Luke 14:16-24 Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:… When a person of respectable rank in society proposes to celebrate a feast in his house, he forthwith circulates his invitations to the friends he wishes to be of the party, either by card or by a verbal message, carried by a servant of the house, or a person hired for the purpose, and superbly decked, according to the rank of his employer. The following is a specimen of the form of invitation: "Such a person [naming him] sends best compliments to such another person [naming him also], and begs to inform him that as to-morrow there is a little gaiety to take place in his house, and he wishes his friends, by their presence, to grace and ornament with their feet the house of this poor individual, and thereby make it a garden of roses, he must positively come and honour the humble dwelling with his company." Having after this fashion gone to all the houses, and returned with assurance from the invited friends of their intention to come next day, a messenger is again despatched for them at the appointed time, to inform them that all the preparations for the banquet are completed. This second invitation is included by our Lord, and is very characteristic of Eastern manners. When Sir John Malcolm was invited to dine with the eldest son of the Shah, the invitation was given two days before, and one of the prince's attendants was despatched at the hour appointed for the banquet to tell him that all things were ready. And Morier also informs us, that having been engaged to dine with a Persian Khan, he did not go till his entertainer had sent to the English ambassador and his train to say that supper waited. After the same manner, the invitations to the great supper described in the parables, seem to have been issued a considerable time before celebration; and as the after invitation was sent, according to Eastern etiquette, to the guests invited, they must be understood as having accepted the engagement, so that the apologies they severally made were inadmissible, and could be regarded in no other light than as an affront put upon the generous entertainer, and an ungrateful return for all the splendid preparation he had made for their reception. (Biblical Things not Generally Known.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:WEB: But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. |
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