Voluntary Debt Remission and the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1—13)

An Understanding of the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16: 1-13)

“…The second is called obligatory remission, which was granted to farmers who had suffered natural loss of crops (may be due to famine or bad weather). The third, which is similar to the situation described in this parable, is called voluntary rent remission, wherein the landlord would on his own volition grant rent reductions [4].…”

“…I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes. ' From this monologue, two things are immediately clear: one, the steward has no reserve whatsoever and two, he arrived at a plan.…”

“…Commenting on debt reduction, Goodrich says: …during the early empire partial rent reduction for large-scale landowners in both the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean (Italy and Egypt) proved to be not only a sensible course of action to secure consistent and long-term profitability, but also a prudent strategy for obtaining debt payment [4].…”

“…In addition to benefitting the steward and the debtors, the policy also proved advantageous for the master, for it would have created greater dependency between the landlord and his clients as well as stimulated those debtors to repay the remainder of their arrears -and without having either to confiscate pledges or to expel the debtors from his property. The scheme, then, was both honest and prudent, being deserving of both praise from the master and hospitality from the tenants [4].…”

“…But, despite these general agreements, the climax of the story remains highly contested among interpreters…. [4].…”