Matthew 18:34

And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. AND HIS LORD WAS WROTH, AND DELIVERED HIM TO THE TORMENTORS, [ basanistais (G930)] - more than jailers; denoting the severity of the treatment which he thought such a case demanded. TILL HE SHOULD PAY ALL THAT WAS DUE UNTO HIM....

34._Delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that he owed. _The Papists are very ridiculous in endeavoring to light the fire of purgatory by the word _till_; for it is certain that Christ here points out not temporal death, by which the judgment of God may be satisfied, but eternal death....

21-35 Though we live wholly on mercy and forgiveness, we are backward to forgive the offences of our brethren. This parable shows how much provocation God has from his family on earth, and how untoward his servants are. There are three things in the parable: 1. The master's wonderful clemency. The debt of sin is so great, that we are not able to pay it. See here what every sin deserves; this is the wages of sin, to be sold as a slave. It is the folly of many who are under strong convictions of their sins, to fancy they can make God satisfaction for the wrong they have done him. 2. The servant's unreasonable severity toward his fellow-servant, notwithstanding his lord's clemency toward him. Not that we may make light of wronging our neighbour, for that is also a sin against God; but we should not aggravate our neighbour's wronging us, nor study revenge. Let our complaints, both of the wi...

Verse Matthew 18:34. _DELIVERED HIM TO THE TORMENTORS_] Not only continued captivity is here intended, but the tortures to be endured in it. If a person was suspected of fraud, as there was reason for in such a case as that mentioned here, he was put to very cruel tortures among the Asiatics, to induce him to confess. In the punishments of China, a great variety of these appear; and probably there is an allusion to such torments in this place. Before, he and all that he had, were only to be _sold_. Now, as he has increased his debt, so he has increased his punishment; he is delivered to the tormentors, to the horrors of a guilty conscience, and to a fearful looking for of fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. But if this refers to the day of judgment, then the _worm that dieth not_, and the _fire that is_ _not quenched_, are the tormentors...

DELIVERED HIM TO THE TORMENTORS - The word “tormentors” here probably means keepers of the prisons. Torments were inflicted on criminals, not on debtors. They were inflicted by stretching the limbs, or pinching the flesh, or putting out the eyes, or taking off the skin while alive, etc. It is not probable that anything of this kind is intended, but only that the servant was punished by imprisonment until the debt should be paid....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 18:1 _Discourse concerning the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and the mutual duties of Christians_._ _(Mark 9:33; Luke 9:46-42.) MATTHEW 18:1 _The greatest in the kingdom of heaven_. MATTHEW 18:1 AT THE SAME TIME; literally, _in that hour_._ _The narrator connects the following important discourse with the circumstances just previously related. Peter had completed the b

AND HIS LORD WAS WROTH,.... Very angry, greatly incensed, and justly provoked at such inhuman treatment: AND DELIVERED HIM TO THE TORMENTORS, or jail keepers. The Ethiopic version renders it, "to them that judge", or the judges; Munster's Hebrew Gospel, "to the punishers", or such that inflicted punishment according to the decree of the judge: from both, the sense may be, that he was delivered over to proper judges of his case, to be treated as the nature of it required, to be cast into prison, and there endure all the severities of law and justice: TILL HE SHOULD PAY ALL THAT WAS DUE UNTO HIM; which being so vast a sum, and he but a servant, could never be done: but inasmuch as this man was fully and freely pardoned before, how comes it to pass, that full payment of debt is yet insisted on? It is certain, that sin, once pardoned by God, he never punishes for it; for pardon with him is...

TORMENTORS The ground of law, of exact justice. Compare grace, (Romans 3:23); (Romans 3:24); (Ephesians 4:30); (John 1:17). (_ See Scofield) - (John 1:17). _...

6. INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS DISCIPLES. CONCERNING FORGIVENESS. CHAPTER 18 _ 1. Concerning the Little Ones and Offences. (Matthew 18:1 .) 2. The Son of Man to Save What is Lost. (Matthew 18:11 .) 3. The Church Anticipated and Instructions Concerning it. (Matthew 18:15 .) 4. Concerning Forgiveness. (Matthew 18:21 .)_ So closely is this chapter connected with the events of the previous one that it should not be divided into a separate chapter at all. It was “in that hour” the disciples came to Him with their question. When the Lord had just uttered the great truth “the sons are free” and added His gracious

THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS ILLUSTRATED BY THE PARABLE OF THE UNGRATEFUL SERVANT. With Matthew 18:21 _ cf._ Luke 17:4, which makes repentance a condition. The Rabbis taught (_Yoma,_ 86_ b)_ that one must forgive one's brother (OT neighbour) three times (_cf._ Amos 1:3; Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9). According to Jesus, men's forgive ness should be limitless, like that of His Father in heaven. The natural man longs for limitless revenge (Genesis 4:24), the spiritual man's ambition is to exercis