Luke 14:17

Sent his servant - An invitation had been sent before, but this servant was sent at the time that the supper was ready. From this it would seem that it was the custom to announce to those invited just the time when the feast was prepared. The custom here referred to still prevails in Palestine. Dr. Thomson (“The Land and the Book,” vol. i. p. 178) says: “If a sheikh, beg, or emeer invites, he always sends a servant to call you at the proper time. This servant often repeats the very formula mentioned in Luk 14:17; Tefŭddŭlû, el 'asha hâder. Come, for the supper is ready. The fact that this custom is mainly confined to the wealthy and to the nobility is in strict agreement with the parable, where the certain man who made the great supper and bade many is supposed to be of this class. It is true now, as then, that to refuse is a high insult to the maker of the feast, nor would such excuses as those in the parable be more acceptable to a Druse emeer than they were to the lord of this ‘great supper.’“

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14:17 Come, the banquet is ready: The invitations would have been sent much earlier; the guests were summoned when the meal was ready.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 14:17. Εἰπεῖν, to say) The successive steps of the gradation are to be observed: Luk 14:17, εἰπεῖν, to say, κεκλημένοις, to the called: Luk 14:21, εἰσάγαγε, bring in, τοὺς πτωχοῦς, the poor: Luk 14:23, ἀνάγκασον, compel, εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς, i.e. those who are in the highways, etc. The call goes forward to those that are at a greater distance, and by its continually increasing urgency it compensates for the delay previously incurred. [The called are of Israel.—V. g.—ἤδη) already now. Herein the time of the New Testament is shown to be the present time.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 14:17 . εἰπεῖν τοῖς κεκλημένοις : a second invitation according to Eastern custom still prevailing (Rosenmüller, Morgenland , ver .192; Thomson, Land and Book , vol. i. chap. ix.).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

supper-time . . . all now ready--pointing undoubtedly to the now ripening preparations for the great Gospel call. (See on Mat 22:4.)

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. Sent his servant] Messengers are sent to invite the guests to a Hindoo feast; when not only relations, but all persons of the same division of caste in the neighbourhood, are invited. A refusal to attend is considered as a great affront.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(17) And sent his servant.—The servant stands in this parable as the representative of the whole order of prophets and apostles—of all who, like the Baptist and the Twelve, had been sent to invite men to the Kingdom. “The time of supper” is, in the primary application, the time of our Lord’s coming, when the Kingdom of Heaven was first proclaimed as nigh at hand. All things—pardon, peace, blessedness—were now ready for those who would accept them.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. sent his servant at supper time] This is still a custom in the East, Pro_9:1-5; Thomson, Land and Book, i. ch. 9: The message of the servant corresponds to the ministry of John the Baptist and of Jesus Himself.

Come; for all things are now ready] “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Luk_10:1; Luk_10:9; Mat_3:1-2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse,.... Or, "they all together", as the Vulgate Latin version, "in one", or "at once": in Jer 10:8 rendered "altogether"; and so the Ethiopic version, which adds, "with one voice": but their words and language were not the same: their excuses are differently expressed. Some render , "from one hour": or the selfsame hour; immediately, directly, as soon as ever they were bidden, they began to frame excuses; they at once agreed, as by common consent, to excuse themselves from coming.

The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, or a field, and I must needs go and see it: he ought to have seen it before he bought it; and however, it was a very improper time, at evening, at supper time, as this was, to go and see a piece of ground; and at least it might have been put off till next morning; so that it was a mere excuse indeed.

I pray thee have me excused: coming to the supper: these were the principal men among the Jews, the Pharisees and rulers among the people; who were rich and covetous, worldly men; seeking their own worldly advantage more than their spiritual and eternal welfare, or the interest of God and religion.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

Ver. 17. See Mat 22:3.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. Sent his servant at supper time—According to the custom of the East, that after the first invitation a messenger is additionally sent to give notice of the supper time.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 17-20. Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The excuses, viewed as a whole, are paltry, and "if," as it has been well said, "as a mere story of natural life it seems highly improbable, it is because men"s conduct with regard to the Divine kingdom is not according to right reason... The excuses are all of the nature of pretexts, not one of them being a valid reason for nonattendance at the feast." The fact was, the invited were pleased to be invited, but there the matter ended with them. The banquet, which they were proud to have been asked to share in, had no influence upon their everyday lives. They made their engagements for pleasure and for business without the least regard to the day or the hour of the banquet: indeed, they treated it with perfect indifference. The key to the parable is easily found. The Jews were "solemn triflers in the matter of religion. They were under invitation to enter the kingdom, and they did not assume the attitude of men who avowedly cared nothing for it. On the contrary, they were pleased to think that its privileges were theirs in offer, and even gave themselves credit for setting a high value on them. But in truth they did not. The kingdom of God had not by any means the first place in their esteem. They were men who talked much about the kingdom of heaven, yet cared little for it; who were very religious, yet very worldly a class of which too many specimens exist in every age" (Professor Bruce, "Parabolic Teaching"). I have bought a piece of ground... I have bought five yoke of oxen... I have married a wife, etc. These excuses, of course, by no means exhaust all possible cases. They simply represent examples of usual everyday causes of indifference to the kingdom of God. To all these excuses one thing is common in each a present good is esteemed above the heavenly offer; in other words, temporal good is valued higher than spiritual. The three excuses may be classed under the following heads.

(1) The attraction of property of different kinds, the absorbing delight of possessing earthly goods.

(2) The occupations of business, the pleasure of increasing the store, of adding coin to coin, or field to field.

(3) Social ties, whether at home or abroad, whether in general society or in the home circle; for even in the latter case it is too possible for family and domestic interests so completely to fill the heart as to leave no room there for higher and more unselfish aims, no place for any grander hopes than the poor narrow home-life affords. The primary application of all this was to the Jews of the Lord"s own time. It was spoken, we must remember, to a gathering of the Rite of the Israel of his day. In the report of the servant detailing to the master the above-recorded excuses, it has been beautifully said, "we may hear the echo of the sorrowful lamentation uttered by Jesus over the hardening of the Jews during his long nights of prayer." The invitation to the feast was neglected by the learned and the powerful among the people.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. ἀπέστειλεν τὸν δοῦλον αὐτοῦ τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦ δείπνου. This is still a custom in the East, Pro 9:1-5; Thomson, Land and Book, I. ch. ix. The message of the servant corresponds to the ministry of John the Baptist and of Jesus Himself.

ἔρχεσθε, ὅτι ἤδη ἕτοιμά ἐστιν. “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Luk 10:1; Luk 10:9; Mat 3:1-2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17.] The δοῦλος is one spirit, one message; but not necessarily, in the three cases, one and the same person. The three messages were delivered (1) by John the Baptist and our Lord; (2) by our Lord and the Apostles; (3) by the Apostles and those who came after. The elder prophets cannot be meant, for ἕτοιμά ἐστιν πάντα was the message, = ἤγγικεν ἡ βασ. τ. οὐρ.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. τὸν δοῦλον. The vocator, who was sent to remind them, according to custom, and not because they were suspected of unwillingness.1 Comp. Est 5:8, Est 6:14. This custom still prevails. To omit the second summons would be “a grievous breach of etiquette, equivalent to cancelling the previous more general notification. To refuse the second summons would be an insult, which is equivalent among the Arab tribes to a declaration of war” (Tristram, Eastern Customs, p. 82). The δοῦλος represents God’s messengers to His people, and specially the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Comp. Mat 11:28-30.

Ἔπχεσεθ, ὅτι ἤδη ἕτοιμά ἐστιν. The true reading may be ἔρχεσθαι (א A D K L P R D) to follow εἰπεῖν (Syr-Sin.), dicere invitatis ut venirent (Vulg.). See small print note on 19:13. But the πάντα after ἐστιν (A P, Syr-Sin. Vulg, f) or before ἔτοιμα (D, a e) comes from Mat 22:4. א* B L R, b c ff2 il q omit.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.