Luke 14:17-18

14:17 At ¹  the time for the banquet ²  he sent his slave ³  to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ 14:18 But one after another they all ⁴  began to make excuses. ⁵  The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, ⁶  and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ ⁷ 

[14:17]  ¹ tn Grk “And at.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:17]  ² tn Or “dinner.”

[14:17]  ³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[14:18]  ⁴ tn Or “all unanimously” (BDAG 107 s.v. ἀπό 6). "One after another" is suggested by L&N 61.2.

[14:18]  ⁵ sn To make excuses and cancel at this point was an insult in the culture of the time. Regardless of customs concerning responses to invitations, refusal at this point was rude.

[14:18]  ⁶ sn I have bought a field. An examination of newly bought land was a common practice. It was this person’s priority.

[14:18]  ⁷ sn The expression Please excuse me is probably a polite way of refusing, given the dynamics of the situation, although it is important to note that an initial acceptance had probably been indicated and it was now a bit late for a refusal. The semantic equivalent of the phrase may well be “please accept my apologies.”