SEV Biblia, Chapter 16:8
Y alab el seor al mayordomo malo por haber hecho discretamente; porque los hijos de este siglo son en su generacin ms prudentes que los hijos de luz.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Luke 16:8
Verse 8. The lord commended] Viz. the master of this unjust steward. He spoke highly of the address and cunning of his iniquitous servant. He had, on his own principles, made a very prudent provision for his support; but his master no more approved of his conduct in this, than he did in his wasting his substance before. From the ambiguous and improper manner in which this is expressed in the common English translation, it has been supposed that our blessed Lord commended the conduct of this wicked man: but the word kuriov, there translated lord, simply means the master of the unjust steward.
The children of this world] Such as mind worldly things only, without regarding God or their souls. A phrase by which the Jews always designate the Gentiles.
Children of light.] Such as are illuminated by the Spirit of God, and regard worldly things only as far as they may subserve the great purposes of their salvation, and become the instruments of good to others. But ordinarily the former evidence more carefulness and prudence, in providing for the support and comfort of this life, than the latter do in providing for another world.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 8. And the Lord commended the unjust steward , etc.] Not the Lord Jesus Christ, who delivered this parable, as the Syriac version seems to suggest, rendering it, our Lord; but the Lord of the steward, or God, as the Ethiopic version reads: not that he commended him for the fact he did, or the injustice of it for this is contrary to his nature and perfections; but for his craft and cunning in providing himself a maintenance for time to come: for he is on that account branded as an unjust steward, as he was, in wasting his Lord's goods; putting false glosses on the Scriptures; doing damage both to the souls and worldly estates of men: and in neglecting and despising lawful and honest ways of living, by digging or begging, asking favours at the hand of God, and doing good works; and in falsifying accounts; breaking the least of the commandments, and teaching men so to do; and in corrupting others, making proselytes twofold more the children of hell than himself; and in being liberal with another's property, to wrong objects, and for a wrong end. It was not therefore because he had done justly to his Lord, or right to others, that he is commended; but became he had done wisely for himself: the wit, and not the goodness of the man is commended; which, in the language and sense of the Jews, may be thus expressed f471 : because a man, wmx[l hbwj hw[ , does good for himself with mammon which is not his own. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light : by the children of this world may be meant the Israelites, who belonged to the Jewish nation and church, called the world, and this world, ( 1 Corinthians 10:11 2:6,8) especially the princes of it, the ecclesiastical doctors and rulers: and who also were the men of this present world; in general they were such who were, as they were born into the world; in their sins, in the pollution, and under the guilt of them; were carnal, in the flesh, or unregenerate, and in darkness and blindness: they were such as were not only in the world, but of it; they belonged to it, having never been called out of it; and were under the influence of the God of it; and were taken with the things of it, its riches, honours, and pleasures; and had their portion in it, and were of worldly spirits; all which agrees with the Scribes and Pharisees; (see Psalm 17:14) and Aben Ezra on it, who has the very phrase here used: aml[d synya , a man of the world, is sometimes distinguished from a scholar, or a wise man; but aml[ ynb , the children of the world, as they frequently intend the inhabitants of the world f473 , are sometimes distinguished from ytad aml[ b , a son of the world to come f474 ; and from the children of faith f475 , the same as the children of light here; by whom are meant the children of the Gospel dispensation; or persons enlightened by the Spirit and grace of God, to see the sinfulness of sin, and their wretched state my nature; the insufficiency of their own righteousness to justify them before God; the way of life, righteousness, and salvation by Christ; who see that the several parts of salvation, and the whole, are of grace; have some light into the Scriptures of truth, and doctrines of the Gospel; and some glimpse of heaven, and the unseen glories of another world, though attended with much darkness in the present state: and who shall enjoy the light of glory. Now, the men of the world, or carnal men, are, generally speaking, wiser than these; not in things spiritual, but in things natural, in the affairs of life, in worldly matters. The phrase seems to answer to twdlwt , generations used in ( Genesis 6:9 37:2) these are the generations of Noah, etc. and the generations of Jacob; by which are meant, not the genealogies of them, but their affairs; what befell them in life: as so the Jewish writers explain the phrase by twrwqh , the things which happened unto them in this world, in the course of their pilgrimage: or they are wise, eiv thn genean thn eautwn , for their own generation: for the temporal good of their posterity, than saints are for the spiritual good of theirs: or they are wiser for the time that is to come in this life, than good men are concerning themselves for the time to come in the other world: or they are wiser, and more prudent in disposing of their worldly substance for their own secular good, and that of their offspring, than men of spiritual light and knowledge are, in disposing of their worldly substance for the glory of God, the interest of Christ, the honour of religion, their own spiritual good, and that of their posterity.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-12 - Whatever we have, the property of it is God's; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour This steward wasted his lord's goods. And we are all liable to the sam charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted u with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and by gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the opportunities we now have. The steward will make friends of his lord' debtors or tenants, by striking off a considerable part of their deb to his lord. The lord referred to in this parable commended not the fraud, but the policy of the steward. In that respect alone is it s noticed. Worldly men, in the choice of their object, are foolish; but in their activity, and perseverance, they are often wiser tha believers. The unjust steward is not set before us as an example i cheating his master, or to justify any dishonesty, but to point out the careful ways of worldly men. It would be well if the children of ligh would learn wisdom from the men of the world, and would as earnestl pursue their better object. The true riches signify spiritual blessings; and if a man spends upon himself, or hoards up what God ha trusted to him, as to outward things, what evidence can he have, tha he is an heir of God through Christ? The riches of this world ar deceitful and uncertain. Let us be convinced that those are truly rich and very rich, who are rich in faith, and rich toward God, rich in Christ, in the promises; let us then lay up our treasure in heaven, an expect our portion from thence.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ επηνεσεν 1867 5656 V-AAI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM κυριος 2962 N-NSM τον 3588 T-ASM οικονομον 3623 N-ASM της 3588 T-GSF αδικιας 93 N-GSF οτι 3754 CONJ φρονιμως 5430 ADV εποιησεν 4160 5656 V-AAI-3S οτι 3754 CONJ οι 3588 T-NPM υιοι 5207 N-NPM του 3588 T-GSM αιωνος 165 N-GSM τουτου 5127 D-GSM φρονιμωτεροι 5429 A-NPM-C υπερ 5228 PREP τους 3588 T-APM υιους 5207 N-APM του 3588 T-GSN φωτος 5457 N-GSN εις 1519 PREP την 3588 T-ASF γενεαν 1074 N-ASF {VAR1: την 3588 T-ASF } εαυτων 1438 F-3GPM εισιν 1526 5748 V-PXI-3P
Robertson's NT Word Studies
16:8 {His lord commended} (epeinesen ho kurios). The steward's lord praised him though he himself had been wronged again (see verse #1 "wasting his goods"). {The unrighteous steward} (ton oikonomon tes adikias). Literally, the steward of unrighteousness. The genitive is the case of genus, species, the steward distinguished by unrighteousness as his characteristic. See "the mammon of unrighteousness" in verse #9. See "the forgetful hearer" in #Jas 1:25. It is a vernacular idiom common to Hebrew, Aramaic, and the _Koin_. {Wisely} (fronimws). An old adverb, though here alone in the N.T. But the adjective fronimos from which it comes occurs a dozen times as in #Mt 10:16. It is from fronew and that from fren, the mind (#1Co 14:20), the discerning intellect. Perhaps "shrewdly" or "discreetly" is better here than "wisely." The lord does not absolve the steward from guilt and he was apparently dismissed from his service. His shrewdness consisted in finding a place to go by his shrewdness. He remained the steward of unrighteousness even though his shrewdness was commended. {For} (hoti). Probably by this second hoti Jesus means to say that he cites this example of shrewdness because it illustrates the point. " this is the moral of the whole parable. Men of the world in their dealings with men like themselves are more prudent than the children of light in their intercourse with one another" (Plummer). We all know how stupid Christians can be in their co-operative work in the kingdom of God, to go no further. {Wiser than} (fronimwteroi huper). Shrewder beyond, a common Greek idiom.
