Luke 14

Luke 14:1

And being upon an invitation persuaded to go on a sabbath day and dine with one of the Pharisees of great quality, a ruler or member of one of their consistories, they themselves that had thus invited him did insidiously and treacherously watch and observe what he would do, on purpose to take advantage against him (a thing contrary to all laws of hospitality). by way of prevention asked a question of the doctors of the law and Pharisees that were present, saying, Is the working of a cure on a sick man a thing forbidden, and so unlawful to be done upon a sabbath day?

[a] chief Pharisees] What is meant by rulers simply, rulers of the people, and rulers of the synagogues, hath been formerly shewed, note [c] Mark v. and note [g] Matt. ix, viz. that the rulers simply were the judges in their lesser consistories, in particular cities, or, when the context belonging to Jerusalem so enforceth it, those of the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem. Now the Pharisees, which are so oft mentioned in the gospel, were a particular sect in their religion, αἱρεσις, saith St. Paul, who was one of them, and that an improvement of the חִסְרִים, or hasidei, (as they were ἱκουσιαζόμενοι τῷ νόμῳ, 1 Mac. ii. 42, those that voluntarily performed some things which the law required not, and were contrary to the karæi or scripturarii, who were for that only which was commanded by law,) forming those things into doctrines or precepts, and obliging all to the performance of them, which the hasidei performed as freewill offerings, and so divided themselves from the rest of the profane world, (which did not as they did,) nay, from the hasidei themselves, (who performed as much as they, but did not think themselves or others obliged by law to do so,) and therefore were called פְּרוּשִׁים, Pharisees, ἀφωρισμίνοι, separate, or divided from other men; and by St. Paul, ἀκριβεντάτη αἱρεσις, a sect that required the most exact performances of any. By this it appears, that these were not any order or sort of men settled by law, which had ἄρχοντες, or rulers over them, but only a sect, of which some of all orders of men were, and indeed a prevailing sect, taken up by most of the chief men of the nation, the elders in the great council or sanhedrim in Jerusalem, and the rulers in the consistories in other cities; which therefore are called ἄρχοντες Φαρισαίοι, rulers, and those rulers Pharisees, one of whom is here spoken of, and styled τίς τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν Φαρισαίων, one of the rulers that were Pharisees.

Luke 14:5

And he said unto them, Which of you— 7—10. And being at this feast, he observed how desirous those persons (doctors of the law and Pharisees, &c.) were every of them to take place, or have the precedence at the feast, and thereupon, knowing their inclinations, he spake this parable to them, which imported how much more honourable it is for a man to set himself below than above his place, and how certain a way that is to get him honour.

Luke 14:11

For humility is the only thing that is valued or commended, or thought fit to be rewarded either by God or man. Let not thy entertainments be of those which can or are likely to entertain thee again, or to whom thou hast obligations of affinity, &c., for this is but a worthless way of hospitality, in which there is nothing commendable or thankworthy. 13, 14. The only commendable way, and that which it will be reasonable for God to reward, is, the entertaining of those that want, and who are not likely to make thee any return; for this, God will be thy debtor, and pay thee at the day of judgment; and there can be no such advantage to thee as that.

Luke 14:15

Upon this occasion one repeated that known saying among the rabbins, Blessed &c., that is, It is certainly a much happier thing to be feasted by God in his kingdom than by any man on earth; and therefore that is most true which was said, ver. 14, that it is more advantageous to any man to entertain the poor than any else.

Luke 14:18

[b] with one consent] Ἀπὸ μιᾶς is all one with the Syriac adverb כַּחֲרָא answering the Greek ἀπὸ, from; and חֲרָא being of the feminine numeral, which is μιᾶς, one. And there is little question but St. Luke so rendered that Syriac word. Now מַחֲרָא clearly signifies παραχρῆμα, εὐθίως, presently; and so ἐξ αὐτῆς, (which is all one literally

Luke 14:26

If any man offer to undertake my discipleship, and doth not prefer me before all others that are nearest to him, yea, and before his own life too, Matt. x. 37, he is not for my turn; and my service, being so sure to bring persecutions along with it, will not be for his.

Luke 14:27

And whosoever doth not come to me with a preparation of mind to suffer any thing, rather than part with me, is not fit for the turn.

28—30. For as he that sets on building, and hath not a stock to hold out, leaves his work imperfect, and becomes ridiculous;

31, 32. Or as he that designs a battle or a war, and is not provided with all necessaries to go thorough with it, had better never engage, or being engaged, should presently think of treating and compounding the matter;

Luke 14:34

[d] under her wings] Ἐπισυνάγειν ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, to gather under the wings seems to be a proverbial phrase among the Jews for gathering and admitting of proselytes. Thus in Maimonides, tit. Isuri bia, c. 13, speaking of the three ways of receiving proselytes, circumcision, baptism, sacrifice, he adds, וְכֵן לְדוֹרֹת, &c. “And in like manner through all ages, as oft as a Gentile would enter into the covenant and be gathered, תַּחַת כְּנַפֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה, under the wings of the divine Majesty, and take upon him, דּוֹל תּוֹרָה, the yoke of the law, &c.,” where “the wings of the divine Majesty,” referring to the manner whereby God signified his presence in the ark, and in the holy of holies, by the cherubim’s wings that covered the propitiatory, the being gathered under his wings is there set for his entering into the covenant, and attended with undertaking “the yoke of the law,” that is, obedience to his commands, and being his proselytes; and so here, Christ’s gathering as a bird under the wings, is the preaching the new covenant to them, and calling them all, as proselytes, to receive it. See note [a] 1 Cor. x.

Luke 14:35

[c] land] The meaning of εἰς γῆν here will be guessed, first, by that saying of Matt. v. 13, You are the salt of the earth, that is, the persons by whom the whole world of men must be seasoned; and, 2dly, by the use of the word ἡ γῆ, the earth, or the land, ordinarily for the men, the inhabitants of the earth; as 1 Sam. xxvii. 9, ἵτυπτε τὴν γῆν, smiting the earth, and the like very often. From whence it is easy to conclude, that for the salt to be useful, or fit εἰς γῆν, for the earth, is to be proper for the use of men; and if by its illness it cease to be so, it is of all other things the most unprofitable; for whereas other things being not fit for men, may yet be fit for the dunghill; salt, by its natural impropriety, is debarred even from that most inferior degree of profitableness. But perhaps, and indeed most probably, γῆ here may, in the husbandman’s notion, signify land, whether pasture, meadow, or tillage, all which are improved by manure. So is γῆ used Heb. vi. 7. Now two sorts of manure there are. Some things have a peculiar propriety to the enriching of ground, and are used alone, without mixture of any thing else with them; as to some ground, marl, lime, &c. Some things having not this propriety in any special manner, yet, being in mixture with those that have, are fit for this turn; and of such, generally, our mixums or composts are made, wherein all kind of dung being one special ingredient, that mixum may well be the thing that is here expressed by κοπρία, or dunghill, whither, as is here intimated, many other things are cast as well as dung. Now salt, which is very good for domestic uses, when that loses its virtue, when it is corrupted, μωρανθῇ, and so is no longer good for those uses, it is likewise good for nothing else. Other things, when they are corrupted, do but change their use; dung itself, in the utmost degree of putrefaction, is good for enriching of land; but salt corrupted, quite unlike other putrid things, is not good singly by itself to be laid on any sort of land, no, nor in mixture or compost with any thing else, no, not with dung, which is most useful. And this is the state of a putrid disciple, a corrupt Christian, he doth hurt wheresoever he is, but no kind of good, and therefore as a wicked, and not only unprofitable servant, (or as ἀχρίος, unprofitable, is the worst character that can be,) ἴξω βαλλεται, he is cast out, as here the unsavoury salt, as ἀδόκιμος, rejectaneous, or reprobate, whereas the good Christian is elect, precious, a good and faithful servant, very profitable to his master’s use and honour, and the advantage of other men. In this expression of our Saviour’s, of salt’s losing its savour, one thing further may deserve to be added from the chemist’s doctrine of salt. For it is certain that salt, if we speak strictly, is not capable of being made insipid, nothing in nature being able so to work upon that fixed incorruptible principle. It is therefore necessary that in this place, by salt losing its savour, we understand a mixed body, wherein salt abounds, (so in our vulgar dialects, especially in Hebrew, מַלְכָּה is the common name of salt and salt bodies, and is indifferently rendered by ἄλυσος and ἄλας,) and then it is most true, that salt may lose its savour, that is, that in such a body the salt may be either removed and drained forth, and then the body will be really insipid, or buried in a mass of other prevailing elements, and then to us it will appear insipid, and be justly said to have