Luke 16 · Verse 7

Luke 16:7

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.

Luke 16:7, King James Version

Luke 16:7 in other translations

BSB	Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Take your bill and write eighty,’ he told him.
WEB	Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred cors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
ASV	Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, A hundred measures of wheat. He saith unto him, Take thy bond, and write fourscore.
YLT	‘Afterward to another he said, And thou, how much dost thou owe? and he said, A hundred cors of wheat; and he saith to him, Take thy bill, and write eighty.
DARBY	Then he said to another, And thou, how much dost thou owe? And he said, A hundred cors of wheat. And he says to him, Take thy writing and write eighty.
BBE	Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty.
Webster	Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, A hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him, Take thy bill, and write eighty.

What does Luke 16:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 16:5-7

5-7. fifty ... fourscore--deducting a half from the debt of the one, and a fifth from that of the other.

Read the full comment on Luke 16:5-7 →

Barnes' Notes

Verse 7. Measures of wheat. The measure here mentioned--the kor, or homer--contained, according to the tables of Dr. Arbuthnot, about 32 pecks, or 8 bushels; or, according to the marginal note, about 14 bushels and a pottle. A pottle is 4 pints. The Hebrew kor, ^hebrew^--or homer, ^hebrew^--was equal to 10 baths or 70 gallons, and the actual amount of the measure, according to this, was not far from 8 gallons. Robinson (Lex.), however, supposes that the bath was 11 1/2 gallons, and the kor or homer 14.45 bushels. The amount is not material to the proper understanding of the parable.

Fourscore. Eighty.

(2) "measures" = "The measure here indicated contained about fourteen bushels and a pottle"

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 7 A hundred measures of wheat - Ἑκατον κορους, a hundred cors. Κορος, from the Hebrew כר cor, was the largest measure of capacity among the Hebrews, whether for solids or liquids. As the bath was equal to the ephah, so the cor was equal to the homer. It contained about seventy-five gallons and five pints English. For the same reason for which I preserve the names of the ancient coins, I preserve the names of the ancient measures. What idea can a mere English reader have of the word measure in this and the preceding verse, when the original words are not only totally different, but the quantity is as seven to seventy-five? The original terms should be immediately inserted in the text, and the contents inserted in the margin. The present marginal reading is incorrect. I follow Bishop Cumberland's weights and measures. See on Luk 15:8 (note). In the preceding relation, I have no doubt our Lord alluded to a custom frequent in the Asiatic countries: a custom which still prevails, as the following account, taken from Capt. Hadley's Hindostan Dialogues, sufficiently proves. A person thus addresses the captain: "Your Sirkar's deputy, whilst his master was gone to Calcutta, established a court of justice. "Having searched for a good many debtors and their creditors, he learned the accounts of their bonds. "He then made an agreement with them to get the bonds out of the bondsmen's hands for half the debt, if they would give him one fourth. "Thus, any debtor for a hundred rupees, having given fifty to the creditor, and twenty-five to this knave, got his bond for seventy-five rupees. "Having seized and flogged 125 bondholders, he has in this manner determined their loans, and he has done this business in your name." Hadley's Gram. Dialogues, p. 79. 5th edit. 1801.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 16:1-12

Whatever we have, the property of it is God's; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour. This steward wasted his lord's goods. And we are all liable to the same charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted us with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and be gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the…

Read the full comment on Luke 16:1-12 →

Luke 16:7 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἔπειταepeitaThenG1899

ἑτέρῳheterōto anotherG2087

εἶπεν·eipenhe said;G2036

σὺsuYou yourselfG4771

δὲdenowG1161

πόσονposonhow muchG4214

ὀφείλεις;opheileisowe?G3784

ὁho<the>G3588

δὲdeAndG1161

εἶπεν·eipenhe said;G2036

ἑκατὸνhekatonA hundredG1540

κόρουςkorouscorsG2884

σίτου.sitouof wheat.G4621

λέγειlegeiHe saysG3004

αὐτῷ·autōto him;G846

δέξαιdexaido takeG1209

σουsouyourG4771

τὰta<the>G3588

γράμματαgrammatabillsG1121

καὶkaiandG2532

γράψονgrapsondo writeG1125

ὀγδοήκοντα.ogdoēkontaeighty.G3589

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Luke 16:7

Luke 20:9
Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.
Luke 20:12
And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.
Song of Solomon 8:11-12
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal–hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

An hundred.
20:9,12; So 8:11,12
measures."The word here interpreted a measure, in the original containeth about fourteen bushels and a pottle. Gr."

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Luke 16:6
And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
Luke 16:7
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.
Luke 16:8
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.

Read all of Luke 16

Luke 16:7 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Después dijo á otro: ¿Y tú, cuánto debes? Y él dijo: Cien coros de trigo. Y él le dijo: Toma tu obligación, y escribe ochenta.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Puis il dit à un autre: Et toi, combien dois-tu? Et il dit: 100 cors de froment. Et il lui dit: Prends ton écrit, et écris 80.
German Elberfelder 1871	Danach sprach er zu einem anderen: Du aber, wieviel bist du schuldig? Der aber sprach: Hundert Kor Weizen. Und er spricht zu ihm: Nimm deinen Schuldbrief und schreibe achtzig.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Deinde alii dixit: Tu vero quantum debes? Qui ait: Centum coros tritici. Ait illi: Accipe litteras tuas, et scribe octoginta.