[Unprofitable Servants, Luke 17:7-10. On parables see pp. 203-207.] It seems that this brief parable was spoken in answer to the request recorded in v. 5, though this relationship is not certain. Faith qualifies men to do their duty as servants of God (see on v. 10). If this relationship to v. 5 is not valid, it is probable that the parable was spoken to the disciples at some other point on the journey mentioned briefly in v. 11 (see on v. 1).

Gr. doulos, “a bond servant,” or “a slave.”

 The master‘s home would probably be in the village or town, and his land not far away. Usually the “servants” would leave town in the morning to work in the fields and return in the morning to work in the fields and return home in the evening (see on Num. 35:4; Ruth 2:3; 3:4; 4:1).

 Gr. eutheōs, “at once,” or “immediately” (see on Mark 1:10). In Old English usage the expression “by and by” meant “immediately,” though now it means the very opposite. Here eutheōs modifies the verb “go” rather than the verb “say.” Thus, it is not that the master “says immediately,” but rather that he says “go immediately.”