Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 14:9
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.
9. thou begin with shame to take the lowest room ] If, by the time that the guests are seated, it be found that some one has thrust himself into too high a position for his rank, when he is removed he will find all the other good places occupied. There is an obvious reference to Pro 25:6-7. How much the lesson was needed to check the arrogant pretensions of the Jewish theologians, is shewn again and again in the Talmud, where they assert no reward to be too good or too exalted for their merits. Thus at a banquet of King Alexander Jannaeus, the Rabbi Simeon Ben Shetach, in spite of the presence of some great Persian Satraps, had thrust himself at table between the King and Queen, and when rebuked for his intrusion, quoted in his defence Sir 15:5 , “Exalt wisdom, and she…shall make thee sit among princes.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9. the lowestnot a lowermerely [BENGEL].
with shame“To belowest is only ignominious to him who affects the highest”[BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he that bade thee and him,…. To the feast, and who is the master of it, and has a right to dispose of, and order his guests at his table, as he thinks fit:
come and say to thee, give this man place; pray rise up, and give this honourable man this seat, which is more suitable for a person of his rank and figure, and take another:
and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room; or place, which must unavoidably fill a man with shame and confusion; because hereby his pride and vanity, in affecting the uppermost room, will be publicly exposed; and he who before sat in the chief place, will have the mortification, before all the guests, to be seated in the lowest.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And say ( ). Changes to future indicative with as in 12:58.
Shalt begin with shame ( ). The moment of embarrassment.
To take the lowest place ( ). To hold down the lowest place, all the intermediate ones being taken.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Begin. Emphasizing the shame of the reluctant movement toward the lower place.
The lowest. Since the other, intervening places are all assigned.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And He that bade thee and him come,” (kai elthon ho se kai auton kalesas) “And the one who invited both you and him comes,” approaches you from the higher position, you have seized on your own.
2) “And say to thee,” (erei soi) “He will say to you,” inform you as a presumptuous, proud celebrity-seeking, self-exalting person.
3) “Give this man place;” (dos touto topon) “Give to this man (the) place,” the one you have covetously taken for the temporary honor.
4) “And thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.” (kai tote arkse meta aischunes ton eschaton topon katechein) “And then (at that point) you will begin with shame to take the last or lowest place,” of honor, to the foot of the class of honor at the feast, perhaps to the last seat available, as a matter of self-entrapped humiliation, while coveting, clamoring for exaltation, Pro 25:6-7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(9) And thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.At first sight the words seem to suggest lower motives than those by which the disciples of Christ should regulate their livesan artificial and calculating rather than a real humility. Three explanations may be given of what is a very real difficulty(1) That all precepts bearing directly upon social ethics start naturally, as in the Book of Proverbs (from which the form of the teaching is, indeed, directly derived, comp. Pro. 25:6-7), from the prudential rather than the spiritual view of life. (2) That there is in this counsel an adaptation of teaching that, left to itself, would have been higher, to the weaknesses of those who listened; a method, that as we have noted elsewhere, can hardly be defined in strictly accurate language, but, in its merely human aspects, might be regarded as involving some tinge of grave and solemn irony. From their own point of view even, they were grasping at the shadow and losing the substance, poor as that substance was. Their restless vanity was suicidal. (3) There is the deep ethical truth that every victory obtained, even under the influence of a lower motive, over a dominant weakness or strong temptation, strengthens the habit of self-control, and that the power thus developed tends in the nature of things to go on to further and yet further victories.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. And thou begin Yes ; begin, after having exalted thyself awhile, to lower thy crest.
With shame All the more heightened by the fact that all eyes notice the great man’s exaltation and thy humiliation at the same glance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And he who invited you and him shall come and say to you, ‘Give this man place,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.”
And the result would be that the host would say to them, ‘You are sitting in this man’s place’. Then with shame they would have to leave their choice place and move lower, but as all those lower seats would by now already be full, (distinguished guests regularly arrive the latest, and those who saw themselves as less distinguished would arrive early, as this man had), they would, filled with shame, have to take the lowest place. Their dishonour will be obvious to all.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
9 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.
Ver. 9. Thou begin with shame ] As passing for a proud fool: a style good enough for a self-exalter.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9. ] , not, ‘ thyself also ,’ (see ch. Luk 2:35 ,) but thee and him, as E. V.
, not dependent on , but future.
. ] The form of expression sets forth the reluctance and lingering with which it is done.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 14:9 . , etc.: the guests are supposed to have taken their places before the host comes in. : the shame would be most acutely felt at the beginning of the movement from the highest to the lowest place (Meyer). . ., the lowest place just vacated by the honoured guest, who is humble in spirit though highly esteemed, who therefore in his own person exemplifies the honour and glory of being called up by the host from the lowest to the highest place.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
place. Greek. topes.
begin. Compare Pro 25:6, Pro 25:7.
with. Greek. meta. App-104.
to take = to take (and keep in it).
lowest = last. Greek eschatosroom = place, as above. Compare Luk 14:22 with Luk 2:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] , not, thyself also, (see ch. Luk 2:35,) but thee and him, as E. V.
, not dependent on , but future.
.] The form of expression sets forth the reluctance and lingering with which it is done.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 14:9. , having come) Comp. Mat 22:11.- , and him) The dignity of the guests, and the relative degrees of that dignity, depend on the calling [ ]. The words , and him, are not repeated in Luk 14:10 [but only , He that bade or called thee]. For in this passage the words are employed as a motive for modesty [seeing that he too as well as thyself is called].-) The Indicative, shall say, after , Subjunctive, as presently after, in Luk 14:12, -, where see the note.[143]-, give) There is not added , Friend as there is in Luk 14:10.-, thou shalt begin) To be the last and lowest is not attended with ignominy, except in the case of one who aspired to a higher position.-, with shame) In antithesis to , glory [Engl. Vers. worship, in the old English sense of honour, respect], in Luk 14:10. This is appropriately so.-) 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].
[143] The Subjunctive of the first verb, in each instance, follows the regularly, as being contingent; but the second verb, in each instance, follows, as it is regarded as not contingent, but sure to follow as the consequence of the first.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
and thou: Est 6:6-12, Pro 3:35, Pro 11:2, Pro 16:18, Eze 28:2-10, Dan 4:30-34
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9
The host might wish to prefer the more honorable in assigning a seat. It would be humiliating to be directed to step down with the other guests looking on.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 14:9. He that bade thee. The proper person to decide both in the primary and deeper applications of the parable.
And then thou shalt begin with shame. Begin hints at the lingering in the coveted place, and the shame rises as the crestfallen one goes lower and lower.
The lowest place. Farthest away from the honorable places, since the intermediate ones would be al-already occupied.