16:6a

A hundred measures of olive oil: This phrase is an ellipsis. The full form is:

I owe him a hundred measures of olive oil

Many languages use similar types of ellipsis in normal conversation. If it is not natural in your language in this context, you may supply the full form.

The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as A hundred measures is “one hundred baths.” A “bath” was a liquid measure of between eight and ten gallons, or thirty to forty liters. Scholars are uncertain of the exact quantity. Some ways to translate this quantity are:

• Use a standard liquid measure. For example:

Nine hundred gallons (New International Version)

For areas that use liters instead of gallons you may say:

3,700 liters (Translator’s Reference Translation)

• Use a commonly known local container or unit of measure for cooking oil. For example:

One hundred barrels (Good News Translation)
-or-
A hundred jars (Revised English Bible)
-or-
one hundred cans/measures

You may adjust the number of containers so that the total contents are approximately equal to 100 Greek “baths.” But the exact quantity is not in focus in this passage. Consider whether it will be important in your language area to use the same number as a national or trade language translation.

olive oil: Fruit from the olive tree is used to make olive oil. If in your culture olive oil is unknown, you could translate this with a general word that refers to cooking oil.

he answered: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the words he answered at the end of the quotation. You should place them where it is natural in your language.

16:6b

Take your bill: The manager had the bill that showed how much the man owed. He now handed this written agreement to the man. The manager could not change the bill himself, because it was handwritten by the borrower. Any change would need to be made in the borrower’s handwriting. Other ways to translate this clause are:

Here is your account (Good News Translation)
-or-
Here, take your original contract

16:6c

Sit down quickly, and write fifty: In this clause the Greek word that means quickly may describe both the verbs Sit down and write or one of these actions. The manager wanted the debtor to act quickly. The manager probably wanted to make changes to the bills before the master could stop him. Express this desire for haste in a natural way in your language. For example:

Quick! Sit down, and write “four hundred!” (God’s Word)

The text does not say that the debtor did as the manager told him to. However, this information is implied. In some languages it may be necessary to make it explicit:

Quickly sit down and write four hundred. ⌊The man did this.⌋

Sit down: The manager told the debtor to Sit down in order to be able to quickly and easily write down the new figures.

write fifty: There are two ways to interpret the command that the Berean Standard Bible translates as write fifty:

(1) It means to write a new bill for half the amount. For example:

Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty. (New American Bible)

(2) It means to change the figures on the old bill to half the amount. For example:

Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. (New Living Translation (2004))

Most English versions are ambiguous. If possible, translate this command so that it could have either meaning. If that is not possible, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with several scholars who comment on this issue.

fifty: The suggested figure of fifty measures was half of the total amount. So whatever expression you used in 16:6a, you should divide it in half in 16:6c. For example, if you translated “one hundred barrels” in 16:6a, you should translate “fifty barrels” in 16:6c.

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