Luke 16:6

New Life Version

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.'

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.'

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'."

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 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 followers, "There was a rich man who put a boss over his houses and lands. Someone told him that his boss was not using his riches in a right way. ² The rich man sent for the boss and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Tell me what you have done with my things. You are not to be the boss of my houses and lands anymore.' ³ "The boss said to himself, ‘What will I do now? The owner of the houses and lands is taking my work away from me. I cannot dig in the ground for a living. I am too proud to ask for help. ⁴ I know what I will do. I will make it so that when I lose this work I will be able to go to the homes of my friends.' ⁵ "He sent for the people who owed the rich man. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe the owner?' ⁶ 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.' ⁷ He asked another one, ‘How much do you owe?' He said, ‘One hundred bags of wheat.' He said to him, ‘Take your bill and change it to eighty.' ⁸ Then the rich man said that this sinful boss had been wise to plan for himself for the days ahead. For the people of the world are wiser in their day than the children of light. ⁹ "I tell you, make friends for yourselves by using the riches of the world that are so often used in wrong ways. So when riches are a thing of the past, friends may receive you into a home that will be forever. ¹⁰ He that is faithful with little things is faithful with big things also. He that is not honest with little things is not honest with big things.

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
He said, "Hagar, you who serve Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am running away from Sarai, the one I serve."

Genesis 16:9
Then the angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your boss. Put yourself under her power."

Genesis 24:10
Then the servant took ten of Abraham's camels and left. He took with him all kinds of gifts from Abraham. Then he went to the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia.

Exodus 2:15
When Pharaoh heard what had happened, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. He sat down there by a well.

Job 2:6
So the Lord said to Satan, "See, he is in your power. Only do not kill him."

Proverbs 14:29
He who is slow to get angry has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper makes his foolish way look right.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away anger, but a sharp word causes anger.

Proverbs 27:8
Like a bird that goes away from her nest, so is a man who goes away from his home.

Proverbs 29:19
A servant will not be taught by words alone. For even if he understands, he will not answer.

Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the ruler becomes angry with you, do not back away. If you are quiet, much wrong-doing may be put aside.

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.