Luke 16:1. And he said also unto his disciples,— The maliciousness of the Pharisees, and the obstinacy with which they opposed every thing that was good, led our Saviour to expose their evil hearts and vile practices to public view. Wherefore, he did not content himself barely with justifying his receiving sinners, in order to convert them; but, while the scribes and Pharisees were present, he turned to his disciples, and spake the parable of the crafty steward, whom he proposed as an example of the dextrous improvement which worldly men make of such opportunities and advantages as fall in their way for advancing their interest. By this parable Jesus designed to excite his disciples to improve in like manner the advantages which they might enjoy, for advancing their own spiritual welfare; and particularly, to spend both their time and their money in promoting the conversion of sinners; which, of all the offices in their power, was the most acceptable to God, and the most beneficial to mankind.

Luke 16:3. I cannot dig;— Commentators have shewn that the word σκαπτειν, which we render to dig, signifies in general to cultivate the land, and especially to prepare it for seed, which was one of the most laborious parts of the husbandman's work; in which day-labourers were employed; and consequently most fit to be mentioned by this steward, who, having been used to a delicate and luxurious way of living, would naturallythink of such a change of life inthe most discouraging view. The expression ουκ ισχυω, I am not able, or strong enough to do it, has also a peculiar beauty in this view, which is lost in our translation, and in most others.

Luke 16:4. I am resolved— Anciently, stewards, besides taking care of their master's domestic affairs, gave leases of their lands, and settled the rent which each tenant was to pay; which is not an unusual mode in these days. Accordingly, the steward in the parable made use of this branch of his power to purchase the good-will of his lord's tenants. Having racked their rents in the leases which he had lately given, he now determined that they should have their possessions on the same terms as formerly. This interpretation of the parable may be gathered, not only from the nature of the thing, but from the proper sense of the words χρεωφειλετης and γραμμα, the one signifying any kind of debtor, and among the rest a tenant; and the other, any kind of obligatory writing, and among the rest a lease: besides, in this light, the favour which was done to the tenants was substantial, and laid them under lasting obligations: whereas, according to the common interpretation, the steward could not propose to reap so much benefit from any requital which the debtors would make to him for the sums forgiven them, as these sums were worth to himself; and therefore he might rather have exacted them, and put them in his own pocket.

Luke 16:8. And the lord— αυτου, his lord, is implied; for it is Jesus, and not the evangelist, who speaks this, as is plain both from the structure of the parable itself, and from the application which Jesus makes of it inthe next verse. By mentioning the commendation which the rich man bestowed upon his steward, our Lord does not mean to approve of the man's knavery, which is sufficiently branded by the epithet of unjust here given him by Jesus himself; neither was it designed to give countenance to the fraud of any person on any account whatever; nor to the conduct of those who are liberal out of other persons' goods. The wisdom of the steward in making himself friends, is that alone which is commended by his lord, and proposed by Jesus as worthy the imitation of his disciples,—not the method by which he made them: or if that be commended, it is commended only as wise, in relation to the plan that he had laid down; there being nothing more common among men than to commend the ingenuity shewn in a fraud, while they condemn the fraud itself. Sir D. Dalrymple observes, that "these debtors seem to have been coloni partiarii, who paid a portion of the fruit of the ground to the master. By lessening the charge of this proportion of fruits, the debtors were relieved. Or we may suppose, that the steward discharged the tenants of one half of the rent without receiving payment, and of consequence charged himselfwithit.Beingbankrupthimself,hemightbeindifferentwhatchargewasagainst him; while, by discharging the tenants, he did a friendly office to them. There is no reason for supposing that the master discovered this fraud; because the phrase he acted wisely, or prudently, may signify 'because he accounted well;' or that the master commended his accounts, because he had acted cautiously, so as to conceal his frauds." Upon the whole, the calumnies which Julian and Porphyry have thrown out against our Lord on account of this parable, are altogether groundless; its true scope being to teach those who have their views extended to eternity, to be as active and prudent in their schemes for the life to come, as the children of this world are for the present; and particularly to do to others all the good offices founded on gospel principles in their power—a duty highly incumbent on those whose business it is to reclaim sinners, not only because sinners are in themselves fit objects of charity as well as saints, but because charitable offices done to them, may have a happy tendency to promote their conversion: but we are to do good especially to those who are of the household of faith:—that this was the lesson which Jesus intended to inculcate by the parable, is evident from his application of it.

Luke 16:9. And I say unto you, &c.— Our Lord's advice is worthy of the most serious attention; the best use that we can make of our riches being to employ them in promoting the salvation of others. For, if we use our abilities and interest in bringing sinners to God, if we spend our money in this excellent service, we shall conciliate the good-will of all heavenly beings, who greatly rejoice at the conversion of sinners, as was represented in the preceding parables; so that with open arms they will receive us into the mansions of felicity. And therefore while self-seekers shall have their possessions, and honours, and estates, torn from them with the utmost reluctancy at death, they who have devoted themselves, and all that they have, perseveringly to the service of God, shall find their consumed estates to be greatly increased, and their neglected honours abundantly repaired, in the love and friendship of the inhabitants of heaven, and in the happiness of the world to come; and shall rejoice in having disposed of their wealth to such an advantage. Dr. Heylin, instead of the mammon of unrighteousness, reads the false mammon; and so in Luke 16:11. And he observes, that it is literally mammon of injustice: so in the preceding verse, the steward of injustice; and in ch. Luke 18:6 judge of injustice; all which may be rightly rendered, the unjust, or false judge,—false steward, and false mammon; for truth and justice, with their derivatives, are often convertible terms in scripture, and sometimes in modern language. That our Lord does not mean unrighteous, or ill-gotten, but false and uncertain riches, is plain from Luk 16:11 where unrighteous mammon is not opposed to righteous but to true. Nothing can be more contrary to the whole genius of the Christian religion, than to imagine that our Lord would exhort men to lay out their ill-gotten goods in works of charity, when justice so evidently required that they should make restitution to the utmost of their abilities. When ye fail, means when ye die; and it is with apparent propriety that our Lord suggests the thought of death, as an antidote against covetousness. Strange it is that so many, on the very borders of the grave, should be so wretchedly enslaved to that unreasonable passion! Mr. Henry observes on the expression Make to yourselves friends, that parables must not be forced beyond their primary intention; and therefore we must not hence infer, that any one can befriend us, if we lie under the displeasure of our Lord: but that in the general, we must so lay out what we have in works of piety and charity, as that we may meet it again with comfort on the other side of the grave. Instead of that they may receive you, some read, that they may make you be received.

Luke 16:10. He that is faithful, &c.— "If you make that use of your riches which I have been recommending, (which of course implies living faith, the grand principle of all good works) you shall be received into those everlasting habitations, where all the friends of goodness dwell; because by your fidelity in managing the small trust of temporal advantages committed to your care, you shew that you are capable of the much greater trust of heavenly honours and employments.Whereas, if you do not use your riches or temporal advantages for the glory of God, and the good of mankind, you shall be banished for ever from the abodes of the blessed; because, by behaving unfaithfullyin the small trust committed to you, you render yourselves both unworthy and incapable of a share in the everlasting inheritance."

Luke 16:11. The true riches?— The word riches is substituted by our translators, instead of mammon, which was the word that Christ intended, and which, for that reason, should find its place in the translation of this verse. Dr. Heylin renders it, If you have not been faithful in the false mammon, who will trust you with the true? See on Matthew 6:24.

Luke 16:12. That which is another man's,— Here, as in many of our Lord's discourses, the expression is so simple, and the sense so profound, that we need not wonder at its being overlooked. Our translation has supplied the word man without reason; for it is not man, but God, who is intended; to whom the riches and other advantages in our possession do properly belong; who has committed them to us only as stewards, to be laid out for the good of his family, and who may every moment call us to give an account of our management. The words that which is your own, do not signify that which is already our own, but that which is to be so: that, which, when it is conferred upon us, shall be wholly in our power, and perpetually in our possession; shall be so fully our own, that weshall never be called to account for the management of it. Our Lord's meaning therefore is, "If you have dared to be unfaithful in that which was only a trust committed to you by God for a short time, and of which you knew you were to give him an account; it is evident, that you are not fit to be entrusted by him with the riches of heaven,—these being treasures, which, ifhe bestowed them on you, would be so fully your own, that you would have them perpetually in your possession, and never be called to an account for your management of them." This verse is well expressed, though not exactly rendered in the version of 1729; If you have embezzled what another gave you in trust, how can he give you an estate in perpetuity? Probably our Lord may allude to a custom of rewarding faithful stewards, by giving them some part of the estates which they had managed.

Luke 16:13. No servant can serve, &c.— "Beware of indulging even the least degree of covetousness, for it is absolutely inconsistent with piety; insomuch that a man may as well undertake at one and the same time to serve two masters of contrary dispositions and opposite interests, as pretend to please God, while he is anxiously pursuing the world for its own sake." In this manner did our Lord recommend the true use of riches, power, knowledge, and the other advantages of the present life, from the consideration that they are not our own, but God's; that they are only committed to us, as stewards, to be employed for the honour of God, and the good of mankind; that we are accountable to the proprietor for the use we make of them, who will reward or punish us accordingly; and that every degree of covetousness is such a serving of mammon, as is really idolatry, and altogether inconsistent with the duty that we owe to God.

Luke 16:14. And they derided him.— The original word is very emphatical; εξεμυκτηριζον : "They mocked him by a scornful motion of the mouth and nose,"—as well as by what they spake to him. The word might be rendered they sneered. There was a gravity and dignity in our Lord's discourse, which, insolent as they were, would not permit them to laugh out; but by some scornful air they hinted to each other their mutual contempt.

Luke 16:19. There was a certain rich man,— The reasoning made use of by our Lord in the preceding verses was clear and unanswerable; but the Pharisees, stupified with the intoxication of sensual pleasures, were deaf to every argument, how cogent soever, if it was levelled against their lusts. As an illustration therefore and confirmation of his assertion, and that he might rouse them out of their lethargy, he made the thunder of the divine judgments to sound in their ears, by this very strong and affecting parable of the rich man and the beggar; very similar whereto isa parable which the Jews have in their Gemara. The original, which we render fared sumptuously every day, is very expressive, "He delighted himself, and cheered his heart with sumptuoussplendour and luxury every day." It is remarked by Archbishop Tillotson on this parable, that our Saviour calls the poor man by his proper name, but only speaks of the rich man under a general appellation:—"I cannot but take notice," says he, "of the decorum which our Saviour uses. He would not name any rich man, because that was invidious: he endeavours to make all men sensible of their duty, but he would provoke none by any peevish reflection: for nothing is more improper than to provoke those whom we intend to persuade. While a man's reason is calm and undisturbed, it is capable of truth fairly propounded; but if once we stir up men's passions, it is like muddying of the water;—they can discern nothing clearly afterwards."

Luke 16:22. Carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom:— The Jews assigned this office to angels, and no doubt with the utmost propriety; considering how suitable it is to their benevolent nature, and to the circumstances of a departed spirit. The Greeks assigned guides to the souls of the dead, to conduct them to their respective seats. The expression Abraham's bosom alludes to the way of representing the entertainments of heaven, by sharing a magnificent banquet with Abraham and the other patriarchs. Compare ch. Luk 22:30 and Matthew 8:11. Nothing can better describe the honour and happiness of Lazarus, who had been in so wretched a condition before at the rich man's gate, than telling us that he was placed next to Abraham the friend of God, and so lay in his bosom. See John 13:23.

Luke 16:23. In hell, &c.— In the unseen world, as we have frequently observed is the meaning of the Greek word αδης . Both the rich man and Lazarus were in hades, though in different regions of it.

Luke 16:24. Dip the tip of his finger, &c.— The Hebrews drank their wine mixed with water; and large quantities of water, on one occasion or other, were used at their feasts. See John 2:6. There seems therefore, in this petition, a proper allusion to that custom. It is observable, that the rich man speaks as knowing Lazarus, and as supposing, Luk 16:28 that his brethren also might know him, on his appearing to them.—And shall not Abraham's children, when they are in paradise, know each other?

Luke 16:25. Son, remember that thou, &c.— Is it not worthy of observation, that Abraham will not revile even a damned soul?—shall then living men revile one another?—He tells the rich man, that in his life-time he received his good things, &c. Now, fully to understand this, we should consider that our Saviour's principal view in this discourse evidently was, to warn men of the danger of that worldly-mindedness, neglect of religion, and intenseness upon pleasure and profit, which is not so much any one vice, as it is the foundation of all vices. It is that which makes men regardless of futurity, and not to have God in their thoughts. It is that deceitfulness of riches, ambition, and voluptuousness, and that care of things temporal, which stifle all notions of religion, choke the word, and render it unfruitful. It is that temper which exposes a man to every temptation, and makes him ready to sacrifice theinterests of truth, holiness, and virtue, whenever they come in competition with the good things of this life, on which his heart is entirely set. But see this matter fully set forth in the Inferences at the end of the notes on chap. 12: