But the proprietor was still in a great measure
at the mercy of this unfaithful servant; the accounts were all in his
hand, and the owner could not instantly resume the power which he had
delegated. The agent accordingly was ordered to prepare and submit a
balance-sheet, on which his successor might proceed to administer the
estate.

There was not much time for deliberation: the decree of dismissal had
already passed, and as soon as the state of accounts could be made up,
this once comfortable and important personage must be cast penniless
upon the world. Now or never, he must do something for himself. With
habits, both mental and physical, cast in another mould, he cannot win
his bread as a labourer; and his pride revolted against the prospect of
becoming a beggar on the spot where he had long been owned as master by
the multitude. His resolution is quickly formed, and as quickly carried
into effect. He will employ his present opportunity, so as to provide a
refuge for himself in his future need: he will so deal with the money
while it is still in his hand, as that he shall not be left destitute
when he is driven from his place.

In prosecution of his purpose, the steward summoned his master's debtors
one by one into his presence. He held their acknowledgments for goods
received, or their signatures for the amount of rent which they had
agreed to pay for their lands. Having in his hands the documents which
bound the debtors, he might have read off from these the amount due by
each; but it suited his purpose better to ask the obligants what sums
they owed, and to proceed wholly upon their voluntary acknowledgments.
The first owed a hundred measures of oil, the second a hundred measures
of wheat. What these quantities may have been in relation to our
standards is a question which possesses only a critical and antiquarian
interest: it has no bearing on the interpretation of the parable, and
therefore we pass it without further notice. The absolute amount of the
debt has no influence on the meaning of the parable; the point which is
really important is the proportion between the amount owned by the
debtors and the amount exacted by the steward. Olive oil and wheat were
two of the staple products of the country, and the obligations in regard
to them may have been incurred either in transactions of a mercantile
character, or in those which intervene between landlord and tenant.[87]

[87] Probably the rents were paid in k