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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Luke 14 Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/bengel/luke/141.htm" /><link href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cardo&subset=greek-ext' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/luke/14.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/luke/14-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Gnomon</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../luke/13.htm" title="Luke 13">◄</a> Luke 14 <a href="../luke/15.htm" title="Luke 15">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-1.htm">Luke 14:1</a></div><div class="verse">And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.</div><a href="/luke/14-1.htm" title="And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.">Luke 14:1</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἐν τῷ ἐλθεῖν</span>, <span class="ital">when He was coming</span>) by invitation. See <a href="/luke/14-12.htm" title="Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.">Luke 14:12</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ἀρχόντων</span>, <span class="ital">of the chiefs</span>) The Pharisees had their own <span class="ital">chiefs</span>, and these also numerous, possessing pre-eminent authority; which, however, Jesus did not regard with fear. See <a href="/luke/14-12.htm" title="Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.">Luke 14:12</a>, at the beginning. [—<span class="greekheb">ἦσαν παρατηρούμενοι αὐτὸν</span>, <span class="ital">they were craftily watching Him</span>) The spiritual Sabbath is grossly profaned by crafty and wicked thoughts.—V. g.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="2"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-2.htm">Luke 14:2</a></div><div class="verse">And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.</div><a href="/luke/14-2.htm" title="And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.">Luke 14:2</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ὑδρωπικὸς</span>, <span class="ital">a man in the dropsy</span>) who was brought hither for this very reason.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="3"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-3.htm">Luke 14:3</a></div><div class="verse">And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?</div><a href="/luke/14-3.htm" title="And Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?">Luke 14:3</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἀποκριθεὶς</span>, <span class="ital">answering</span>) to the thoughts of His adversaries.—<span class="greekheb">νομικοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">lawyers</span>) who, though the law was their profession, notwithstanding did not understand aright the law concerning the Sabbath.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="4"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-4.htm">Luke 14:4</a></div><div class="verse">And they held their peace. And he took <i>him</i>, and healed him, and let him go;</div><a href="/luke/14-4.htm" title="And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;">Luke 14:4</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἰάσατο</span>, <span class="ital">He healed him</span>) His adversaries were using the dropsical man as the cloke for assailing the Lord: but yet Jesus conferred the benefit on him.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="5"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-5.htm">Luke 14:5</a></div><div class="verse">And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?</div><a href="/luke/14-5.htm" title="And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?">Luke 14:5</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἀνασπάσει</span>, <span class="ital">will pull out</span>) with much toil.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="6"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-6.htm">Luke 14:6</a></div><div class="verse">And they could not answer him again to these things.</div><A name="7"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-7.htm">Luke 14:7</a></div><div class="verse">And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,</div><a href="/luke/14-7.htm" title="And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying to them.">Luke 14:7</a>. <span class="greekheb">Παραβολὴν</span>, <span class="ital">a parable</span>) Taken from external manners, but having regard to internal principles.—<span class="greekheb">ἐπέχων</span> [when He marked] <span class="ital">directing His attention to the fact</span>[142]) Attention in conversation and social intercourse is a most wholesome (profitable) habit.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[142] In Vulg. ‘intendens.’ Supply <span class="greekheb">νοῦν</span>, <span class="ital">fixing His attention on the circumstance, observing</span>.—ED. and TRANSL.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="8"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-8.htm">Luke 14:8</a></div><div class="verse">When thou art bidden of any <i>man</i> to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;</div><a href="/luke/14-8.htm" title="When you are bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable man than you be bidden of him;">Luke 14:8</a>. <span class="greekheb">Εἰς γάμους</span>, <span class="ital">to a wedding-feast</span>) There was no wedding then going forward; therefore this element is introduced into the parable for the sake of treating of social civic life.—<span class="greekheb">μὴ</span>, <span class="ital">not</span>) comp. <a href="/context/proverbs/25-6.htm" title="Put not forth yourself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:...">Proverbs 25:6-7</a> [“Stand not in the place of great men: for better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither, than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince”]. Each man knows his own calling, not that of all others.—<span class="greekheb">εἰς τὴν πρωτοκλισίαν</span>) <span class="ital">in the highest seat</span>. To this, which is in the singular, there corresponds the word <span class="greekheb">ἐντιμότερος</span>, <span class="ital">one more honourable</span>, and <span class="greekheb">τὸν ἔσχατον τόπον</span>, <span class="ital">the lowest place</span>. The proud man sets himself before not merely some men, but all men; <a href="/context/psalms/10-4.htm" title="The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts....">Psalm 10:4-5</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ἐντιμότερος</span>) This in the parable marks one esteemed <span class="ital">more honourable</span> among men (LXX., <a href="/numbers/22-15.htm" title="And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they.">Numbers 22:15</a>): and at the same time one who is esteemed, in the main aim of his life, more precious in the sight of God, even though sometimes coming [to the heavenly feast] somewhat late. Moreover, the humble man esteems all others more precious and ‘honourable’ than himself. Comp. <a href="//apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/10-7.htm" title="Pride is hateful before God and man: and by both doth one commit iniquity.">Sir 10:7</a> to <a href="//apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/11-6.htm" title="Many mighty men have been greatly disgraced; and the honourable delivered into other men's hands.">Sir 11:6</a>, in the Greek.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="9"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-9.htm">Luke 14:9</a></div><div class="verse">And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.</div><a href="/luke/14-9.htm" title="And he that bade you and him come and say to you, Give this man place; and you begin with shame to take the lowest room.">Luke 14:9</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἐλθὼν</span>, <span class="ital">having come</span>) Comp. <a href="/matthew/22-11.htm" title="And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:">Matthew 22:11</a>.—<span class="greekheb">καὶ αὐτὸν</span>, <span class="ital">and him</span>) The dignity of the guests, and the relative degrees of that dignity, depend on the ‘calling’ [<span class="greekheb">ὁ σε καὶ αὐτὸν καλέσας</span>]. The words <span class="greekheb">καὶ αὐτὸν</span>, <span class="ital">and him</span>, are not repeated in <a href="/luke/14-10.htm" title="But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade you comes, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with you.">Luke 14:10</a> [but only <span class="greekheb">ὁ κεκληκώς σε</span>, <span class="ital">He that bade</span> or <span class="ital">called thee</span>]. For in this passage the words are employed as a motive for modesty [seeing that <span class="ital">he too</span> as well as thyself is called].—<span class="greekheb">ἐρεῖ</span>) The Indicative, <span class="ital">shall say</span>, after <span class="greekheb">μήποτε ᾖ κεκλημένος</span>, Subjunctive, as presently after, in <a href="/luke/14-12.htm" title="Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.">Luke 14:12</a>, <span class="greekheb">μήποτε ἀντικαλέσωσιν</span>—<span class="greekheb">γενήσεται</span>, where see the note.[143]—<span class="greekheb">δὸς</span>, <span class="ital">give</span>) There is not added <span class="greekheb">Φίλε</span>, <span class="ital">Friend</span> as there is in <a href="/luke/14-10.htm" title="But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade you comes, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with you.">Luke 14:10</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ἄρξῃ</span>, <span class="ital">thou shalt begin</span>) To be the last and lowest is not attended with ignominy, except in the case of one who aspired to a higher position.—<span class="greekheb">αἰσχύνης</span>, with <span class="ital">shame</span>) In antithesis to <span class="greekheb">δόξα</span>, <span class="ital">glory</span> [Engl. Vers. <span class="ital">worship</span>, in the old English sense of <span class="ital">honour, respect</span>], in <a href="/luke/14-10.htm" title="But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade you comes, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with you.">Luke 14:10</a>. This is appropriately so.—<span class="greekheb">ἔσχατον</span>) not merely a lower place, but the lowest of all. He who is once bidden to give place, is put away to a distance [from the Lord of the feast].<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[143] The Subjunctive of the first verb, in each instance, follows the <span class="greekheb">μήποτε</span> regularly, as being contingent; but the second verb, in each instance, follows, as it is regarded as not contingent, but <span class="ital">sure to follow</span> as the consequence of the first.—ED. and TRANSL.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="10"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-10.htm">Luke 14:10</a></div><div class="verse">But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.</div><a href="/luke/14-10.htm" title="But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade you comes, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with you.">Luke 14:10</a>. <span class="greekheb">Πορευθεὶς</span>, <span class="ital">having gone</span> [<span class="ital">Go and</span>]) <span class="ital">i.e</span>. in taking the lowest place, do so with alacrity and from the heart [this is the force of <span class="greekheb">πορευθεὶς</span>].—[<span class="greekheb">τὸν ἔσχατον</span>, <span class="ital">the lowest</span>) He who sets himself before even one, may possibly be forced to give place to that one. Therefore it is good to take the lowest place of all. No wrong that you can do to yourself, can inflict less of real loss upon you than this, if indeed it should happen that without thinking of it you should thereby do to yourself a wrong.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">προσαναβῆθι</span>) <span class="ital">go up higher to</span> others, who are [like thyself] ‘honourable’ guests. <a href="/proverbs/25-7.htm" title="For better it is that it be said to you, Come up here; than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen.">Proverbs 25:7</a>, LXX., <span class="greekheb">κρεῖσσον γάρ σοι τὸ ῥηθῆναι ἀναβῆναι</span>, <span class="greekheb">ἢ ταπεινῶσαί σε ἐν προσώπῳ δυνάστου</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="11"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-11.htm">Luke 14:11</a></div><div class="verse">For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.</div><a href="/luke/14-11.htm" title="For whoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.">Luke 14:11</a>. <span class="greekheb">Πᾶς</span>, <span class="ital">every one</span>) A weighty word. [An axiom very often repeated, and that with the most impressive force; ch. <a href="/luke/18-14.htm" title="I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.">Luke 18:14</a>; <a href="/matthew/23-12.htm" title="And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.">Matthew 23:12</a>.—V. g.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="12"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-12.htm">Luke 14:12</a></div><div class="verse">Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor <i>thy</i> rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.</div><a href="/luke/14-12.htm" title="Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.">Luke 14:12</a>. [<span class="greekheb">Τῷ κεκληκότι</span>, <span class="ital">to him that had bidden Him</span>) This Pharisee was not one of the worst stamp; see <a href="/luke/14-14.htm" title="And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.">Luke 14:14</a>.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">ἄριστον ἢ δεῖπνον</span>, <span class="ital">a dinner</span> [rather the <span class="ital">morning meal</span>, or <span class="ital">breakfast</span>], <span class="ital">or a supper</span> [rather <span class="ital">a dinner</span>]) More usually there is made the simple mention of supper: therefore the meal at this time may have been the early meal [<span class="greekheb">ἄριστον</span>, prandium, <span class="ital">breakfast</span> or <span class="ital">luncheon</span>]. See <a href="/luke/5-1.htm" title="And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed on him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,">Luke 5:1</a>; <a href="/luke/5-25.htm" title="And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that where on he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.">Luke 5:25</a>.—<span class="greekheb">μὴ φώνει τοὺς φίλους</span>, <span class="ital">do not give an invitation to thy friends</span>) that is to say, <span class="ital">I do not tell thee to invite thy friends</span>, etc. Jesus leaves as it were in their own place [as generally recognised] invitations which arise out of a natural or social tie of connection. He Himself enjoins [besides] a better class of invitations. He does not altogether abolish the offices of friendly courtesy.—<span class="greekheb">πλουσίους</span>, [when they happen to be] <span class="ital">rich</span>) This epithet is to be joined to <span class="greekheb">τοὺς φίλους</span>—<span class="greekheb">ἀδελφοὺς</span>—<span class="greekheb">συγγενεῖς</span>—<span class="greekheb">γείτονας</span>, <span class="ital">those of thy friends, brethren, relatives, neighbours who may be rich</span>, but who are often neglected when they are poor: But the epithet chiefly belongs to <span class="greekheb">γείτονας</span>, <span class="ital">neighbours</span>; to which four classes of those well-off in the world, there are opposed as many classes of those who are not so in <a href="/luke/14-13.htm" title="But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:">Luke 14:13</a>,—<span class="greekheb">μήποτε</span>—<span class="greekheb">ἀνταπόδομα</span>, <span class="ital">lest—a recompense</span>) This kind of fear is unknown to the world, as is also fear of riches [<span class="ital">Give me</span> neither poverty <span class="ital">nor riches</span>], <a href="/proverbs/30-8.htm" title="Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:">Proverbs 30:8</a>. This is the foundation of true liberality, and <span class="greekheb">αὐταρκεία</span>, <span class="ital">independent contentedness</span>. Who is there that would wish that all his acts in this life should be recompensed according to their desert? [And yet there are not wanting persons, who wish that everything whatever, which they give or lend, should be most quickly, abundantly, and with accumulated interest, repaid to them: nay they even hunt after both peculiar privileges and undeserved opportunities which for crushing many others, with such great eagerness, that one might suppose that there was no resurrection at hand or recompense of men’s deed, nay, indeed, as if nothing is to be taken away (wrested) from those, who practically deny their faith in things future by their unbridled panting after things present. At what a fearful cost do these things present stand to not a few persons, with whom they are turned into a matter of plunder and rapacity! Happy is he, who is not loath to wait (for his good things). Do not be unduly chagrined, if at any time it will happen that in some case you fail (are disappointed) in the world. But beware of judging rather harshly of others, whom, whether you will or not, you cannot but perceive to have precedency given to them above yourself.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">καὶ γενήσεται</span>) Concerning this construction, <span class="greekheb">μήποτε καὶ αὐτοί σε ἀντικαλέσωσι</span> [Subj.], <span class="greekheb">καὶ γενήσεταί</span> [Indic.], <span class="greekheb">σοι ἀνταπόδομα</span>, the exact counterpart to which occurs in <a href="/luke/14-9.htm" title="And he that bade you and him come and say to you, Give this man place; and you begin with shame to take the lowest room.">Luke 14:9</a> [where see note], a judgment may be formed from the note on <a href="/mark/3-27.htm" title="No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.">Mark 3:27</a>, which see. From not observing this, many have altered <span class="greekheb">γενήσεται</span> to <span class="greekheb">γένηται</span>.[144]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[144] However the oldest authorities support <span class="greekheb">γένηται</span>, not <span class="greekheb">γενἡσεται</span>, AB<span class="ital">a</span> Vulg. Iren. (‘fiat’) Cypr. <span class="ital">bc</span> alone have ‘erit.’—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="13"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-13.htm">Luke 14:13</a></div><div class="verse">But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:</div><a href="/luke/14-13.htm" title="But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:">Luke 14:13</a>. <span class="greekheb">Κάλεῖ</span>) <span class="ital">invite, bid, call</span>, simply; not <span class="greekheb">φώνει</span>,[145] as in <a href="/luke/14-12.htm" title="Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.">Luke 14:12</a>, <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΦΩΝΕῖΝ</span></span></span> conveys the idea of something more loud (clear) and formal (solemn).—<span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΠΤΩΧΟῪς</span></span></span>, <span class="ital">the poor</span>) It is such whom God Himself invites <a href="/luke/14-21.htm" title="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 here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.">Luke 14:21</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[145] <span class="ital">Issue a formal invitation</span>, lit. invite with a loud voice, <span class="greekheb">φωνή</span>.—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="14"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-14.htm">Luke 14:14</a></div><div class="verse">And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.</div><a href="/luke/14-14.htm" title="And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.">Luke 14:14</a>. <span class="greekheb">Γὰρ</span>, <span class="ital">for</span>) There is nothing left without retribution.—<span class="greekheb">σοὶ</span>, <span class="ital">to thee</span>) as being a friend of the Saviour.—<span class="greekheb">ἀναστάσει</span>, <span class="ital">the resurrection</span>) Before the resurrection there is not a full retribution, but rather, whilst life lasts, an opportunity for further sowing against the final harvest of recompense; and after death, there is a state of rest [not of full recompense]. See <a href="/revelation/14-13.htm" title="And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from now on: Yes, said the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.">Revelation 14:13</a>.—<span class="greekheb">τῶν δικάιων</span>, <span class="ital">of the just</span>) <a href="/acts/24-15.htm" title="And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.">Acts 24:15</a> [<a href="/matthew/25-46.htm" title="And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.">Matthew 25:46</a>; <a href="/john/5-29.htm" title="And shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.">John 5:29</a>.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="15"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-15.htm">Luke 14:15</a></div><div class="verse">And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed <i>is</i> he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.</div><a href="/luke/14-15.htm" title="And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.">Luke 14:15</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἀκούσας</span>, <span class="ital">having heard</span>) and having been touched thereby. [However one feels inclined to suspect, that something of a worldly character crept into His thoughts concerning the kingdom of GOD.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">μακάριος</span>, <span class="ital">blessed</span>) Alluding to the <span class="greekheb">μακάριος</span>, <span class="ital">blessed</span>, in <a href="/luke/14-14.htm" title="And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.">Luke 14:14</a>. Often this epithet includes in its signification the idea of something that is rare and uncommon. Comp. <a href="/luke/14-24.htm" title="For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.">Luke 14:24</a>. It is not enough to pronounce godly men ‘blessed;’ but each must exert himself for his part to the best of his ability. Comp. the following verses: also ch. <a href="/context/luke/13-23.htm" title="Then said one to him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said to them,...">Luke 13:23-24</a>.—<span class="greekheb">φάγεται</span>) <span class="ital">shall eat</span>.—<span class="greekheb">ἄρτον</span>) Many read <span class="greekheb">ἄριστον</span>; but the reading <span class="greekheb">ἄρτον</span> is better established, especially as there is joined to it the verb <span class="greekheb">φάγεται</span>, which is more appropriate to <span class="greekheb">ἄρτον</span>, than <span class="greekheb">ἄριστον</span>: comp. <a href="/luke/14-1.htm" title="And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.">Luke 14:1</a> [<span class="greekheb">φαγεῖν ἄρτον</span>].[146] However at that time it seems to have been the <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ἌΡΙΣΤΟΝ</span></span></span>, <span class="ital">prandium, breakfast</span> or <span class="ital">luncheon, the early meal</span>: see note on <a href="/luke/14-12.htm" title="Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.">Luke 14:12</a>. On that account it is worthy of the greater attention that in the parable set before them in <a href="/luke/14-16.htm" title="Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:">Luke 14:16</a>, it is a <span class="greekheb">δεῖπνον</span>, <span class="ital">cæna,</span> <span class="ital">supper</span> (<span class="ital">our late dinner</span>), which is specified.[147]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[146] All the oldest authorities have <span class="greekheb">ἄρτον</span>. None but inferior uncial MSS. <span class="greekheb">ἄριστον</span>.—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[147] No doubt alluding to the coming marriage <span class="ital">supper, at the end</span> of the day of the present <span class="ital">last</span> dispensation; <a href="/1_corinthians/10-11.htm" title="Now all these things happened to them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world are come.">1 Corinthians 10:11</a>, at the end, <a href="/revelation/19-9.htm" title="And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God.">Revelation 19:9</a>.—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="16"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-16.htm">Luke 14:16</a></div><div class="verse">Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:</div><a href="/luke/14-16.htm" title="Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:">Luke 14:16</a>. <span class="greekheb">Μέγα</span>, <span class="ital">great</span>) Both a sumptuous supper and one capable of satisfying abundantly many. What is meant is the kingdom of grace, in so far as through it the entrance is to be to the kingdom of glory.—<span class="greekheb">ἐκάλεσε</span>, <span class="ital">bade, invited</span>) This word forms the bond of connection between the two discourses on the subject of <span class="ital">banqueting</span> or <span class="ital">entertainments</span>, such as are calculated to lead to <span class="ital">blessedness, Call</span> (<span class="ital">invite</span>) <span class="ital">the poor to thee: Obey the call</span> (<span class="ital">invitation</span>) of God.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="17"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-17.htm">Luke 14:17</a></div><div class="verse">And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.</div><a href="/luke/14-17.htm" title="And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.">Luke 14:17</a>. <span class="greekheb">Εἰπεῖν</span>, <span class="ital">to say</span>) The successive steps of the gradation are to be observed: <a href="/luke/14-17.htm" title="And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.">Luke 14:17</a>, <span class="greekheb">εἰπεῖν</span>, to say, <span class="greekheb">κεκλημένοις</span>, <span class="ital">to the called</span>: <a href="/luke/14-21.htm" title="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 here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.">Luke 14:21</a>, <span class="greekheb">εἰσάγαγε</span>, <span class="ital">bring in</span>, <span class="greekheb">τοὺς πτωχοῦς</span>, <span class="ital">the poor</span>: <a href="/luke/14-23.htm" title="And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.">Luke 14:23</a>, <span class="greekheb">ἀνάγκασον</span>, <span class="ital">compel</span>, <span class="greekheb">εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">i.e. those who are in the highways</span>, 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. [<span class="ital">The called</span> are of Israel.—V. g.—<span class="greekheb">ἤδη</span>) <span class="ital">already</span> now. Herein the time of the New Testament is shown to be the present time.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="18"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-18.htm">Luke 14:18</a></div><div class="verse">And they all with one <i>consent</i> began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.</div><a href="/luke/14-18.htm" title="And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.">Luke 14:18</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἤρξαντο</span>, <span class="ital">they began</span>) Previously they had professed for their part to be in a state of expectation [waiting for the call to be given].—<span class="greekheb">ἀπὸ μιᾶς</span>) ‘Elliptical,’ says Camerarius, who adds, “<span class="greekheb">ἀπὸ μιᾶς</span>, viz. <span class="greekheb">γνώμης</span>, <span class="ital">with one consent</span> or <span class="ital">mind</span> (with unanimity); or <span class="greekheb">ἀπὸ μιᾶς παραιτήσεως</span> (<span class="ital">with one declining</span>), <span class="ital">i.e. they all alike began to decline the invitation</span>. So almost similarly in Iliad <span class="greekheb">βʼ</span>, <span class="greekheb">εἴγε ποτʼ ἔσγε μιάν βουλεύσομεν</span>, namely, supplying <span class="greekheb">βουλὴν</span>, <span class="ital">if ever we shall deliberate with unity of counsel among us</span>: and so elsewhere, <span class="greekheb">οὐχ ὁσιή</span>, <span class="greekheb">κταμένοισιν ἐτʼ ἀνδράσιν εὐχετάασθαι</span>, namely, <span class="greekheb">εὐχή</span>, <span class="ital">the vaunting is not pious</span> wherewith one vaunts <span class="ital">over the dead</span>. And in Psalms 26, <span class="greekheb">μιὰν ᾐτησάμην παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου</span>, namely, <span class="greekheb">αἴτησιν</span>; and in Psalms 57, <span class="greekheb">εὐθείας κρίνετε υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων</span>, namely, <span class="greekheb">κρίσεις</span>.” [—<span class="greekheb">παραιτεῖσθαι</span>, <span class="ital">to make excuse</span>) “To buy a piece of ground,” etc., are things not bad in themselves; but it is bad to be entangled and encumbered by such things, and to make as our pretext necessity in the case of earthly things combined with (alleged) impossibility (<a href="/luke/14-26.htm" title="If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.">Luke 14:26</a>, <span class="greekheb">οὐ δύναμαι ἐλθεῖν</span>, <span class="ital">I cannot come</span>) in the case of spiritual things.—V. g.—<span class="greekheb">αὐτῷ</span>, <span class="ital">to Him</span>) who had prepared the banquet.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">ἄγρον</span>, <span class="ital">a field</span> [piece of ground]) In this verse there is implied <span class="ital">a farm</span>, in the following verse, <span class="ital">trafficking, merchandise</span>. Comp. <a href="/matthew/22-5.htm" title="But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:">Matthew 22:5</a> [They went their ways, one to his <span class="ital">farm</span>, another to his <span class="ital">merchandise</span>]. The verb, <span class="greekheb">ἠγόρασα</span>, <span class="ital">I have bought</span>, repeated in both cases, <a href="/context/luke/14-18.htm" title="And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused....">Luke 14:18-19</a>, implies eagerness to make gain, as is the usual feeling whilst the transaction is still recent. To a worldly man when he is made sensible of the Divine call, all vain things are new and sweet.—[<span class="greekheb">ἠγόρασα</span>, <span class="ital">I have bought</span>) It is profitable to allege on the opposite side as a ground for denying the world, <span class="ital">another and very different</span> purchase of a field (the Gospel-field containing the pearl of great price), <a href="/matthew/13-44.htm" title="Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to treasure hid in a field; the which when a man has found, he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.">Matthew 13:44</a>, <span class="ital">another</span> kind of plowing (the Gospel-plow), <a href="/luke/9-62.htm" title="And Jesus said to him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.">Luke 9:62</a>, in fine, <span class="ital">another</span> espousal (viz. to Christ), <a href="/2_corinthians/11-2.htm" title="For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.">2 Corinthians 11:2</a>.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">ἔχω ἀνάγκην</span>, <span class="ital">I must needs, I feel it necessary</span>) Often there meet together the most acceptable seasons of grace, and <span class="ital">the most urgent</span> calls of worldly business. This man makes as his pretext a feigned necessity: The second, a mere inclination after other things, <a href="/luke/14-19.htm" title="And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.">Luke 14:19</a>, <span class="greekheb">πορευόμαι</span>, <span class="ital">I go</span>; The third, <a href="/luke/14-20.htm" title="And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.">Luke 14:20</a>, a perverse allegation of impossibility, <span class="ital">I cannot</span> come. This last one declares expressly that <span class="ital">he cannot</span>; the two former declare that they <span class="ital">will</span> not, but use a courteous formula of apology. The holy <span class="ital">hatred</span> (<span class="greekheb">μισεῖ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ</span>) spoken of in <a href="/luke/14-26.htm" title="If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.">Luke 14:26</a> [if they had felt it] could have healed them all of their excuses. However the variety in their modes of rejecting the invitation lay not so much in their state of mind [which was the same in all three] as in the objects on which their rejection of it rested, “the piece of land,” “the oxen,” “the wife.” Comp. Matt. l. c.—<span class="greekheb">ἐρωτῶ</span>, <span class="ital">I beg, I pray</span>, thee) A most unworthy and wretched prayer (request) whereby the kingdom of God is refused.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="19"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-19.htm">Luke 14:19</a></div><div class="verse">And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.</div><a href="/luke/14-19.htm" title="And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.">Luke 14:19</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἠγόρασα</span>, <span class="ital">I have bought</span>) <a href="/1_corinthians/7-30.htm" title="And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;">1 Corinthians 7:30</a>.—<span class="greekheb">πέντε</span>, <span class="ital">five</span>) A purchase by no means small.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="20"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-20.htm">Luke 14:20</a></div><div class="verse">And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.</div><a href="/luke/14-20.htm" title="And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.">Luke 14:20</a>. <span class="greekheb">Γυναῖκα</span>) See <a href="/luke/14-6.htm" title="And they could not answer him again to these things.">Luke 14:6</a>. Comp. <a href="/1_corinthians/7-30.htm" title="And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;">1 Corinthians 7:30</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/7-29.htm" title="But this I say, brothers, the time is short: it remains, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;">1 Corinthians 7:29</a>.—<span class="greekheb">οὐ δύναμαι</span>, <span class="ital">I cannot</span>) This excuser of himself, the more plausible and fair-looking is the excuse which he thinks he has, is in proportion the more blunt in his refusal.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="21"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-21.htm">Luke 14:21</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><a href="/luke/14-21.htm" title="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 here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.">Luke 14:21</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἀπήγγειλε</span>, <span class="ital">reported</span>) It is the part of ministers to lay before the Lord in prayer an account of the obedience and disobedience of their hearers.—<span class="greekheb">ὀργισθεὶς</span>, <span class="ital">being angry</span>) Therefore He had invited them with entire sincerity.—<span class="greekheb">ἔξελθε</span>, <span class="ital">go out</span>) So <a href="/luke/14-23.htm" title="And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.">Luke 14:23</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ταχέως</span>, <span class="ital">quickly</span>) 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.—<span class="greekheb">πλατείας</span>, <span class="ital">streets</span>) which are larger.—<span class="greekheb">ῥύμας</span>, <span class="ital">lanes</span>) which are smaller.—<span class="greekheb">τῆς πόλεως</span>, <span class="ital">of the city</span>) 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.)]—<span class="greekheb">τοὺς πτωχοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">the poor</span>) Those already <span class="ital">called</span> [<span class="greekheb">κεκλημένοι</span>, <a href="/luke/14-24.htm" title="For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.">Luke 14:24</a>] were those, who were accounted among the Jews to be the best men, <a href="/luke/14-1.htm" title="And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.">Luke 14:1</a>; <a href="/luke/14-3.htm" title="And Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?">Luke 14:3</a> [“the chief Pharisees and lawyers”]; <span class="ital">the poor in the streets</span> are the “Publicans and sinners” [who welcome the invitation in], ch. <a href="/luke/15-1.htm" title="Then drew near to him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.">Luke 15:1</a> : see <a href="/matthew/21-31.htm" title="Whether of them two did the will of his father? They say to him, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.">Matthew 21:31</a>.—<span class="greekheb">πτωχοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">the poor</span>) whom otherwise no one feels disposed to invite.—<span class="greekheb">ἀναπήρους</span>, <span class="ital">the maimed</span>) whom no <span class="ital">wife</span> (woman) would take, <a href="/luke/14-20.htm" title="And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.">Luke 14:20</a>.—<span class="greekheb">χωλοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">the lame</span>) who cannot go (<span class="greekheb">πορεύομαι</span>), <a href="/luke/14-19.htm" title="And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.">Luke 14:19</a>.—<span class="greekheb">τυφλοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">the blind</span>) who cannot <span class="ital">see</span> (<span class="greekheb">ἰδεῖν</span>, <a href="/luke/14-18.htm" title="And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.">Luke 14:18</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="22"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-22.htm">Luke 14:22</a></div><div class="verse">And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.</div><a href="/luke/14-22.htm" title="And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.">Luke 14:22</a>. <span class="greekheb">Γέγονεν</span>, <span class="ital">it is done</span>) Comp. <a href="/ezekiel/9-11.htm" title="And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as you have commanded me.">Ezekiel 9:11</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="23"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-23.htm">Luke 14:23</a></div><div class="verse">And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel <i>them</i> to come in, that my house may be filled.</div><a href="/luke/14-23.htm" title="And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.">Luke 14:23</a>. <span class="greekheb">Φραγμοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">hedges</span>) which are the house-walls of beggars [the only kind of houses they have.]—[<span class="greekheb">εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">into the highways</span>) Pure unmixed paganism is hereby meant.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">ἀνάγκασον εἰσελθεῖν</span>, <span class="ital">compel them to come in</span>) It is not compulsion of every kind that is meant: for he who is altogether dragged or hurried by force cannot be said to <span class="ital">come in</span> [which implies a voluntary act]. Comp. the <span class="greekheb">ἠνάγκασεν</span>, <a href="/matthew/14-22.htm" title="And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.">Matthew 14:22</a>, “He <span class="ital">constrained</span> His disciples,” etc. [which does not mean physical force compulsion, but <span class="ital">by urgent command induced</span>]; <a href="/2_corinthians/12-11.htm" title="I am become a fool in glorying; you have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very most chief apostles, though I be nothing.">2 Corinthians 12:11</a>; <a href="/galatians/2-14.htm" title="But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, If you, being a Jew, live after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compel you the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?">Galatians 2:14</a>; <span class="greekheb">παραβιάζεσθαι</span>, in <a href="/luke/24-29.htm" title="But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.">Luke 24:29</a>; <a href="/acts/16-15.htm" title="And when she was baptized, and her household, she sought us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.">Acts 16:15</a>. It was in altogether different ways that Saul, when mad with zeal for Judaism, <span class="ital">compelled</span> men, and Paul the servant of Jesus Christ <span class="ital">compelled</span> men. [The later the call is, the more strongly urgent in proportion is he; <a href="/luke/14-23.htm" title="And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.">Luke 14:23</a>, <span class="greekheb">εἰπεῖν</span>, <span class="ital">say</span>, <a href="/luke/14-17.htm" title="And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.">Luke 14:17</a>, <span class="greekheb">εἰσάγαγε</span>, <span class="ital">bring in</span>, <a href="/luke/14-21.htm" title="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 here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.">Luke 14:21</a>, <span class="greekheb">ἀνάγκασον</span>, <span class="ital">compel</span>, <a href="/luke/14-23.htm" title="And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.">Luke 14:23</a>, are in successive gradation (form an ascending climax).—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">γεμισθῇ</span>, <span class="ital">may be filled</span>) Neither nature nor grace admits of a vacuum. The blessed ones form a multitude, which acquires the greatest portion of its fulness in the last periods of the world. [In consonance with this is the prophecy that Christ after “having seen the travail of His soul <span class="ital">shall be satisfied</span>,” <a href="/isaiah/53-11.htm" title="He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.">Isaiah 53:11</a>.—V. g.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="24"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-24.htm">Luke 14:24</a></div><div class="verse">For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.</div><a href="/luke/14-24.htm" title="For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.">Luke 14:24</a>. <span class="greekheb">Γὰρ</span>, <span class="ital">for</span>) This is to be referred to <span class="greekheb">ἐξελθε</span>, <span class="ital">Go out</span> in <a href="/luke/14-23.htm" title="And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.">Luke 14:23</a>. The Lord now seeks any persons whatever, rather than those who had been bidden, and yet rejected the invitation. [Nor is there any longer any room left open for the despisers of the Lord’s goodness.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">ὑμῖν</span>, <span class="ital">unto you</span>) The plural appertains to the ‘poor,’ the ‘maimed,’ etc., who had been brought in.—<span class="greekheb">τῶν ἀνδρῶν</span>, <span class="ital">of the men</span>) men of distinction and wealth though they were.—<span class="greekheb">ἐκείνων</span>, <span class="ital">of those men</span>) The pronoun has the force of putting them to a distance [the Lord putting them away from Him]. Here too that common saying holds good, “The absent must go without” [must want. He who absents himself must have no share in the good things of the supper].—<span class="greekheb">γεύσεται</span>, <span class="ital">shall even taste</span>) much less be allowed to enjoy. The contumacious Jews fall short of even the kingdom of grace [not to say the kingdom of <span class="ital">glory</span>] and any <span class="ital">taste</span> of it.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="25"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-25.htm">Luke 14:25</a></div><div class="verse">And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,</div><A name="26"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-26.htm">Luke 14:26</a></div><div class="verse">If any <i>man</i> come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.</div><a href="/luke/14-26.htm" title="If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.">Luke 14:26</a>. [<span class="greekheb">Εἴ τις</span>, <span class="ital">if any man</span>) Wherever the greatest multitude of men flocked together, there at times Jesus used especial sternness of language.—V. g.]—<span class="greekheb">οὐ μισεῖ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ</span>, <span class="ital">doth not hate his father</span>) viz. <span class="ital">hate his father</span>, etc., in that respect, in which he is bound to hate <span class="ital">himself</span> (<span class="greekheb">τὴν εἁυτοῦ ψυχήν</span>), namely, whereinsoever <span class="ital">father</span>, etc., or <span class="ital">self</span> are inconsistent with love to Christ [are averse from Christ]. This text applies to that time especially, in which few were really following Christ: many hated, who deserved to be hated themselves. This hatred must be understood not merely in the comparative [<span class="ital">hate</span>, i.e. <span class="ital">love less</span>] or conditional and qualified sense, but even absolutely: For whoever hath derived from Christ a ripened knowledge, taste, and appetite for God and heavenly good things (<a href="/luke/14-16.htm" title="Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:">Luke 14:16</a>, the viands of the “great supper”), has also a contempt and <span class="ital">hatred</span> of self and of the whole creature that [of the whole creation, so far as it] is subject to vanity, a hatred that is at once high-spirited and yet at the same time removed from all bitterness of feeling. Comp. note, <a href="/john/12-25.htm" title="He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.">John 12:25</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ἀδελφοὺς</span>, <span class="ital">brethren</span>) Comp. <a href="/luke/14-12.htm" title="Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.">Luke 14:12</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ἔτι δὲ</span>, <span class="ital">yea besides</span> his own life) What is dearest to man, himself. Often he who has seemed to attain to a lower degree of this holy hatred, proves wanting in a higher degree of it.—<span class="greekheb">τὴν εἁυτοῦ ψυχὴν</span>, <span class="ital">his own soul</span> or <span class="ital">life</span>) <span class="ital">i.e. himself</span>.—<span class="greekheb">μαθητὴς εἶναι</span>, <span class="ital">my disciple</span> he cannot <span class="ital">be</span>) The order is reversed in the following verse, <span class="greekheb">εἶναι μαθητὴς</span>, <span class="ital">be</span> my <span class="ital">disciple</span>. In both passages the accent in pronunciation falls upon the word which stands first.[148]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[148] Tisch. however, with BLX Fuld. MS. of Vulg. (“esse meus discipulus:” and indeed the other MSS. “meus esse disc,” and so Hilary) reads <span class="greekheb">εἶναί μου μαθητής</span>. But Lachm. reads as Beng. and Rec. Text, <span class="greekheb">μου μαθητὴς εἶναι</span>, with AD<span class="ital">abc</span>, Orig. 1,299<span class="ital">b</span>, twice.—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="27"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-27.htm">Luke 14:27</a></div><div class="verse">And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.</div><a href="/luke/14-27.htm" title="And whoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.">Luke 14:27</a>. <span class="greekheb">Καὶ</span>) “whosoever doth not bear his cross,” <span class="ital">and yet</span> (not, <span class="ital">and does not come</span>) <span class="ital">comes</span>, and walks <span class="ital">after me</span>, as ye do, as though he was wishing to be my disciple. [But Engl. Ver. takes it in the way which Beng. rejects, “Whosoever doth not bear his cross <span class="ital">and</span> come after me,” etc.] Comp. note, <a href="/matthew/16-24.htm" title="Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.">Matthew 16:24</a>.[149]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[149] <span class="greekheb">Ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν</span>, <span class="ital">to come after Me</span>, denotes mere status and profession: But <span class="greekheb">ἀκολουθεῖν</span>, <span class="ital">to follow</span>, denotes actual obedience.—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="28"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-28.htm">Luke 14:28</a></div><div class="verse">For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have <i>sufficient</i> to finish <i>it</i>?</div><a href="/luke/14-28.htm" title="For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?">Luke 14:28</a>. <span class="greekheb">Πύργον</span>) <span class="ital">a strong-hold</span> [‘tower’].—<span class="greekheb">καθίσας</span>, <span class="ital">having sat down</span>) so as to give himself time for making a summary calculation of his means and resources. So too in <a href="/luke/14-31.htm" title="Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first, and consults whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?">Luke 14:31</a> [<span class="greekheb">ψηφίζει</span>, <span class="ital">calculates</span>). This calculation of the expenses of building, or a consultation on a question of war, are things of no inconsiderable moment. But do thou see to it, whether thou hast ever bestowed more careful deliberation on the (infinitely more momentous) question of eternal salvation or else misery. Easy is the descent to hell!—V. g.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="29"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-29.htm">Luke 14:29</a></div><div class="verse">Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish <i>it</i>, all that behold <i>it</i> begin to mock him,</div><a href="/luke/14-29.htm" title="Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,">Luke 14:29</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἄρξωνται</span>, <span class="ital">begin to</span>) No one laughs at the man, whose attempts are not abortive.[150]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[150] It is only when they prove failures, men then <span class="ital">begin</span> to laugh.—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="30"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-30.htm">Luke 14:30</a></div><div class="verse">Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.</div><a href="/luke/14-30.htm" title="Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.">Luke 14:30</a>. <span class="greekheb">Οὗτος</span>, <span class="ital">this man</span>) A proper name is meant. They commonly put N. N.[151]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[151] The abstract expression of a proper name; the name to be supplied as the particular case may require. As in the Book of Common Prayer, Catechism, “What is your name?”—“M. or N.”—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="31"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-31.htm">Luke 14:31</a></div><div class="verse">Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?</div><a href="/luke/14-31.htm" title="Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first, and consults whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?">Luke 14:31</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἣ</span>, <span class="ital">or</span>) Christianity is a great and difficult thing. It is therefore compared with great and difficult things: such as is the undertaking of a costly building in one’s private concerns, of a war, in the case of public concerns. The former parable expresses the ‘hatred’ of “father, mother,” etc.: the second parable expresses hatred of one’s “own life.”—<span class="greekheb">βασιλεὺς</span>, <span class="ital">king</span>) The Christian warfare has something royal and kingly in it.—<span class="greekheb">εἰς πόλεμον</span>, to engage <span class="ital">in war</span>). Comp. <a href="/genesis/32-24.htm" title="And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.">Genesis 32:24</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="32"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-32.htm">Luke 14:32</a></div><div class="verse">Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.</div><a href="/luke/14-32.htm" title="Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an ambassador, and desires conditions of peace.">Luke 14:32</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἐρωτᾷ</span>, <span class="ital">he beggeth</span>) The king finds it an easier matter to prevail on himself to expend [to expose to the risks of war] an army, than to beg a peace. This begging of peace, therefore, expresses the hatred of one’s own soul, wherewith one, having utterly denied self, gives himself up to dependence on pure and unmixed grace. We may also, by changing the figure, understand <span class="ital">peace</span> as the avoidance of hatred on the part of his own people, which is a bad kind of peace.[152]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[152] In this view faith will constitute “the good fight,” which ought to be persevered in, and no false <span class="ital">compromise</span> be made with the spiritual enemy without for the sake of escaping hatred at home, <span class="ital">i.e.</span> among <span class="ital">one’s friends</span>, or for the sake of indulging <span class="ital">self</span>, in the indulgence of the indolence as to the spiritual fight, so natural to us: this would be saying, “<span class="ital">Peace, peace</span>, where there is no peace,” <a href="/jeremiah/6-14.htm" title="They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.">Jeremiah 6:14</a>; <a href="/isaiah/57-21.htm" title="There is no peace, said my God, to the wicked.">Isaiah 57:21</a>.—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="33"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-33.htm">Luke 14:33</a></div><div class="verse">So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.</div><a href="/luke/14-33.htm" title="So likewise, whoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.">Luke 14:33</a>. <span class="greekheb">Οὐκ ἀποτάσσεται</span>, <span class="ital">doth not renounce</span> or <span class="ital">detach himself from</span> [bid farewell to]) The builder exercises self-denial as to (renounces), and <span class="ital">expends</span>, unhesitatingly, sums of money, the warrior his forces, and the disciple parents, and all ties of affection. The former two have a positive expenditure; the latter, a <span class="ital">negative</span> (self-denying) expenditure (the foregoing, where called on, of that which one might otherwise enjoy, home affections). [It is a mighty undertaking to compass the being a disciple of Christ. He is better to abstain from the attempt, who is not altogether well pleased with all the things which tend to the attainment of that object.—V. g.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="34"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-34.htm">Luke 14:34</a></div><div class="verse">Salt <i>is</i> good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?</div><a href="/luke/14-34.htm" title="Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his flavor, with which shall it be seasoned?">Luke 14:34</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἅλας</span>, <span class="ital">salt</span>) Which means the disciples: <a href="/matthew/5-13.htm" title="You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his flavor, with which shall it be salted? it is thereafter good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.">Matthew 5:13</a>; <a href="/mark/9-50.htm" title="Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltiness, with which will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.">Mark 9:50</a>. Salt is something pungent (sharp): let the Christian be so. See the preceding verse [in which the strong pungency which attends Christian self-renunciation is brought out strikingly.] [We must do sharply what is to be done, and must do it also gravely (seriously).[153]—V. g.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[153] In the Germ. <span class="ital">mit nachdruck</span>, “<span class="ital">with energy</span>.” Perhaps therefore ‘graviter’ is a misprint for ‘gnaviter.’—E. and T.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="35"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/14-35.htm">Luke 14:35</a></div><div class="verse">It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; <i>but</i> men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.</div><a href="/luke/14-35.htm" title="It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that has ears to hear, let him hear.">Luke 14:35</a>. <span class="greekheb">Οὔτε</span>, <span class="ital">neither</span>) That is to say, it brings with it neither immediate (direct) nor mediate (indirect) profit. The divine who is destitute of spiritual salt is not even politically profitable: <a href="/context/isaiah/9-14.htm" title="Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day....">Isaiah 9:14-15</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ἔξω</span>, <span class="ital">out</span>) There is sternness here, even in the mode of expression.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Gnomon of the New Testament by Johann Bengel<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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