Matthew 18:29 kjv
And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Matthew 18:29 nkjv
So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'
Matthew 18:29 niv
"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.'
Matthew 18:29 esv
So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'
Matthew 18:29 nlt
"His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it,' he pleaded.
Matthew 18 29 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
| Matt 18:26 | So the servant fell down on his knees... 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' | The first servant's identical plea to the king, highlighting the hypocrisy. |
| Matt 18:33 | 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' | The king's direct rebuke to the unforgiving servant, emphasizing expected reciprocity. |
| Matt 6:14-15 | "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you..." | Direct teaching on the conditionality of divine forgiveness on human forgiveness. |
| Luke 6:37 | "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven..." | Call for merciful judgment and the principle of receiving what you give. |
| Col 3:13 | "...bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must do." | Exhortation to forgive based on the example of Christ's forgiveness. |
| Eph 4:32 | "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." | Call to imitation of God's forgiveness within the Christian community. |
| Jas 2:13 | "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." | Consequence of not showing mercy; the principle of divine judgment based on human actions. |
| Rom 2:4 | Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience (μακροθυμίας), not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? | God's "patience" (makrothymia) as an attribute, paralleling the plea in Matt 18:29. |
| 1 Pet 3:20 | ...when God's patience (μακροθυμία) waited in the days of Noah... | Illustrates God's long-suffering character, delaying judgment. |
| 2 Pet 3:9 | The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient (μακροθυμῶν) toward you... | Reinforces God's divine patience and desire for repentance. |
| Prov 28:13 | Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. | Old Testament wisdom on the path to receiving mercy. |
| Isa 43:25 | "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." | God's willingness to utterly blot out sin, paralleling the king's full forgiveness. |
| Mic 7:18 | Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?... | Emphasizes God's unique merciful nature and desire for pardon. |
| Ps 103:10-12 | He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him... | God's merciful non-retribution, far exceeding human expectations of justice. |
| Rom 13:8 | Owe no one anything, except to love one another... | The only outstanding "debt" for believers is the ongoing commitment to love, implying that other debts should be settled, or compassionately released. |
| Matt 5:7 | "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." | Beatitude that establishes the spiritual principle underpinning the parable. |
| Phil 2:3-4 | Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves... | An appeal to humility and selfless consideration, directly contrasting the unforgiving servant's pride. |
| 1 John 4:11 | Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. | Foundational command stemming from God's immense love for humanity. |
| Exod 34:6-7 | The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger (makrothymos)... forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin... | OT revelation of God's character as "slow to anger," showing patience. |
| Prov 19:11 | Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. | Wisdom teaching on the virtue of patience and overlooking offenses. |
| Matt 7:1-2 | "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." | Direct teaching on the measure of judgment, aligning with the parable's outcome. |
Matthew 18 verses
Matthew 18 29 Meaning
This verse describes the plea of the second servant, who owed a small sum, to the first servant, who had just been forgiven an immense, unrepayable debt by the king. The second servant falls to his knees, begging for "patience" or "longsuffering" (Makrothymeson) and promising to repay the entire debt. This action and the words spoken mirror the plea that the first servant made to the king, highlighting a stark and tragic irony in the parable: the first servant, having received boundless mercy, is immediately asked to show a much smaller measure of mercy to his fellow.
Matthew 18 29 Context
Matthew 18:29 is a pivotal part of Jesus’ Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35), which directly follows Peter’s question to Jesus about the limit of forgiveness: "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" (Matthew 18:21). Jesus responds not by giving a numerical limit, but by indicating boundless forgiveness: "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:22), and immediately illustrates this principle with the parable. The parable presents a king who forgives a servant an immense, unpayable debt (10,000 talents). This act of astonishing mercy is then tragically contrasted by the same servant's refusal to forgive a much smaller debt (100 denarii) owed to him by a fellow servant. Verse 29 captures the moment the second servant pleads with the first, using almost identical language to the first servant’s plea to the king, thereby setting up the first servant’s cruelty and illustrating the hypocrisy of his unforgiving heart.
Matthew 18 29 Word analysis
- And (Καὶ - Kai): A common conjunction that simply connects the previous action to this servant’s subsequent response. It marks the progression of the narrative from the great debt to the small debt.
- he fell down (πεσὼν - pesōn): A participle from "πίπτω" (piptō), meaning "to fall, cast oneself down." This describes an act of humble, earnest, and often desperate supplication. It signifies a complete posture of submission and vulnerability, seeking mercy. This exact physical action was performed by the first servant to the king (Matt 18:26).
- at his feet: While not explicitly present in the Greek for this specific verse (the previous verse has "falling down before him" referring to the master, but the verb "pesōn" alone strongly implies a prostrate posture before the person), the act of falling implies prostration, a gesture commonly associated with pleading at the feet of another to show reverence or deep humility and desperation in ancient cultures.
- and pleaded (προσεκύνει - prosekýnei): An imperfect tense of "προσκυνέω" (proskyneō), which means "to prostrate oneself, to do obeisance, to worship." The imperfect tense suggests a continuous, repeated, or earnest action of pleading, emphasizing the persistence of his appeal. In other contexts, this word is used for worshipping God, highlighting the profound humility of the second servant's request.
- with him (αὐτῷ - autō): This refers to the first servant, the one who had just been released from an enormous debt.
- saying (λέγων - legōn): A standard participle introducing the direct speech of the second servant.
- ‘Have patience (Μακροθύμησον - Makrothýmēson): This is the aorist imperative of "μακροθυμέω" (makrothymeō), meaning "to be patient, to be long-suffering, to wait forbearingly." This word is significant because it is often used to describe divine patience (Rom 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9). The second servant isn't asking for outright debt cancellation but for grace and an extension of time, demonstrating his willingness to repay if given the chance.
- with me (ἐπ’ ἐμοί - ep’ emoi): "Toward me" or "upon me," directing the plea for patience specifically to himself.
- and (καὶ - kai): Simple connective.
- I will pay you all (πάντα ἀποδώσω σοι - panta apodōso soi):
- πάντα (panta): "all" or "everything." It refers to the entire debt.
- ἀποδώσω (apodōso): Future tense of "ἀποδίδωμι" (apodidomi), meaning "to give back, to repay, to render what is due." It signifies a promise of full restitution.
- σοι (soi): "to you."
Matthew 18 29 Bonus section
The sum of 10,000 talents represents an unthinkably vast debt, impossible for a servant to repay. One talent was worth about 6,000 denarii (a denarius was a day's wage for a common laborer). Thus, 10,000 talents amounted to 60,000,000 denarii, or about 200,000 years' wages. This highlights the incomprehensible magnitude of humanity's sin-debt to God. In contrast, 100 denarii was a small, manageable sum, equivalent to roughly 100 days' wages. This deliberate numerical disparity by Jesus vividly illustrates the difference between our overwhelming debt to God, which only divine grace can absolve, and the comparatively minor offenses or debts we hold against one another, for which forgiveness is not just reasonable but imperative. The plea for "patience" rather than immediate forgiveness also highlights a subtle yet significant detail: the debtor acknowledges the debt and expresses willingness to pay, not seeking full cancellation, thus amplifying the cruelty of the first servant’s refusal.
Matthew 18 29 Commentary
Matthew 18:29 serves as the critical moment preceding the unforgiving servant's condemnation. The scene unfolds with profound dramatic irony: the plea of the second servant directly echoes the plea that the first servant made just moments before to the king. Both servants use the same desperate words, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all." This highlights not only the first servant's recent experience of abundant grace but also the direct ethical imperative placed upon him. The smaller debt (100 denarii) owed by the second servant was objectively repayable, unlike the astronomical 10,000 talents forgiven by the king, yet the first servant refuses to extend even the minimal courtesy he himself had just begged for. This underscores a central Christian teaching: the measure by which we have been forgiven by God should shape our willingness to forgive others. God's boundless mercy is not merely a privilege but also an expectation for our interactions within the community of believers and beyond.