Simon had decided, without saying a word, that Jesus could not be a prophet, or He "would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him" (Luke 7:39). Jesus answered that silent thought: "Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee" (Luke 7:40). Instead of rebuking him outright, Jesus told a story and asked Simon to judge it. Gill explains that the creditor stands for God and the two debtors for "greater and lesser sinners: all sins are debts, and all sinners are debtors." The question leads Simon to say for himself that great forgiveness produces great love, and then Jesus shows him that truth sitting at his own table (Luke 7:44-47).

Simon answered, "I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most," and Jesus said, "Thou hast rightly judged" (Luke 7:43). Matthew Henry notes, "Certainly, saith the Pharisee, he to whom he forgave most; and herein he rightly judged." Jesus then turned to the woman and applied the story to the two people in front of Him: Simon had given no water, kiss, or oil, but she had washed, kissed, and anointed His feet (Luke 7:44-46). "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little" (Luke 7:47).

The two debts were "five hundred pence" and "fifty" (Luke 7:41). The ESV calls these coins denarii. One debt was ten times the other. In another parable labourers are hired "for a penny a day" (Matthew 20:2), so even the smaller debt was a real sum.

The KJV "frankly forgave" translates the Greek echarisato, from charizomai. Thayer's lexicon gives its general sense as "to show oneself gracious, kind, benevolent" and lists this verse under the sense "to grant forgiveness, to pardon," used where a debt is in view. Barnes explains "frankly" as "Freely forgave, or forgave entirely without any compensation." Gill notes that the Ethiopic version, an ancient translation, reads "ought to love him most."

The story puts both debtors in the same place: "they had nothing to pay" (Luke 7:42). The difference between them is only the size of the debt, and both are released by the free grace of the creditor. Gill calls it "the wonderful grace of God, the creditor!" Simon could see the woman's debt clearly, but the story quietly includes him among the debtors too.

Barnes adds a careful word: the detail of free forgiveness "is not designed to express anything about the way in which God forgives sinners," since God pardons sin as a moral governor, through the atonement of Christ, not as a creditor waives a money debt. The point of the story is what forgiveness produces. Love does not buy pardon; pardon awakens love. Barnes reads Luke 7:47 this way, with the woman's love as the evidence of her forgiveness, not its cause. Jesus confirms the source when He tells her, "Thy faith hath saved thee" (Luke 7:50).