Matthew 18:34

Matthew 18:34. To the tormentors. Not simply ‘jailers' but those who (among the ancient Romans) sought by legal tortures to find out whether the debtor had any concealed hoard. It adds the thought of actual punishment.

Till he should pay. This condition ‘is the strongest possible way of expressing the eternal duration of his punishment' (Trench). The debt incurred by sin cannot decrease, but increases even in a state of punishment; the original debt, according to the parable, is so great that no human being can discharge it. The passage opposes both the doctrine of purgatory and that of the final restoration of unbelievers.