 Kings 5:11. These were persons, doubtless, who had “rented” land of the rich man, and who were to give him a certain proportion of the produce.

Thy bill - The contract, obligation, or “lease.” It was probably written as a “promise” by the debtor and signed by the steward, and thus became binding. Thus he had power to alter it, without supposing that his master would detect it. The bill or contract was in the hands of the steward, and he gave it back to him to write a new one.

Quickly - He supposed that his master would soon remove him, and he was, therefore, in haste to have all things secure beforehand. It is worthy of remark, also, that “all” this was wrong. His master had called for the account: but, instead of rendering it, he engaged in other business, disobeyed his lord still, and, in contempt of his commands, sought his own interest. All sinners would be slow to give in their account to God if they could do it; and it is only because, when God calls them by death, they “cannot but go,” that they do not engage still in their own business and disobey him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 16:6. A hundred measures of oil. — εκατον βατους, A hundred baths. The בת bath was the largest measure of capacity among the Hebrews, except the homer, of which it was the tenth part: see Luke 45:11; Luke 45:14. It is equal to the ephah, i.e. to seven gallons and a half of our measure.

Take thy bill — Thy account - το γραμμα. The writing in which the debt was specified, together with the obligation to pay so much, at such and such times. This appears to have been in the hand-writing of the debtor, and probably signed by the steward: and this precluded imposition on each part. To prevent all appearance of forgery in this case, he is desired to write it over again, and to cancel the old engagement. In carrying on a running account with a tradesman, it is common among the Hindoos for the buyer to receive from the hands of the seller a daily account of the things received; and according to this account, written on a slip of paper, and which remains in the hands of the buyer, the person is paid.