Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 18:33

"shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee?" — Matthew 18:33 (ASV)

The king now calls the servant whom he had forgiven “wicked” (v.32) and, forgoing selling him, turns him over to the “torturers” (cf. vv.6, 8–9). He is to be tortured till he pays back all he owes (v.34), which he can never do.