Luke 14:7-11

On Seeking Seats of Honor

14:7 Then ¹  when Jesus ²  noticed how the guests ³  chose the places of honor, ⁴  he told them a parable. He said to them, 14:8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, ⁵  do not take ⁶  the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. ⁷  14:9 So ⁸  the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then, ashamed, ⁹  you will begin to move to the least important ¹⁰  place. 14:10 But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host ¹¹  approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ ¹²  Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you. 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but ¹³  the one who humbles ¹⁴  himself will be exalted.”

Luke 20:46

20:46 “Beware ¹⁵  of the experts in the law. ¹⁶  They ¹⁷  like walking around in long robes, and they love elaborate greetings ¹⁸  in the marketplaces and the best seats ¹⁹  in the synagogues ²⁰  and the places of honor at banquets.

Proverbs 16:18

16:18 Pride ²¹  goes ²²  before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall. ²³ 

Matthew 23:6

23:6 They ²⁴  love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues ²⁵ 

Mark 12:38-39

Warnings About Experts in the Law

12:38 In his teaching Jesus ²⁶  also said, “Watch out for the experts in the law. ²⁷  They like walking ²⁸  around in long robes and elaborate greetings ²⁹  in the marketplaces, 12:39 and the best seats in the synagogues ³⁰  and the places of honor at banquets.

Romans 12:10

12:10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another.

Philippians 2:3

2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition ³¹  or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.

James 2:2-4

2:2 For if someone ³²  comes into your assembly ³³  wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, 2:3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, ³⁴  “You sit here in a good place,” ³⁵  and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? ³⁶  2:4 If so, have you not made distinctions ³⁷  among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? ³⁸ 

James 2:3

2:3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, ³⁹  “You sit here in a good place,” ⁴⁰  and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? ⁴¹ 

James 1:9

1:9 Now the believer ⁴²  of humble means ⁴³  should take pride ⁴⁴  in his high position. ⁴⁵ 

[14:7]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:7]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:7]  ³ tn Grk “those who were invited.”

[14:7]  ⁴ tn Or “the best places.” The “places of honor” at the meal would be those closest to the host.

[14:8]  ⁵ tn Or “banquet.” This may not refer only to a wedding feast, because this term can have broader sense (note the usage in Esth 2:18; 9:22 LXX). However, this difference does not affect the point of the parable.

[14:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “do not recline in the place of honor.” 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[14:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “by him”; the referent (the host) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “host, and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate this action is a result of the situation described in the previous verse. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[14:9]  ⁹ tn Or “then in disgrace”; Grk “with shame.” In this culture avoiding shame was important.

[14:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “lowest place” (also in the repetition of the phrase in the next verse).

[14:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the one who invited you.”

[14:10]  ¹² tn Grk “Go up higher.” This means to move to a more important place.

[14:11]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context, which involves the reversal of expected roles.

[14:11]  ¹⁴ sn The point of the statement the one who humbles himself will be exalted is humility and the reversal imagery used to underline it is common: Luke 1:52-53; 6:21; 10:15; 18:14.

[20:46]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Be on guard against.” This is a present imperative and indicates that pride is something to constantly be on the watch against.

[20:46]  ¹⁶ tn Or “of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[20:46]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “who,” continuing the sentence begun by the prior phrase.

[20:46]  ¹⁸ sn There is later Jewish material in the Talmud that spells out such greetings in detail. See D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1642; H. Windisch, TDNT 1:498.

[20:46]  ¹⁹ sn See Luke 14:1-14.

[20:46]  ²⁰ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[16:18]  ²¹ sn The two lines of this proverb are synonymous parallelism, and so there are parasynonyms. “Pride” is paired with “haughty spirit” (“spirit” being a genitive of specification); and “destruction” is matched with “a tottering, falling.”

[16:18]  ²² tn Heb “[is] before destruction.”

[16:18]  ²³ sn Many proverbs have been written in a similar way to warn against the inevitable disintegration and downfall of pride. W. McKane records an Arabic proverb: “The nose is in the heavens, the seat is in the mire” (Proverbs [OTL], 490).

[23:6]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:6]  ²⁵ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[12:38]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:38]  ²⁷ tn Or “for the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[12:38]  ²⁸ tn In Greek this is the only infinitive in vv. 38-39. It would be awkward in English to join an infinitive to the following noun clauses, so this has been translated as a gerund.

[12:38]  ²⁹ sn There is later Jewish material in the Talmud that spells out such greetings in detail. See H. Windisch, TDNT 1:498.

[12:39]  ³⁰ sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.

[2:3]  ³¹ tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (fronhte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”

[2:2]  ³² tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, “equivalent to τὶς someone.”

[2:2]  ³³ tn Grk “synagogue.” Usually συναγωγή refers to Jewish places of worship (e.g., Matt 4:23, Mark 1:21, Luke 4:15, John 6:59). The word can be used generally to refer to a place of assembly, and here it refers specifically to a Christian assembly (BDAG 963 s.v. 2.b.).

[2:3]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.

[2:3]  ³⁵ tn Or “sit here, please.”

[2:3]  ³⁶ tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:4]  ³⁷ tn Grk “have you not made distinctions” (as the conclusion to the series of “if” clauses in vv. 2-3).

[2:4]  ³⁸ tn Grk “judges of evil reasonings.”

[2:3]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.

[2:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “sit here, please.”

[2:3]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:9]  ⁴² tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. TEV, NLT “Christians”; CEV “God’s people”). The term broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[1:9]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the lowly brother,” but “lowly/humble” is clarified in context by the contrast with “wealthy” in v. 10.

[1:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “let him boast.”

[1:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “his height,” “his exaltation.”