Luke 22:30

22:30 you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel: This could be a figurative reference to the apostles’ leadership in the church, or it could indicate their special role in the future when the Kingdom would be consummated on earth (cp. Eph 2:20; Rev 3:21; 20:4).

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

Luk 22:30. Ἵνα ἐσθίητε, that ye may eat) Not as those that serve. See Luk 22:27.—ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζηε μου, at My table) This is put in antithesis to the table of “the goodman of the house.” See Luk 22:12.—καθίσησθε, ye may sit) in My kingdom. See Mat 19:28 [“In the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also,” etc.].—φυλὰς, tribes) Does this mean, that they shall judge each one tribe [there being an apostle apiece for each of the Twelve tribes].

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

Luk 22:30 . καθήσεσθε , ye shall sit, the judicial function the main thing, the feasting a subordinate feature; hence stated in an independent proposition ( καθήσεσθε not dependent on ἵνα ). δώδεκα , twelve tribes, and twelve to rule over them, the defection of Judas not taken into account. The promise is given in that respect as if spoken on another occasion (Mat 19:28 ). This generous eulogy of the disciples for their fidelity has the effect of minimising the fault mentioned just before. Lk. was aware of the fact. It is another instance of his “sparing of the Twelve”.

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

1 st. Luk 22:24-30. The cause of the dispute, mentioned by Luke only, cannot have been the question of precedence, as Langen thinks. The strife would have broken out sooner. The mention of the kingdom of God, Luk 22:16; Luk 22:18, might have given rise to it; but the καί, also, of Luke, suggests another view. By this word he connects the question: Which is the greatest? with that which the disciples had just been putting to themselves, Luk 22:23: Which among us is he who shall betray Him? The question which was the worst among them led easily to the other, which was the best of all. The one was the counterpart of the other. Whatever else may be true, we see by this new example that Luke does not allow himself to mention a situation at his own hand of which he finds no indication in his documents. The δοκεῖ, appears [should be accounted], refers to the judgment of men, till the time when God will settle the question. Comp. a similar dispute, Luk 9:46 et seq. and parall. We are amazed at a disposition so opposed to humility at such a time. But Jesus is no more irritated than He is discouraged. It is enough for Him to know that He has succeeded in planting in the heart of the apostles a pure principle which will finally carry the day over all forms of sin: “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you,” He says to them Himself, Joh 15:3. He therefore calmly continues the work which He has begun. In human society, men reign by physical or intellectual force; and εὐεργέτης, benefactor, is the flattering title by which men do not blush to honour the harshest tyrants. In the new society which Jesus is instituting, he who has most is not to make his superiority felt in any other way than by the superabundance of his services toward the weakest and the most destitute. The example of Jesus in this respect is to remain as the rule. The term ὁ νεώτερος, the younger (Luk 22:26), is parallel to ὁ διακονῶν, he that doth serve, because among the Jews the humblest and hardest labour was committed to the youngest members of the society (Act 5:6; Act 5:10). If the saying of Luk 22:27 is not referred to the act of the feetwashing related John 13, we must apply the words: I am among you as He that serveth, to the life of Jesus in general, or perhaps to the sacrifice which He is now making of Himself (Luk 22:19-20). But in this way there is no accounting for the antithesis between: “he that sitteth at meat,” and: “he that serveth.” These expressions leave no doubt that the fact of the feet-washing was the occasion of this saying. Luke did not know it; and he has confined himself to transmitting the discourse of Jesus as it was furnished to him by his document.

After having thus contrasted the ideal of an altogether new greatness with the so different tendency of the natural heart, Jesus proceeds to satisfy what of truth there was in the aspiration of the disciples (Luk 22:28-30). The ὑμεῖς δέ, but ye, alludes to Judas, who had not persevered, and who, by his defection, deprived himself of the magnificent privilege promised Luk 22:29-30. Perhaps the traitor had not yet gone out, and Jesus wished hereby to tell upon his heart.

The πειρασμοί, temptations, of which Jesus speaks, are summed up in His rejection by His fellow-citizens. It was no small thing, on the part of the Eleven, to have persevered in their attachment to Jesus, despite the hatred and contempt of which He was the object, and the curses heaped upon Him by those rulers whom they were accustomed to respect. There is something like a feeling of gratitude expressed in the saying of Jesus. Hence the fulness with which He displays the riches of the promised reward. Luk 22:29 refers to the approaching dispensation on the earth; Luk 22:30, to the heavenly future in which it shall issue. ᾿Εγώ, I (Luk 22:29), is in opposition to ὑμεῖς, ye: “That is what ye have done for me; this is what I do in my turn (καί) for you.” The verb διατιθέναι, to dispose, is applied to testamentary dispositions. Bleek takes the object of this verb to be the phrase which follows, that ye may eat...(Luk 22:30); but there is too close a correspondence between appoint and hath appointed unto me, to admit of those two verbs having any but the same object, βασιλείαν, the kingdom: “I appoint unto you the kingdom, as my Father hath appointed it unto me.” This kingdom is here the power exercised by man on man by means of divine life and divine truth. The truth and life which Jesus possessed shall come to dwell in them, and thereby they shall reign over all, as He Himself has reigned over them. Are not Peter, John, and Paul, at the present day, the rulers of the world? In substance, it is only another form of the thought expressed in Joh 13:20: “Verily I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me.” Is this an example of the way in which certain sayings of Jesus are transformed and spiritualized, as it were, in the memory of John, without being altered from their original sense? At least the obscure connection of this saying in John with what precedes is fully explained by Luke’s context.

Ver. 30 might apply solely to the part played by the apostles in the government of the primitive Church, and in the moral judgment of Israel then exercised by them. But the expression, to eat and drink at my table, passes beyond this meaning. For we cannot apply this expression to the Holy Supper, which was no special privilege of the apostles. The phrase, in my kingdom, should therefore be taken in the same sense as in Luk 22:16; Luk 22:18. With the table where He is now presiding, Jesus contrasts the royal banquet, the emblem of complete joy in the perfected kingdom of God. He likewise contrasts, in the words following, with the judgments which He and His shall soon undergo on the part of Israel, that which Israel shall one day undergo on the part of the Twelve. According to 1Co 6:1 et seq., the Church shall judge the world, men and angels. In this judgment of the world by the representatives of Jesus Christ, the part allotted to the Twelve shall be Israel.

Judgment here includes government, as so often in the O. T. Thrones are the emblem of power, as the table is of joy.

If the traitor was yet present, must not such a promise made to his colleagues have been like the stroke of a dagger to his ambitious heart! Here, as we think, should be placed the final scene which led to his departure (Joh 13:21-27).

It seems to us that the Twelve are not very disadvantageously treated in this discourse of Jesus reported by Luke! A saying entirely similar is found in Mat 19:28, in a different context. That of Luke is its own justification.

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.

eat and drink, &c.--(See Luk 22:16 and see on Luk 18:28, &c.).

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 30. Sit on thrones] See Clarke on Mt 19:28. Marcion left the whole of this verse out, according to Epiphanius: probably because he did not understand it.

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

(30) That ye may eat and drink at my table.—The promise is the same as that implied in what had been already said in Luk_22:16.

And sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.—See Note on Mat_19:28. The repetition of the promise at the moment when apparent failure was close at hand, is significant as carrying the words into a higher region of symbolic meaning. Not on any thrones of earth were those disciples to sit, any more than the Master was to sit on the throne of His father David in an earthly Jerusalem.

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

30. sit on thrones] Our Lord here perhaps designedly omitted the word “twelve,” Mat_19:28 (Rev_3:21).

judging] “The saints shall judge the world,” 1Co_6:2. But the clause is omitted in some MSS.

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 Lord said, Simon, Simon,.... Peter is particularly, and by name, spoken to, either because he might be a principal person in the debate and contention about superiority, mentioned in the context; or because he was chiefly to suffer in the following temptation of Satan; or because he was generally the mouth of the rest of the apostles; and he is addressed, not by the name of Peter, the name Christ gave him, when he first called him, signifying his future solidity, firmness, and steadfastness; because in this instance, he would not give any proof of it; but by his former name, Simon, and which is repeated, partly to show the earnestness of Christ in the delivery of what follows, and partly to express his affectionate concern for him; so the Jews observe (s) concerning God's calling, "Moses, Moses", Exo 3:4 that , "the doubling of the word", is expressive "of love", and finding grace and favour; even as it is said, "Abraham, Abraham", Gen 22:11 or it may be to excite attention to what Christ was about to say. Though the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read the first of these, "to Simon", thus: Jesus said to Simon,

Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you; not only Peter, but all the apostles; for the word "you", is plural: Satan, the enemy of the woman's seed, the accuser of the brethren, the wicked one, and the tempter, desired, asked leave of God, for he can do nothing without permission; that he might have these disciples under his power, and in his hand; just as he got leave to have the goods, and even the body of Job in his hand, and fain would have had his life, and soul too, could he have obtained it; and he would have the lives and souls of others; for he goes about, seeking to devour whom he may; and he had now an evil eye upon the apostles, and wanted an opportunity to gratify his malice and envy: his end in desiring to have them in his power was,

that he may sift you as wheat; not to separate the chaff from the wheat, but to make them look like all chaff, by covering the wheat of grace with the chaff of sin and corruption; or to destroy the wheat, was it possible; or to toss them to and fro as wheat is in a sieve; that is, to afflict and distress them; see Amo 9:9 by scattering them both from Christ, and one another; by filling them with doubts about Jesus being the Messiah and Redeemer: and by frightening them with the fears of enemies and of death, which end he obtained; see Mat 26:56.

(s) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 38. 4. Jarchi in Gen. xxii. 11. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 14. fol. 217. 1.

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

30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Ver. 30. That ye may eat and drink, &c.] As Mephibosheth and Chimham at David’s table which was a high favour.

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.

See the notes at Mat 19:28.

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

That you may eat and drink of the spiritual banquet of the joys of heaven which in the Scriptures are divers times compared to a feast or banquet. (Witham) --- Sit upon thrones. Judas is excepted from the dignity of this great promise. For it is probable he had gone out before the Lord spoke these words. They likewise are excepted, who (St. John vi. 66.) having heard the words of an incomprehensible mystery, turned back and went away. (Ven. Bede)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

30. Eat… at my [sacramental]

table—Which is the antepast and emblem of the eternal banquet when the family all get home.

In my kingdom—First of grace, and then of glory. Sit on apostolic thrones. Truly the throne of the apostle was higher than any of the thrones of earth.

Judging—Ruling. The judges of the book of Judges were civil rulers and military leaders. The apostles ruled in the Church with divine authority while they lived. They still rule in the Church whose laws their labors first established.

Twelve tribes of Israel—The type of the Church of God. This passage fully shows that the apostles were twelve in special reference to the twelve tribes. See notes on Mat_19:28-29.

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

That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. While the words just considered (ver. 29) referred to a success and a reward, the scene of which was to be this world, the Master now continues his promises of reward to his chosen faithful followers a reward which will be their blessed portion in eternal life, which will follow this. First, the endless bliss to be shared with him is pictured under the old favourite Jewish image of the heavenly banquet; and second, in that heavenly realm a special place of honor and a distinct work is promised to these his chosen faithful servants.

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

That ye may eat and drink at my table - That is, that ye may enjoy the highest happiness, as guests, not as servants. These expressions seem to be primarily applicable to the twelve apostles, and secondarily, to all Christ's servants and disciples, whose spiritual powers, honours, and delights, are here represented in figurative terms, with respect to their advancement both in the kingdom of grace and of glory.

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

kingdom

(See Scofield "Mat 3:2").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30. καθήσεσθε. The reading καθίσησθε is probably a grammatical correction to avoid the solecism of the final ἵνα with a fut. indic. But the verb is independent of the ἵνα.

30. καθήσεσθε. This promise becomes more emphatic, by being stated separately, and not made dependent on ἵνα. See note on Luk 20:10.

ἐπὶ θρόνων. Our Lord here perhaps designedly omitted the word “twelve,” Mat 19:28 (Rev 3:21).

κρίνοντες. 1Co 6:2. The clause is omitted in some MSS.

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.

30.] See above, and note on Mat 19:28, see also Rev 2:27. The word βασιλείαν belongs to both verbs—not, ‘I appoint to you (as my Father hath appointed to me a kingdom) that ye &c.,’ but, I appoint to you, as my Father hath appointed to me, a kingdom, that ye &c.

ἐπὶ τῆς τρ.] See above, ver. 21, and note on ver. 16.

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

30. ἵνα ἔσθητε καὶ πίνητε. This is the purpose of,conferring regal power upon them. Some make from καθώς to βασιλείαν a parenthesis and render, “I also (even as My Father appointed to Me dominion) appoint to you that ye may eat and drink,” etc. So Theophyl. Nösg. Hahn. But βασιλείαν belongs to both διατίθεμαι and διέθετο. So Buthym. De W. Mey. Weiss, Schanz, Godet.

ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης μου. The Jews commonly regarded the Messianic Kingdom as a banquet: Comp. 13:29, 14:15. Cibus potusque, ille de quo alias dicitur. Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam (Bede).

καθῆσθε ἐπὶ θρόνων. The meaning of the promise is parallel to what precedes. As they have shared the trials, so they shall share the joy; and as they have proclaimed the Kingdom to Israel, so they shall exercise royal power over Israel, judging them according as they have accepted or rejected what was proclaimed. Comp. 1Co 6:2, 1Co 6:3; Rev 20:4.

As to the verb, the readings are very various: καθίζεσθε (A F K M S U V X Γ Δ), καθίσησε (H), καθέζησθε (D). But the choice lies between καθῆσθε (B* T D), which must depend upon ἵνα, and καθήσεσθε (א A B3 G L Q), which rather gives this as an independent promise. In Mat 19:28 καθήσεσθε is right, and may have been transferred to this passage, as δώδεκα has been in some authorities (א D Xm a b c d f1 q) with ωρόνων.

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