|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: An economic parrable
|
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gramps49:
Makes servant's phrase "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything" laughable.
Which is entirely the point, surely? The debt we owe God is vastly beyond our ability to pay, and the generosity shown by God in writing that off unimaginable.
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
|
Posted
It's certainly a huge sum. Ulrich Luz suggests that the first doulos who owes such a huge sum might be a high ranking government official, maybe a chief tax collector, and cites linguistic evidence that this isn't inconsistent with him being called a doulos. He cites the following examples of comparable sums:
- 16,000 talents was offered by the Tobiad Joseph for the privilege of taxing Coele Syria and Phoenicia;
- the annual tax income of Herod Antipas was 600 talents (both according to Josephus);
- according to Plutarch, Cleopatra gave 20,000 talents to Antony;
- The covenanters at Qumran claimed to have over 6,000 talents hidden in Jerusalem.
The usual price for a slave was 500-2000 denarii, so the king's threat to sell him into slavery seems more punitive than an attempt to get back the debt.
Parables are meant to have something of the bizarre in them, but this one isn't out of the realm of economic-political machinations.
--------------------
Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view
