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Selected Verse: Luke 16:9 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Lu 16:9 |
King James |
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Make . . . friends of--Turn to your advantage; that is, as the steward did, "by showing mercy to the poor" (Dan 4:27; compare Luk 12:33; Luk 14:13-14).
mammon of unrighteousness--treacherous, precarious. (See on Mat 6:24).
ye fail--in respect of life.
they may receive you--not generally, "ye may be received" (as Luk 6:38, "shall men give"), but "those ye have relieved may rise up as witnesses for you" at the great day. Then, like the steward, when turned out of one home shall ye secure another; but better than he, a heavenly for an earthly, an everlasting for a temporary habitation. Money is not here made the key to heaven, more than "the deeds done in the body" in general, according to which, as a test of character--but not by the merit of which--men are to be judged (Co2 5:10, and see Mat 25:34-40). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
I say unto you - I, Jesus, say to you, my disciples.
Make to yourselves friends - Some have understood the word "friends," here, as referring to the poor; others, to holy angels; and others, to God. Perhaps, however, the word should not be considered as referring to any particular "persons," but is used in accordance with the preceding parable; for in the application our Saviour uses the "language" appropriated to the conduct of the steward to express the "general" truth that we are to make a proper use of riches. The steward had so managed his pecuniary affairs as to secure future comfort for himself, or so as to find friends that would take care of him "beyond" the time when he was put out of the office. That is, he would not be destitute, or cast off, or without comfort, when he was removed from his office. So, says our Saviour to the publicans and those who had property, so use your property as "to secure" happiness and comfort beyond the time when you shall be removed from the present life. "Have reference," in the use of your money, to the future.
Do not use it so that it shall not avail you anything hereafter; but so employ it that, as the steward found friends, comfort, and a home by "his" wisdom in the use of it, so "you" may, after you are removed to another world, find friends, comfort, and a home - that is, may be happy in heaven. Jesus, here, does not say that we should do it "in the same way" that the steward did, for that was unjust; but only that we should "secure the result." This may be done by using our riches as we "should do;" that is, by not suffering them to entangle us in cares and perplexities dangerous to the soul, engrossing the time, and stealing away the affections; by employing them in works of mercy and benevolence, aiding the poor, contributing to the advance of the gospel, bestowing them where they will do good, and in such a manner that God will "approve" the deed, and will bless us for it. Commonly riches are a "hindrance" to piety. To many they are snares; and, instead of positively "benefiting" the possessor, they are an injury, as they engross the time and the affections, and do not contribute at all to the eternal welfare of the soul. Everything may, by a proper use, be made to contribute to our welfare in heaven. Health, wealth, talents, and influence may be so employed; and this is what our Saviour doubtless means here.
Of the mammon - "By means" of the mammon.
Mammon - A Syriac word meaning riches. It is used, also, as an idol the god of riches.
Of unrighteousness - These words are an Hebrew expression for "unrighteous mammon," the noun being used for an adjective, as is common in the New Testament. The word "unrighteous," here, stands opposed to "the true riches" in Luk 16:11, and means "deceitful, false, not to be trusted." It has this meaning often. See Ti1 6:17; Luk 12:33; Mat 6:19; Mat 19:21. It does not signify, therefore, that they had acquired the property "unjustly," but that property was "deceitful" and not to be trusted. The wealth of the steward was deceitful; he could not rely on its continuance; it was liable to be taken away at any moment. So the wealth of the world is deceitful. We cannot "calculate" on its continuance. It may give us support or comfort now, but it may be soon removed, or we taken from "it," and we should, therefore, so use it as to derive benefit from it hereafter.
When ye fail - When ye "are left," or when ye "die." The expression is derived from the parable as referring to the "discharge" of the steward; but it refers to "death," as if God then "discharged" his people, or took them from their stewardship and called them to account.
They may receive you - This is a form of expression denoting merely "that you may be received." The plural form is used because it was used in the corresponding place in the parable, Luk 16:4. The direction is, so to use our worldly goods that "we may be received" into heaven when we die. "God" will receive us there, and we are to employ our property so that he will not cast us off for abusing it.
Everlasting habitations - Heaven, the eternal "home" of the righteous, where all our wants will be supplied, and where there can be no more anxiety, and no more removal from enjoyments, Co2 5:1. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Make to yourselves friends
Compare Virgil, "Aeneid," vi., 664:. Among the tenants of Elysium he sees "those who, by good desert, made others mindful of them."
Of the mammon of unrighteousness (ἐκ τοῦ μαμωνᾶ τῆς ἀδικίας)
The same idiom as in Luk 16:8, steward of injustice. Compare unrighteous mammon, Luk 16:11. Mammon should be spelt with one m. It is a Chaldee word, meaning riches. It occurs only in this chapter and at Mat 6:24. "Of the mammon" is, literally, by means of. In the phrase of unrighteousness, there is implied no condemnation of property as such; but it is styled unrighteous, or belonging to unrighteousness, because it is the characteristic and representative object and delight and desire of the selfish and unrighteous world: their love of it being a root of all evil (Ti1 6:10). Wyc., the riches of wickedness.
Ye fail (ἐκλίπητε)
But all the best texts read ἐκλίπῃ, "when it (the mammon) fails."
They may receive
The friends.
Habitations (σκηνάς)
Lit., tents or tabernacles. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| And I say to you - Be good stewards even of the lowest talents wherewith God hath intrusted you. Mammon means riches or money. It is termed the mammon of unrighteousness, because of the manner wherein it is commonly either procured or employed. Make yourselves friends of this, by doing all possible good, particularly to the children of God: that when ye fail, when your flesh and your heart faileth, when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, those of them who have gone before may receive, may welcome you into the everlasting habitations. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
The mammon of unrighteousness - Μαμωνα της αδικιας - literally, the mammon, or riches, of injustice. Riches promise Much, and perform Nothing: they excite hope and confidence, and deceive both: in making a man depend on them for happiness, they rob him of the salvation of God and of eternal glory. For these reasons, they are represented as unjust and deceitful. See the note on Mat 6:24, where this is more particularly explained. It is evident that this must be the meaning of the words, because the false or deceitful riches, here, are put in opposition to the true riches, Luk 16:11; i.e. those Divine graces and blessings which promise all good, and give what they promise; never deceiving the expectation of any man. To insinuate that, if a man have acquired riches by unjust means, he is to sanctify them, and provide himself a passport to the kingdom of God, by giving them to the poor, is a most horrid and blasphemous perversion of our Lord's words. Ill gotten gain must be restored to the proper owners: if they are dead, then to their successors.
When ye fail - That is, when ye die. The Septuagint use the word εκλειπειν in this very sense, Jer 42:17, Jer 42:22. See the note on Gen 25:8. So does Josephus, War, chap. iv. 1, 9.
They may receive you - That is, say some, the angels. Others, the poor whom ye have relieved will welcome you into glory. It does not appear that the poor are meant:
1. Because those who have relieved them may die a long time before them; and therefore they could not be in heaven to receive them on their arrival.
2. Many poor persons may be relieved, who will live and die in their sins, and consequently never enter into heaven themselves.
The expression seems to be a mere Hebraism: - they may receive you, for ye shall be received; i.e. God shall admit you, if you make a faithful use of his gifts and graces. He who does not make a faithful use of what he has received from his Maker has no reason to hope for eternal felicity. See Mat 25:33; and, for similar Hebraisms, consult in the original, Luk 6:38; Luk 12:20; Rev 12:6; Rev 16:15. |
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.
17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.