Verse 7
And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them.
JESUS' LESSON FOR THE GUESTS
A parable ... "This word PARABLE is an elastic word. Here it means a piece of advice, inculcating humility."[13] This is not therefore the usual type of parable with clear analogies.
The chief seats ... As Plummer said, "In the mixture of Jewish, Roman, Greek and Persian cultures at that time, we cannot be sure which were the `chief seats'"[14] The Talmud ranked three seats on a couch by making the center chief, the one on the right second, and the one on the left third! Whatever were accounted the most honorable seats, there was a vulgar scramble among the guests on that occasion, each man jockeying with others for the better places.
[13] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 757.
[14] Alfred Plummer, The Gospel according to St. Luke (New York: T and T Clark, 1922), in loco.
Be the first to react on this!
