Considering the predicament the manager has found himself in, he promptly derives a plan that will secure his immediate future. In verses five through seven, the steward carries out his scheme. The narrative mentions just two tasks. So by performing favors for his master's debtors, he expects good relations with them in the future. Second, he plans to retaliate against his former employer.
Interpreters argue as to whether the manager s actions are morally defensible.
Both of these statements imply that the master had a sum stolen from him by his former manager. So far as we are told, t he steward acted only shrewdly, with cunning. It is to go beyond the text to assume that he was also acting in a compassionate, although also self-serving, manner. Not only did the manager s scheme secure his own future, but it also effectively caused the master to suffer some loss. Assuming that the master was extremely wealthy, the steward s actions probably did not hurt him as much as they helped the manager.