Luke 16:13 NLT,NIV,ESV

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Luke 16:13

(13) No servant can serve two masters.—See Notes on Matthew 6:24. Here it obviously comes in close connection with the previous teaching. But its occurrence, in an equally close sequence, in the Sermon on the Mount, shows that it took its place among the axioms of the religious life which our Lord, if we may so speak, loved to reproduce as occasion called for them. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Luke 16:1-31

The Unjust Steward Luke 16:2 We call this parable the Parable of the Unjust Steward i.e. a fraudulent, dishonest steward and such undoubtedly he did become; but not deliberately dishonest up to the time when his lord called him suddenly to account. He was accused to his lord that he had wasted his goods; not a purposed and continued fraud, but a long-continued faithlessness to his trust. He had forgotten that he was the trustee for his lord's possessions, and he had lived on neglecting plain... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Luke 16:1-31

CHAPTER 16 1. The Unjust Steward. (Luke 16:1-12 ) 2. The Impossible Service. (Luke 16:13 ) 3. The Deriding Pharisees Answered. (Luke 16:14-17 ) 4. Concerning Divorce. (Luke 16:18 ) 5. The Rich Man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31 .) Luke 16:1-12 Let us notice that this story was spoken to the disciples. It contains a number of difficulties. It has well been said “there are knots in it which perhaps will never be untied, until the Lord comes again. We might reasonably expect that a book... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Luke 16:13

16:13 {3} No servant 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.(3) No man can love God and riches simultaneously. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 16:1-31

A PARABLE AS TO THE USE OF THE MASTER'S GOODS (vs.1-13) Now the Lord turned to address His disciples. For though it is pure grace that saves and finds deep delight in the repentance of a sinner, yet God's wise government is not ignored in the case of one wasting His goods, as the prodigal had done. The steward (one employed to care for his master's goods) in this chapter had proven unfaithful. The goods (the unrighteous mammon -- v.11) are earthly possessions entrusted to the hands of the... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Luke 16:1-31

USE OF OPPORTUNITY In the last lesson thought was turned towards the heavenly calling of the disciples, of which earthly wealth is not necessarily a part. To the Jews, this was a great change, which we who, unlike them, never had a country on earth allocated to us, cannot well understand. For this reason our Lord now changes the character of His instruction, and shows in the parable of the unjust steward the results of the right use of opportunity, and in the story of the rich man and... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Luke 16:1-13

(1) And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. (2) And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. (3) Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed. (4) I am resolved what to do, that, when I am... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Luke 16:13

No servant can serve two masters, &c. This is added to shew us, that to dispose of our riches according to the will of the Almighty, it is necessary to keep our minds free from all attachment to them. (Theophylactus) --- Let the avaricious man here learn, that to be a lover of riches, is to be an enemy of Christ. (Ven. Bede) read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Luke 16:13-18

13-18 To this parable our Lord added a solemn warning. Ye cannot serve God and the world, so divided are the two interests. When our Lord spoke thus, the covetous Pharisees treated his instructions with contempt. But he warned them, that what they contended for as the law, was a wresting of its meaning: this our Lord showed in a case respecting divorce. There are many covetous sticklers for the forms of godliness, who are the bitterest enemies to its power, and try to set others against the... read more

Frank Binford Hole

F. B. Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary - Luke 16:1-99

Luke 16 THESE PARABLES WERE spoken to the Pharisees but the one that opens this chapter was spoken to the disciples. They were instructed by it as to the position in which men find themselves before God, and the behaviour that befits them in that position. We are stewards, and have been unfaithful in our stewardship. The steward was accused to his master that he had “wasted his goods.” This phrase gives us a link with the previous parable, for the younger son had “wasted his substance with... read more