“Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?”
The full verse · Matthew 18:33 · KJV
have had on , had on ?
Asked by
Forgiving King: the king in Jesus' parable who forgave his servant a debt of ten thousand talents (Matthew 18:23-27)
Asked to
Unmerciful Servant: the servant in Jesus' parable who was forgiven a huge debt but threw his fellowservant into prison over a hundred pence (Matthew 18:24-30)
The Scene
In Jesus' parable, the other servants tell their lord that the man he forgave has cast a fellowservant into prison, and the lord calls him in (Matthew 18:28-32).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThe king wanted the servant to see what he had done. He had begged for patience and received far more: his whole debt was forgiven (Matthew 18:26-27). Then he went out and choked a fellowservant over a small sum (Matthew 18:28). The king first reminds him, "I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me" (Matthew 18:32), and then asks this question.
The question presses home what should have been obvious. Gill says it is only reasonable "that such who have received mercy, should show mercy." The contrast between the two debts makes the point sharper. Barnes calls the hundred pence "a very small sum compared with what had been forgiven."
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe text records no answer from the servant. "And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him" (Matthew 18:34). Then Jesus turned the parable to His hearers: "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" (Matthew 18:35).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe two debts were wildly different. A talent was a very large weight of silver, and Barnes says ten thousand talents shows that the debt was immensely large. A hundred pence (denarii) was a small amount by comparison.
In the KJV the king says "compassion" and "pity," but in Greek both are the same verb, eleeo, to show mercy. The ESV keeps the match: "should not you have had mercy... as I had mercy on you?" The "tormentors," Barnes says, "probably means keepers of the prison."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question is spoken by a figure who pictures God. Jesus says the heavenly Father will deal the same way with those who will not forgive (Matthew 18:35), and Gill thinks the king most likely stands for God the Father. So the question shows what God expects of those He has forgiven: the mercy you received is the mercy you owe.
It also shows how great God's mercy is. The king forgave freely a debt the servant could never pay. Matthew Henry writes, "We do not forgive our offending brother aright, if we do not forgive from the heart." Barnes says the same: forgiveness must be "not merely in words, but really and truly." Mercy that stays in our hands and never reaches others has not been understood.
Look Closer
Why does the king say the servant should have shown compassion?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, You have forgiven me a debt I could never pay; who is the person You are asking me to show that same mercy to now?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Why do you think it can be easier to remember what others owe you than what you have been forgiven?
- Tell about a time when someone's mercy toward you changed the way you treated others.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
The king's question is one God may be asking you. Think about how much you have been forgiven. Then think about the person who has hurt you. The difference between those two debts is the point of this parable.
Forgiving does not mean saying the wrong was small or never happened. The fellowservant really did owe a hundred pence. It means releasing the debt from your heart, not just in words, because God has released yours.
If you find it hard, start where the parable starts: with the mercy you have received. Matthew Henry notes that a felt sense of God's pardoning mercy does much to make the heart ready to forgive.
Scripture's own application: Ephesians 4:32
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?”
“How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?”
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”