OET interlinear LUKE 14:24

14:24

For I tell you: The phrase For I tell you introduces an important statement about the people who refused to come to the banquet (14:18). The host wanted to emphasize this statement. Some ways to show this emphasis are:

• As a phrase before the master’s statement. For example:

  For let me tell you this

  Listen

  I assure you

• As an emphatic word within the master’s statement. For example:

  I will certainly not allow any of those men whom I originally invited to come to my feast.

See the notes on 3:8d and 10:12.

The pronoun you is plural in Greek. It probably refers here to the servant and the second group of invited guests who were already present in the house.

The command I tell you contrasts with the singular commands given to the servant in the preceding verses. Almost all English versions indicate with quotation marks that this command is part of the parable and gives the words of the host. However, Jesus probably implied that God would react in a similar way at the feast in the kingdom of God (see 14:15).There are three main ways to interpret the clause “I tell you” here. (1) “I” refers to the host in the parable, and “you^(plur)” refers to the servant and the group of guests who had already arrived. With this interpretation, the parable continues until the end of 14:24. Scholars who support this view include Bruce, Liefeld, Godet, Morris, Lenski, Arndt, and Reiling and Swellengrebel (Translator’s Handbook). (2) “I” refers to Jesus, and “you^(plur)” refers to the Pharisee and the other guests at the feast where Jesus was eating. With this interpretation Jesus concluded the parable in 14:23. In 14:24 he applied the parable to the future messianic banquet at which he himself will be the host. Scholars who support this view include Hendriksen, Bock, Fitzmyer, and Bailey. (3) A third view is that 14:24 represents a transition from the parable to its application. “I” refers either to the host of the parable, who figuratively addresses the people in the room with Jesus rather than the people in the parable, or else “I” represents Jesus who places himself in the role of the host. Scholars who support this view include Nolland and Green. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of scholars and almost all English versions.

not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet: The leader of the feast was speaking very strongly here. He meant that he would certainly not allow any of the people he had first invited to come to his feast. He was referring to those who had refused his first invitation (14:16–20). In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit:

I will not permit any of those men whom I invited at the beginning to eat any of my banquet.

will taste my banquet: This phrase indicates that the people who made excuses would not be allowed to attend the feast or to eat any of the food. In some languages, this phrase is clear and natural. Otherwise, you may use a more general phrase. Some of the ways to translate this phrase are:

will taste my dinner (NRSV)

will get even a bite of my food (CEV)

will eat with me (NCV)

my banquet: The phrase that the BSB translates as my banquet means “the banquet that I caused to be prepared.” It refers to the feast that the master had prepared for his guests.