7:41

Two men were debtors: Jews living in the first century C.E. were familiar with the relationship between creditors and debtors, and Jesus at times drew on this knowledge for his illustrations. (Mt 18:23-35; Lu 16:1-8) Only Luke records this illustration of the two debtors, one of whom owed ten times as much as the other. Jesus gave the illustration because of the attitude that his host, Simon, had toward the woman who came in and poured perfumed oil on Jesus’ feet. (Lu 7:36-40) Jesus likens sin to a debt too big to be repaid and highlights the principle: “The one who is forgiven little, loves little.”​—Lu 7:47; see study notes on Mt 6:12; 18:27; Lu 11:4.

denarii: A denarius was a Roman silver coin that weighed about 3.85 g (0.124 oz t) and bore an image of Caesar on one side. As Mt 20:2 shows, agricultural laborers in Jesus’ day commonly received a denarius for a 12-hour workday.​—See Glossary, “Denarius,” and App. B14.