Matthew 18:24

“And when he had begun to reckon, etc.] To open the book of conscience, and to bring to account by some awakening providence, and strong conviction: one was brought unto him; whether he would or no, through the force of an awakened conscience, under guilt and terror; which owed him ten thousand talents; which must be understood, either of gold, or silver: a talent of silver contained 3,000 shekels, as appears from (<023825>Exodus 38:25,26), and was in value of our money 375l. but a talent of gold was equal to 4,500l. of our f1017 money. According to Dr. Prideaux f1018 , a talent of silver was 450l. and a talent of gold, the proportion of gold to silver being reckoned as sixteen to one, was…”

“And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents--If Attic talents are here meant, 10,000 of them would amount to above a million and a half sterling; if Jewish talents, to a much larger sum.”

“Ten thousand talents - A talent was a sum of money, or weight of silver or gold amounting to three thousand shekels. A silver shekel was worth, after the captivity, not far from half a dollar of our money. A talent of silver was worth (circa 1880’s) 1,519.23 =342 British pounds, 3 shillings, 9d.; of gold, 243,098.88 =5,475 British pounds. If these were silver talents, as is probable, then the sum owed by the servant was 15,180,000, or about 3,421, 875 British sterling (circa 1880’s), a sum which proves that he was not a domestic, but some tributary prince. The sum is used to show that the debt was immensely large, and that our sins are so great that they cannot be estimated or numbered.…”

“One was brought who owed him ten thousand talents - According to the usual computation, if these were talents of gold, this would amount to seventy - two millions sterling. If they were talents of silver, it must have been four millions, four hundred thousand pounds. Hereby our Lord intimates the vast number and weight of our offences against God, and our utter incapacity of making him any satisfaction. Matthew 18:25”

“18:24 millions of dollars (Greek 10,000 talents): The talent was the highest unit of currency, but its value fluctuated. The debt was clearly impossible to pay—this amount exceeded the tax revenue of all Galilee.”

“owed: Luk 7:41, Luk 7:42, Luk 13:4 \*marg. Luk 16:5, Luk 16:7 ten thousand: Μυριων \[Strong's G3461\], ταλαντων \[Strong's G5007\], a myriad of talents, the highest number known in Greek arithmetical notation. According to Prideaux, the Roman talent was equal to 216; ten thousand of which would amount to 2,160,000. If the Jewish talent of silver be designed, which is estimated by the same learned writer at 450, this sum amounts to 4,500,000; but if the gold talent is meant, which is equal to 7,200, then the amount is 72,000,000. This immense sum represents our boundless obligations to God, and our utter incapacity, as sinners infinitely indebted to Divine justice, of paying one mite out of…”