Luke 16:7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
After that, to another, he said, "You yourself, however, how much do you owe?" That one, however, said, "A hundred bundles of wheat. He told him, "Get your letter and write eighty,"
This verse is a good example of how the KJV translates different Greek words the same. Here, two different words are translated as "said" and the "measures" here is a different word than the previous verse's (Luke 16:6) "measures" though it share much of the vocabulary from that verse. Again, this short verse contains words that are unique for Jesus to use.
The "then" here is unique, not the Greek word that is translated as "then" in most of Jesus's words. This word means "thereupon", "thereafter", afterward" and "then." The sense is clearly the "after" the previous action.
"He said" is from the Greek verb that means "to say" and "to speak". This is the word used in the previous verse and a couple of times in this one.
The word translated as "to another" means "one of two", "other," or "different."
This quote begins with a pronoun "you" that is untranslated. Since this information is part of the verb, its use here is like starting a statement with "you yourself".
The Greek word translated as "and" means "but", "however", and "on the other hand". Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better.
The adjective translated as "how much" means "of what quantity," [in distance] "how far." [of number] how far," [of time] "how long," [of value] "how much", "how great", "how many," and "how much."
The Greek word translated as "owest thou" in the KJV (and "accomplishes" or "is" in other translations) means "to help" or "to be of benefit."
The Greek word translated as "and" again means "but", "however", and "on the other hand". Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better.
The word translated as "he" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. It comes before the "however" translated as "and".
"An hundred" is from the Greek number "a hundred."
"Measures" is another unique word for Jesus. It is not the "measures" of the previous verse. In Greek, it means "besom", "bundle" (of twigs), or "brooms", which works for sheaves of wheat. However could also be a Greek form of the Hebrew dry measure of ten to eleven bushels.
"Of wheat" is the Greek word that means "grain", "wheat", "barley", "food made from grain", "bread," and, most generally, "food."
There is no "and" in the Greek here.
The word translated as "he said" is different than all the other "he said" in the last two verses. It the most common word that means "to say," and "to speak," but here it works better as "he told".
The word translated as "unto him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.
"Take" is a word, which, when applied to people as it does here, means "to welcome", "to grant access," or "to receive with hospitality. Since it means both "take" and "accept", it works like our word "get". It is a command.
The word translated as "thy" is the possessive form of the second person pronoun.
"Bill" is the Greek noun that means "letter" and like our "letter" it can also mean a written document, a letter. This is an uncommon word for Jesus and its first use is here. Its only other uses in the next verse. Interestingly, it works like our letter in that it also means learning (a man of letters) and the law (the letter of the law).
Finally, an "and" that is really an "and" in the Greek. The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and", but it also is used to add emphasis ("also").
"Write" is the Greek verb that means "to mark", "to express by written characters", "to write a letter", "to write down [a law]", and so on.
The word translated as "four score" means "eighty". It is an uncommon word, only used by Jesus in one other Luke parable.
(NOTE: It is interesting that the discount here isn't as big as the previous verse's, Luke 16:6, discount, 20% versus 50%. Why? Three ideas 1) the oil represents much greater value than the wheat, 2) the wheat is a basic staple while the oil is a luxury, or 3) the house manager was seeking more benefit from the first (foremost) debtor than the second. )
ἔπειτα [unique](adv) "Then" is ereita, which means "thereupon", "thereafter", afterwards" and "then."
ἑτέρῳ (adj sg masc dat) "To another" is heteros, which means "one or the other of two", "the second", "the secondary", "the minor", "other things [of like kind]", "another", "different," "other than", "different from", "other than should be," and "in another or a different way." As an adverb, it means "in one or the other way", "differently", "otherwise than should be", "badly," and "wrongly."
εἶπεν (verb 3rd sg aor ind act) "He said" is eipon, which means "to speak", "to say", "to recite", "to address", "to mention", "to name", "to proclaim", "to plead", "to promise," and "to offer."
Σὺ (pron 2nd sg nom) "Thou" is su which means "you" and "your."
δὲ (conj/adv) "And" is de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so") and a condition ("if").
πόσον (adj sg masc acc) "How much" is from posos (posos), which means "of what quantity," [in distance] "how far." [of number] how far," [of time] "how long," [of value] "how much", "how great", "how many," and "how much."
ὀφείλεις; (verb 2nd sg pres ind act) "Owest" is opheleo, which means "to help", "to aid", "to succor", "to be of use or service," "to enrich," and "to benefit." --
ὁ (article) "Unto them that" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." --
δὲ (conj/adv) "And" is de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so") and a condition ("if").
εἶπεν (verb 3rd sg aor ind act) "He said" is eipon, which means "to speak", "to say", "to recite", "to address", "to mention", "to name", "to proclaim", "to plead", "to promise," and "to offer." -- "Said" is from the Greek verb that means "to say" and "to speak" also.
Ἑκατὸν (numeral) "An hundred" is from hekaton, which is the number "a hundred." --
κόρους [unique](noun pl masc acc) "Measures" is koros, which means "besom", "bundle" (of twigs), or "brooms". It could also be from the Hebrew dry measure of ten to eleven bushels.
σίτου: (noun sg masc gen) "Of wheat" is from sitos (sitos), which means "grain", "wheat", "barley", "food made from grain", "bread," and, most generally, "food."
λέγει (verb 3rd sg pres ind act) "He said" is lego, which means "to recount", "to tell over", "to say", "to speak", "to teach", "to mean", "boast of", "tell of", "recite," nominate," and "command." It has a secondary meaning "pick out," "choose for oneself", "pick up", "gather", "count," and "recount." A less common word that is spelled the same means "to lay", "to lay asleep" and "to lull asleep."
αὐτῷ (adj sg masc dat) "Unto him" is autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord." In the adverbial form, it means "just here" or "exactly there."
Δέξαι (verb 2nd sg aor imperat mid) "Take" is dechomai, which means "welcome", "accept," and "entertain" when applied to people and "take", "accept," and "receive" when applied to things.
σου (adj sg masc gen) "Thy" is sou which means "of you" and "your." --
τὰ γράμματα [first, uncommon](noun pl neut acc) "Bill" is gramma, which means "that which is drawn", "written character", "letter", "articulate sound", "inscription", "set of written characters", "piece of writing", "papers", "documents", " learning", "laws or rules".
καὶ (conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "but." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even", "also," and "just."
γράψον (verb 2nd sg aor imperat act) "Write" is grapho which means "to mark", "to express by written characters", "to write a letter", "to write down [a law]", "to proscribe", "to ordain", "to write for oneself", "to enroll oneself", "to draw signs", "to describe a figure" "to brand," and "to indict."
ὀγδοήκοντα. [unique](numeral) "Four score" is ogdoēkonta, which is the Greek number eighty.