Luke 14:21

Luk 14:21-24. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things — So ministers ought to lay before the Lord in prayer the obedience or disobedience of their hearers. Then the master of the house — Who had made the entertainment; being angry — As he reasonably might be, to see such an affront put upon his splendid preparations, and such an ungrateful return made for the peculiar kindness and respect he had shown, in sending for these guests; said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets, &c. — Being of a benevolent and generous disposition, he determined that preparations so great should not be made in vain: and since those for whom they were first intended slighted the favour, he resolved that a great number still should be made happy with his supper, though they were of the poorer sort, nay, and diseased too; and the rather, because the persons of this class, upon whom he proposed to bestow his supper, had never partaken of such a meal before. He therefore ordered his servant to go as fast as he could into the streets and lanes of the city — Where the poor used to be, and to bring them all in, however maimed, or halt, or blind they might be. The servant readily went as directed, and quickly returned, saying, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded — These poor, distressed people, are come in, and have sat down at the table. Many of the Jews were obedient to the gospel call, and were brought to God, and became members of the Church of Christ; but not the scribes and Pharisees, and such as Christ was now at dinner with, but such as are here mentioned, the poor of this world, and the afflicted; or such as were figuratively represented by them, the publicans and sinners. And yet there is room — The supper being great, and the hall of entertainment spacious, all those whom the servant happened to find in the streets and lanes of the city did not fill the tables. Wherefore, knowing that his lord’s intention was to make as many happy with this feast as possible, he came and told him there was still room for more. The lord said, Go out into the highways and hedges, &c. — The benevolence and generosity of this great lord were such, that he could not be easy till as many people were brought in to partake of his supper as his house, with all the apartments where tables could be placed, would contain. Wherefore he ordered his servant to go even out of the city, to the highways and hedges leading into it, where beggars usually had their stations; and to use the most earnest entreaties with those who showed any unwillingness, in order that his house might be filled with guests. Thus the apostles, and first preachers of the gospel, were not to confine their labours to the towns and cities of Judea, but extend them to all parts of the country, and invite to the gospel feast persons of all descriptions: or rather, being rejected by the Jews, they are here commanded to turn, as Paul expresses it, to the Gentiles, and to offer them the blessings of the gospel, though as unlikely to be called into the Church of Christ, as vagrants in the highways are to be invited to a feast at a nobleman’s house. As to the clause, Compel them to come in, “How vainly,” says Whitby, “these words are brought to prove, that men may be compelled by the secular arm to embrace the true faith, appears, 1st, From the nature of a banquet, to which no man is compelled by force, but only by the importunity of persuasion: 2d, From the scope of the parable, which respects the calling of the Gentiles, whom only Mohammedans think fit by force of arms to compel to the faith.” Indeed, the word αναγκασον, rendered compel, frequently, as Elsner has shown, signifies only, pressing persuasion. And it certainly cannot here imply that any external violence was to be used with these persons; for only a single servant was sent out to them, who surely was not capable of forcing so great a multitude to come in, as was necessary to fill his lord’s house. The proper meaning of the expression, therefore, here is, Use the most powerful persuasion with them; and so it fitly denotes the great efficacy of the apostle’s preaching to the idolatrous Gentiles, whereby vast numbers of them were prevailed with to embrace the gospel. Indeed, force has no manner of influence to enlighten men’s consciences; so that, though one should pretend to believe, and should actually practise a worship contrary to his opinion, it could never please God, being mere hypocrisy. Those, therefore, who suppose that this passage of the parable justifies the use of external violence in matters of religion, are grossly mistaken. For I say unto you, that none, &c. — This declaration of the master of the house refers to the commands given to his servant, Luk 14:21; Luk 14:23. Because he had determined to reject and abandon those first invited, therefore his servant was ordered to go out and gather guests from the streets and lanes, and then from the highways and hedges. None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper — This is like that sentence which God passed on those ungrateful Israelites who despised the pleasant land. He sware in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest — What is here intended is, that, because the Jews rejected Christ and his gospel, they were given up by God to hardness of heart, and a reprobate mind. “Grace despised,” says Henry, “is grace forfeited, like Esau’s birthright. They that will not have Christ when they may, shall not have him when they would. Even those that were bidden, if they slight the invitation, shall be forbidden. When the door is shut, the foolish virgins will be denied entrance.” Only, the reader must remember, that not the condition of individuals, but the general state of the nation is here described; in which view, the parabolical representation is perfectly just, notwithstanding many individual Jews have believed on Christ, and obtained eternal life.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:21 The poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame were the outcasts of Israel, to whom Jesus ministered.

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

Luk 14:21. Ἀπήγγειλε, reported) It is the part of ministers to lay before the Lord in prayer an account of the obedience and disobedience of their hearers.—ὀργισθεὶς, being angry) Therefore He had invited them with entire sincerity.—ἔξελθε, go out) So Luk 14:23.—ταχέως, quickly) Because all the viands were already prepared, and, as it were, still hot; and the excellence of these viands is to be vindicated from contempt [such as had been thrown on them by the self-excusers] by means of other guests.—πλατείας, streets) which are larger.—ῥύμας, lanes) which are smaller.—τῆς πόλεως, of the city) We may suppose, that by these are meant those nations, among which the Jews were dispersed.—V. g. (Comp. however the following note, E. B.)]—τοὺς πτωχοὺς, the poor) Those already called [κεκλημένοι, Luk 14:24] were those, who were accounted among the Jews to be the best men, Luk 14:1; Luk 14:3 [“the chief Pharisees and lawyers”]; the poor in the streets are the “Publicans and sinners” [who welcome the invitation in], ch. Luk 15:1: see Mat 21:31.—πτωχοὺς, the poor) whom otherwise no one feels disposed to invite.—ἀναπήρους, the maimed) whom no wife (woman) would take, Luk 14:20.—χωλοὺς, the lame) who cannot go (πορεύομαι), Luk 14:19.—τυφλοὺς, the blind) who cannot see (ἰδεῖν, Luk 14:18.

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

Luk_14:21-24. Εἰς τὰς πλατείας κ. ῥύμας] into the (broad) streets and (narrow) lanes. Comp. Isa_15:3. On ῥύμη = στενωπός, see Phrynichus, p. 404, and thereon Lobeck.

Luk_14:22. Here the narrative is supposed to be silent, leaving it to be understood that the servant went away again, and after fulfilment of the commission returned. But with what reason is this supposed in the narrative, otherwise so circumstantial? No; the servant, when repulsed by those who had been invited, did of his own accord what the master here directs him, so that he can say at once to this behest: it is done, etc. This point in the interpretation is, moreover, strikingly appropriate to Jesus, who, by the preaching of the gospel to the poor and miserable among the people, had already before His return to God fulfilled this divine counsel, in regard to which He did not need further instruction.

Luk_14:23. This commission to the servant is fulfilled by Him through the apostles, comp. Eph_2:17.

φραγμούς] not: places fenced in, which the word does not mean, but: go forth into the ways (highways and other roads outside the town) and hedges (beside which wanderers, beggars, houseless folk have camped). In the interpretation: αἱ κατοικίαι τῶν ἐθνῶν, Euthymius Zigabenus.

ἀνάγκασον] as Mat_14:22. The time presses! A strikingly picturesque touch, which, moreover, found its corresponding history in the urgent holy zeal of the apostles (especially of Paul) for winning the heathen to the faith; but its pernicious abuse, in the case of Augustine and many others, in their approval of the coercion of heretics (see, on the other hand, Grotius and Calovius). Maldonatus well says: adeo rogandos, adeo incitandos, ut quodammodo compelli videantur.

γεμισθῇ] Nec natura nee gratia patitur vacuum. Multitudo beatorum: extremis mundi temporibus maximam plenitudinis suae partem nanciscens, Bengel.

Luk_14:24. Not an assertion of Jesus (Kuinoel, Paulus, and others), but of the master of the house, which is certain from μου τοῦ δείπνου (none shall taste of my supper), since Jesus in the parable appears as the servant.

γάρ] for the empty place is not to be occupied by you.

ὑμῖν] spoken to the servant, and to those who were supposed to be elsewhere than there present. Euthymius Zigabenus, moreover, says aptly: διὰ τοῦτον οὖν τὸν λόγον ἡ ὅλη παραβολὴ συντέθη. Comp. Luk_14:15, to the substance of which this conclusion reverts. Those who are excluded are thus those Jews who have despised the call of Christ, but who, as the representatives and chiefs of Gods people, were first of all by the gospel invited and laid under obligation to follow the invitation to the kingdom (κεκλημένοι and παραιτούμενοι, Luk_14:17 ff.); not the Jews in general, as Baur supposes, in accordance with his assumption of a Gentile-Christian tendency.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 14:21-24 . The sequel .

Luk 14:21 . The servant has done his duty and returns to make his strange report. ὀργισθεὶς , enraged; no wonder. ἔξελθε ταχέως , go out quickly ; no time to be lost, as all things are ready, but the thing chiefly to be noted is how the word answers to the master’s mood πλατείας καὶ ῥύμας , broad streets and narrow lanes (Mat 6:2 , q.v. ); all sorts of people to be met with there and many of them: invitation to be broadcast, no one to be shunned however poor or unsightly; the poor, maimed, blind, and halt rather to be preferred, therefore expressly named such is the master’s mood in his disgust at the behaviour of the well-to-do, propertied, happy classes a violent but natural reaction.

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

Vers. 21-24.

In the report which the servant gives of his mission, we may hear, as Stier so well observes, the echo of the sorrowful lamentations uttered by Jesus over the hardening of the Jews during His long nights of prayer. The anger of the master (ὀργισθείς) is the retaliation for the hatred which he discovers at the bottom of their refusals.

The first supplementary invitation which he commissions his servant to give, represents the appeal addressed by Jesus to the lowest classes of Jewish society, those who are called, Luk 15:1, publicans and sinners. Πλατεῖαι, the larger streets, which widen out into squares. ῾Ρῦμαι, the small cross streets. There is no going out yet from the city.

The second supplementary invitation (Luk 14:22-23) represents the calling of the Gentiles; for those to whom it is addressed are no longer inhabitants of the city. The love of God is great: it requires a multitude of guests; it will not have a seat left empty. The number of the elect is, as it were, determined beforehand by the riches of divine glory, which cannot find a complete reflection without a certain number of human beings. The invitation will therefore be continued, and consequently the history of our race prolonged, until that number be reached. Thus the divine decree is reconciled with human liberty. In comparison with the number called, there are undoubtedly few saved through the fault of the former; but nevertheless, speaking absolutely, there are very many saved. Φραγμοί, the hedges which enclose properties, and beneath which vagrants squat. The phrase, compel them to come in, applies to people who would like to enter, but are yet kept back by a false timidity. The servant is to push them, in a manner, into the house in spite of their scruples. The object, therefore, is not to extinguish their liberty, but rather to restore them to it. For they would; but they dare not.

As Luk 14:21 is the text of the first part of Acts (i.-xii., conversion of the Jews), Luk 14:22-23 are the text of the second (xiii. to the end, conversion of the Gentiles), and indeed of the whole present economy. Weizsäcker accuses Luke of having added to the original parable this distinction between two new invitations, and that in favour of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles. If this saying were the only one which the evangelists put into the mouth of Jesus regarding the calling of the Gentiles, this suspicion would be conceivable. But does not the passage Luk 13:28-30 already express this idea? and is not this saying found in Matthew as well as in Luke? Comp. also Mat 24:14; Joh 10:16.

According to several commentators, Luk 14:24 does not belong to the parable; it is the application of it addressed by Jesus to all the guests (“I say unto you”). But the subject of the verb, I say, is evidently still the host of the parable; the pron. you designates the persons gathered round him at the time when he gives this order. Only the solemnity with which Jesus undoubtedly passed His eyes over the whole assembly, while putting this terrible threat into the mouth of the master in the parable, made them feel that at that very moment the scene described was actually passing between Him and them.

The parable of the great feast related Mat 22:1-14 has great resemblances to this; but it differs from it as remarkably. More generalized in the outset, it becomes toward the end more detailed, and takes even a somewhat complex character. It may be, as Bleek thinks, a combination of two parables originally distinct. This seems to be proved by certain touches, such as the royal dignity of the host, the destruction by his armies of the city inhabited by those first invited, and then everything relating to the man who had come in without a wedding garment. Nothing, on the contrary, could be more simple and complete than the delineation of Luke.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wide and broad quarters.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

came, and showed, &c.--saying as in Isa 53:1. "It is the part of ministers to report to the Lord in their prayers the compliance or refusal of their hearers" [BENGEL].

angry--in one sense a gracious word, showing how sincere he was in issuing his invitations (Eze 33:11). But it is the slight put upon him, the sense of which is intended to be marked by this word.

streets and lanes--historically, those within the same pale of "the city" of God as the former class, but the despised and outcasts of the nation, the "publicans and sinners" [TRENCH]; generally, all similar classes, usually overlooked in the first provision for supplying the means of grace to a community, half heathen in the midst of revealed light, and in every sense miserable.

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

(21) The master of the house being angry . . .—The element of righteous indignation is more strongly emphasised in the analogous parable of Mat_22:6-7, where the mere apathy of those who were invited passes into scornful outrage.

The streets and lanes . . .—See Note on Mat_6:2. The former word includes the “piazza” or “place” of an Eastern town; the latter is the long, narrow “street” or “lane” hardly wide enough for a man to ride through. It is the word used for the “street called straight” in Damascus (Act_9:11). In the application of the parable these represent the by-ways of Jewish life—the suburbs, and the wretched courts and alleys, which no scribe deigned to enter, and which lay entirely outside the notice and the functions of the priesthood. “The poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind” are the publicans and sinners and harlots and men of violence, who obeyed the summons and pressed eagerly into the kingdom. The repetition of the same four adjectives as had been used in Luk_14:13 is singularly suggestive. Our Lord was following, in the spiritual feast of His kingdom, the very rule which He had given for those who made great feasts on earth. Each class may possibly represent some spiritual fact which would seem to men a disqualification, but which was, for the pitying love of Christ, the very ground of invitation and acceptance.

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

21. that servant came, and shewed his lord these things] We have here a shadow of the complaints and lamentations of our Lord over the stiffnecked obstinacy of the Jews in rejecting Him.

Then the master of the house being angry ]

“God, when He’s angry here with any one His wrath is free from perturbation;

And when we think His looks are sour and grim The alteration is in us, not Him.”

Herrick.

the streets and lanes of the city] This corresponds to the call of the , publicans, sinners, and harlots—the lost sheep of the House of Israel, Luk_4:18; Mar_12:37; Mat_21:32; Jas_2:5.

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 the servant said,.... After he had been and brought in a large number of such as are before described, and he was directed to, and succeeded to the gathering of them in:

Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded; the apostles exactly observed the orders of their Lord and master; they began to preach the Gospel at Jerusalem; and being drove from thence, they went and preached to the Jews of the dispersion, and to the proselytes among the Gentiles:

and yet there is room; that is, for the Gentiles, after God's elect, among the Jews, for that time were gathered in: there was room provided for them in the heart and love of God from everlasting, and in electing grace; in the suretyship engagements of Christ, in the covenant of his grace; and they had a place in the redeeming grace of Christ, in time; and in the last commission he gave to his disciples; and there was now room for them in the church of God; and will be in the new Jerusalem, and in the heavenly glory.

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

21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

Ver. 21. Then the master of the house being angry] And good reason he had: for, Non modo pluris putare quod utile videatur, quam quod honestum, sed haec etiam inter se comparare et in his addubitare, turpissimum est, saith the honest heathen (Cicero de Officiis). Surely as Pharaoh said of the Israelites, "They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in," Exo 14:3, so may we say of many, They are entangled in the creature, the world hath shut them in, they cannot come to Christ: they are shut up in a cave, as those five kings, Jos 10:16-18; and have hardness of heart, as a great stone, rolled to the mouth, and honours, riches, and pleasures as so many keepers, &c.

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.

Showed his lord - Told his master of the excuses of those who had been invited. Their conduct was remarkable, and it was his duty to acquaint him with the manner in which his invitation had been received.

Being angry - Being angry at the people who had slighted his invitation; who had so insulted him by neglecting his feast, and preferring “for such reasons” their own gratification to his friendship and hospitality. So it is no wonder that God is angry with the wicked every day. So foolish as well as wicked is the conduct of the sinner, so trifling is his excuse for not repenting and turning to God, that it is no wonder if God cannot look upon their conduct but with abhorrence.

Go out quickly - The feast is ready. There is no time to lose. They who partake of it must do it soon. So the gospel is ready; time flies; and they who partake of the gospel must do it soon, and they who preach it must give diligence to proclaim it to their fellow-men.

The streets and lanes of the city - The places where the poor, etc., would be found. Those first invited were the rich, who dwelt at ease in their own houses. By these the Jews were intended; by those who were in the streets, the Gentiles. Our Lord delivered this parable to show the Jews that the Gentiles would be called into the kingdom of God. They despised the Gentiles, and considered them cast out and worthless, as they did those who were in the lanes of the city.

The maimed ... - See the notes at Luk 14:13.

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

21. The master—Who is Christ himself.

Being angry—His judicial wrath and condemnation at the rejecters of his Gospel, the very men who were listening to his parable.

Streets and lanes of the city—Of Jerusalem, the representative of the theocracy.

The maimed—Who have lost a limb.

The halt—Who cannot walk from some disorder. These represent the publicans and the sinners, who go into heaven before the proud Pharisee.

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

Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. The invitations to the great feast, seeing that those first bidden were indifferent, were then sent out far and wide through broad streets and narrow lanes, among wealthy publicans (tax-collectors) and poor artisans. The invitations were distributed broadcast among a rougher and less cultured class, but still the invitations to the banquet were confined to dwellers in the city; we hear as yet of no going without the walls. Here the invitation seems generally to have been accepted. All this in the first instance referred to the Galilaean peasants, to the Jewish publicans, to the mass of the people, who heard him, on the whole, gladly.

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

The servant came and showed his Lord these things - So ministers ought to lay before the Lord in prayer the obedience or disobedience of their hearers.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The result:

v. 21. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

v. 22. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

v. 23. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

v. 24. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

The servant was obliged to bring his master the news of the rejection of the invitations. The latter naturally became angry over such behavior, but immediately thought of a plan by which he might procure guests for his feast in a short time. The servant was to lose no time in going out, both on the broad streets and on the narrow lanes of the city, and to bring into the house of the master the poor and the weak, or crippled, and the blind and the halt. The servant had not anticipated his master’s command, but now hurriedly fulfilled it, returning with the report that the instructions had been carried out to the letter, but that there was still room. Then, as a last resort, the master sent the servant out to the country, along the highways and hedges, on the main roads, as well as on the footpaths running through the fields, alongside the hedges. Whomever he should find there, he should invite urgently, compellingly, since the poor people might not want to consider the fact of their having been invited seriously. The object of the master was frankly to fill his house. But so far as the first guests were concerned, the solemn declaration is made that not one of them would so much as taste of the feast which had been prepared with such care.

The meaning of the parable in the light of New Testament fulfillment is clear. The master of the house is God Himself, the almighty, but also gracious and merciful Lord. "The preaching of Christ is the great, glorious supper, to which He asks guests in order to sanctify them through His Baptism, comfort and strengthen them through the Sacrament of His body and blood; that they should be in need of nothing, that there be a great plenty and every one be satisfied. " The food to be provided was thus the Gospel with all its glories, yea, Christ Himself, complete justification, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. When Jesus came into the world, the hour of the great supper had come, Gal 4:4-5. He Himself is the Servant of the Lord in the most exclusive sense, Isa 42:1; Isa 49:6; Isa 52:13; Isa 53:11. Personally, through His herald John the Baptist, and through the apostles He repeated the invitation which had been issued through the prophets, that the time had come to which all the patriarchs and prophets had looked forward, that the kingdom of God had come near them. Christ went to the children of the house of Israel, for them His personal ministry was intended; they were the chosen people of God, Rom 3:2; Rom 9:5. To them and to their children the promise was published first. And so Christ journeyed back and forth through the length and breadth of the country of the Jews, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. And the apostles followed up His work, proclaiming the Gospel to the Jews first. But Israel as a whole wanted nothing of the glorious news pertaining to their salvation, they refused the invitation. Their minds were centered in earthly things, they expected a temporal kingdom of the Messiah. And their leaders, having a show of sanctity, used this as a cloak for their covetousness and their seeking for pleasure. They despised and rejected the Gospel of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Then God in His anger turned from them. Jesus sought the poor and unknown among the Jewish people, those that were spiritually sick, halt, and blind. He called the publicans and sinners to Him and assured them that salvation was theirs. Poor fishermen, former publicans, reformed sinners, were the members of Christ’s flock, 1Co 1:26-28. And finally Jesus, through His apostles and other messengers, brought the invitation of God out into the world of the Gentiles, that were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, Eph 2:12. From all nations of the world the Lord is calling men to His great supper, that they may receive the fullness of His goodness and mercy. He is calling urgently and pleadingly; His call is sincere and powerful. He prepares the way for the preaching of the Gospel by the proclamation of the Law, that the sinner may learn to know his helplessness and rely upon the righteousness of the Redeemer all alone. "That is what it means to compel, if we fear the wrath of God and desire help from Him. If that has been accomplished through preaching, and the hearts are broken and terrified, then preaching is continued in the words: Dear person, do not despair, though thou art a sinner and hast such a terrible condemnation upon thee; rather do this: thou art baptized, now hear the Gospel. There thou wilt learn that Jesus Christ died for thy sake and has made satisfaction for thy sins on the cross. " The merciful call of God is effective through the Gospel: that is the way in which a person comes to the great supper. Christ calls and pleads; the table is set; the full redemption is obtained; God is merciful to men for Christ’s sake. But if a person does not come and does not want to come, then it is his own fault. The Lord has called, and He sincerely offers to all men the riches of His grace. Those that despise His call will be excluded, by their own fault, from the joys of salvation, from the eternal supper of bliss in heaven.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

became angry

"became angry with the people he had invited"

bring in here

"invite in here to eat the dinner"

The servant said

It may be necessary to state clearly the implied information that the servant did what the master commanded him. AT: "After the servant went out and did that, he came back and said" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

what you commanded has been done

This can be stated in active form. AT: "I have done what you commanded" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

servant

lord

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

21. παραγενόμενος ὁ δοῦλος ἀπήγγειλεν τῷ κυρίῳ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα. We have here a shadow of the complaints and lamentations of our Lord over the stiffnecked obstinacy of the Jews in rejecting Him.

τότε ὀργισθεὶς ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης.

“God, when He’s angry here with any one

His wrath is free from perturbation;

And when we think His looks are sour and grim

The alteration is in us, not Him.”

HERRICK.

τὰς πλατείας καὶ ῥύμας τῆς πόλεως. This corresponds to the call of the publicans, sinners, and harlots—the lost sheep of the House of Israel, Luk 4:18; Mar 12:37; Mat 21:32; Jas 2:5. In classic Greek ῥύμη means ‘a rush.’ In later Greek (probably as a colloquialism) it acquired the sense of alley.

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.

21.] τῆς πόλεως, still, in the city (Mat 22:7); still, among the Jews.

πλατ. κ. ῥύμ., the broad and narrow streets: perhaps the πόλεις κ. κῶμαι through which the Lord and his Apostles journeyed preaching.

Here appear again the very persons of ver. 13; the representatives of the wretched and despised; = ὁ πολὺς ὄχλος, Mar 12:37: not perhaps without a hint, that only those who knew themselves to be spiritually poor and maimed and halt and blind would come to the gospel feast.

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

21. The πάντες (ver. 18) probably means more than three. But three suffice as examples. Some said that they would not come now; others declared that they could not come at all. Comp. the parable of the Pounds, where three servants are samples of the whole ten, and represent two classes (19:16-21).

Ἔξελθε ταχέως. Not because his anger makes him impatient; but because he has no intention of putting off anything to please the discourteous persons who have insulted him. He goes on with his arrangements at once.

εἰς τὰς πλατείας καὶ π̔ύμας. We have the same combination Isa 15:3. This use of π̔ύμη is late: Act 9:11, Act 9:12:10; Ecclus. 9:7; Tobit 13:18. A lane resembles a stream; and the original sense of π̔ύμη is the rush or flow of what is in motion. See Kennedy, Sources of N. T. Greek, p. 16. The two words combined stand for the public places of the town, in which those who have no comfort able homes are likely to be found. Comp. 1Co 1:26-28.

τοὺς πτωχοὺς καὶ ἀναπείρους, κ.Τ.λ. The Jews who do not observe the Law; the publicans and sinners. These were not asked simply because the others refused, and in order to fill the vacant places. They would have been asked in any case; but the others were asked first. They both live in the city: i.e. both are Jews. But those who respected the Law had a prior claim to those who rebelled against it. The similarity of wording shows the connexion with the preceding discourse (ver. 13); and therefore Bengel’s attractive distinction is probably not intended. He points out that the poor would get no other invitation; the maimed would not be likely to many; the blind could not go to see farms; and the lame would not go to prove oxen. Contrast Mat 22:9, Mat 22:10.

εἰσάγαγε ὧδε. See on 2:27. It is assumed that they can be “brought in” at once, without formal invitation. They are not likely to refuse. The mixture of guests of all classes is still seen at Oriental entertainments.

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

Streets [πλατειας] - lanes [ρυμας] . The former word from platuv, broad; the broad streets contrasted with the narrow lanes. Wyc., great streets and small streets.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.