Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 5:34
And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
34. the children of the bridechamber ] The friends of the bridegroom the paranymphs who accompanied him to meet the bride and her maidens; Jdg 14:11. The question would be specially forcible to John’s disciples who had heard him speak of “the joy of the friend of the bridegroom” (Joh 3:29).
fast ] St Matthew (Mat 9:15) uses the word ‘ mourn ’ which makes the antithesis more striking (Joh 16:20).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he said unto them,…. The disciples of John, or the Scribes and Pharisees:
can ye make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? signifying, that he was the bridegroom, and his disciples the children of the bride chamber; and that as it is unreasonable to expect, and morally impossible, that persons, attending the festivals of a nuptial solemnity, should be engaged in severe fastings; so it was not to be thought, that whilst Christ was corporeally present with his disciples, that they should be prevailed upon to live such an austere and mortified life.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Can ye ( ). So Luke, adding
make , , where Mark and Matthew have . All three have and expect the answer no.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Children of the bride – chamber. Better, as Rev., sons [] . See on Mr 2:19.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he said unto them,” (ho de lesous ei pen pros autous) “Then Jesus replied to them,” to their skeptical, doubting, fault-finding questions, Mar 2:19.
2) “Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast,” (me dunasthe tous huious tou mumphonos poiesai nesteusai) “You all can not make the heir-children of the bride-chamber to fast,” to be in fasting. The groomsmen or friends of the bridegroom who accompanied him to the house of the bride, then escorted the newly married couple to their new home. Fasting and mourning would be inappropriate at a wedding feast, see, or preparation for a wedding.
3) “While the bridegroom is with them?” (en ho mumphios met auton estin) “While the bridegroom is with and among them,” can you? Jesus was the Bridegroom, John the Baptist was the friend, and the church disciples were His bride, even then, Joh 3:28-30; Mat 9:15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(34) Can ye make . . .?The question is somewhat stronger in form than the simple, Can the children of the bride-chamber fast? in the other reports.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And Jesus said to them, “Can you make the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?”
Jesus therefore points out that such fasting would be inappropriate. The Bridegroom has come. The Kingly Rule of God is at hand. Those therefore who are benefiting from it should not be fasting but rejoicing.
His first point is that fasting is reserved for times of mourning and unhappiness, mourning over failure and unhappiness about sin, and especially mourning because God has not yet acted in history and the Messiah and the Holy Spirit’s outpouring have not come. But those who are appointed at a wedding to be with the bridegroom to sustain him cannot fast, for they would then mar the celebrations. Rather must they eat and drink and be joyful. A Jewish wedding lasted for seven days, and they were days of feasting and merriment during which the bridegroom would be celebrating. And he would have with him his closest friends to share his joy with him. To seek to fast under such circumstances would be an insult. (The Rabbis indeed excluded people at a wedding feast from the need to fast). Thus a unique occasion, and only a unique occasion exempted men from fasting.
This in itself was a remarkable claim, that because He had come men need not fast. It was to claim divine prerogative. Moses could not have said it. Elijah could not have said it. John the Baptiser could not have said it. It required a greater than they.
But unquestionably Jesus was conveying a deeper message even than this, as the next verse brings out. He was pointing out that the Messiah had come. He was pointing to Himself as the great Bridegroom whose presence meant that men need not fast, the great Bridegroom promised in the Scriptures. In Isa 62:5, the prophet had said “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you”. The picture there is emphasised and poignant. Isaiah points out that they have been called Forsaken, and their land Desolate, but they will be renamed because God delights in them and their land will be married. They will become God’s bride. He will be their Bridegroom. So there God is the Bridegroom, and His restored people are the Bride, and it is clearly pointing to the time of restoration. Thus Jesus, by describing Himself as the Bridegroom of God’s restored people, shows that He is uniquely standing in the place of God and introducing the time of restoration.
A similar vivid picture is also brought out in Jer 2:2 where the Lord says of His people, “I remember concerning you the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.” Here we have the Lord as the Bridegroom in waiting (compare Jer 2:32. Compare also Eze 16:8-14). It is thus very doubtful whether a discerning listener would fail to catch at least something of this implication.
Furthermore that Jesus emphatically saw Himself as the Bridegroom comes out elsewhere in the Gospels. Consider the marriage feast for the son (Mat 22:2-14) and the Bridegroom at the wedding where the foolish virgins were excluded (Mat 25:1-13), both clear pictures of Jesus. So His being the Bridegroom was a theme of His. And John the Baptiser described Him in the same way (Joh 3:29). Thus Jesus was by this declaring in another way that the ‘the Kingly Rule of God has drawn near’, and that He was a unique figure come from God, the heavenly Bridegroom, God’s Messiah.
But if God has come on earth as the Bridegroom, how can there be fasting by those who have recognised Him and welcomed Him? It would not be seemly. The others only fast because the truth has not come home to them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 5:34. The children, &c. The bridemen.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
34 And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
Ver. 34. See Trapp on “ Mat 9:15 “ See Trapp on “ Mar 2:19 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
34. ] I have remarked on the striking contrast between and , on Mat 9:15 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 5:34 . ., can ye make them fast? In Mt. and Mk., can they fast? Lk.’s form of the question points to the futility of prescriptions in the circumstances. The Master could not make His disciples fast even if He wished.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Can ye make = Ye surely cannot (Greek. me. App-105), can ye?
children, &c. = sons (App-108.) Hebrew idiom for the bridal party.
while = in (Greek. en App-104.) the time when.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
34.] I have remarked on the striking contrast between and , on Mat 9:15.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 5:34. , Surely ye cannot, can ye? make, etc.) As the Lat. num, this interrogation expects a negative answer.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the children: Jdg 14:10, Jdg 14:11, Psa 45:14, Son 2:6, Son 2:7, Son 3:10, Son 3:11, Son 5:8, Son 6:1, Mat 25:1-10, Rev 19:7-9
bridegroom: Psa 45:10-16, Isa 54:5, Isa 62:5, Zep 3:17, Mat 22:2, Joh 3:29, 2Co 11:2, Eph 5:25-27
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
Children of the bride-chamber were the close friends of the bridegroom. After the wedding the bridegroom would leave and then it would be appropriate for them to mourn. In the illustration Jesus likens himself to the bridegroom.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 5:34. Can ye make, etc. Luke brings out the reason why the objectors must fail to make the disciples fast.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 34
The children of the bride-chamber; the guests and friends at a bridal party.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:34 {7} And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
(7) Laws generally made without any consideration of circumstances; for fasting and other things of like sort are not only tyrannous but very harmful to the Church.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus compared the situation to a wedding, which calls for joy. He meant that He was the bridegroom who had come to claim His bride, Israel (cf. Isa 54:5-8; Isa 62:5; Jer 2:2; Hos 2:19-20; Hos 2:23; Ezekiel 16). His disciples were His friends who rejoiced at this prospect with Him. Therefore to compel them to fast was inappropriate. Thus Jesus rebuked His questioners. However, Jesus implied that the bridegroom would die. This was one of Jesus’ early intimations of His death. Then His disciples would fast. They probably did this after His crucifixion but before His resurrection. They also do it after His ascension and before His return to the earth (cf. Joh 16:16-24).