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Mat_9:10. Ἐγένετο … καί ] see note on Luk_5:12.
ἀνακειμένου ] In classical Greek, to recline at table is represented by κατακεῖσθαι , as frequently also in the N. T. (Mar_2:15; Mar_14:3), though in Polybius, Athenaeus, and later writers ἀνακεῖσθαι , too, is by no means rare. Phrynichus, ed. Lobeck, p. 217. On the custom itself (with the left arm resting on a cushion), comp. note on Joh_13:23.
ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ] With the exception of Fritzsche, Bleek, Holtzmann, Keim, Hilgenfeld (yet comp. already the still merely doubtful remark of Bengel), critics have gratuitously assumed the house to have been that of Matthew, which accords, no doubt, with Luk_5:29 (not Mar_2:15), but neither with the simple ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ (see Mat_9:23; Mat_13:1; Mat_13:36; Mat_17:25) nor with the connection. Seeing, then, that the publican who rose from his seat at the custom-house and followed Jesus cannot, of course, have gone to his own residence, nothing else can have been meant but the house of Jesus (in which He lived). There lies the variation as compared with Luke, and like many another, it cannot be disposed of. But de Wette’s objection, reproduced by Lichtenstein, Lange, and Hilgenfeld, that it is scarcely probable that Jesus would give feasts, has no force whatever, since Matthew does not say a single word about a feast; but surely one may suppose that, when the disciples were present in his residence at Capernaum, Jesus may have eaten, i.e. have reclined at table with them. The publicans and sinners who came thither were at the same time hospitably received.
καὶ ἁμαρτωλοί ] and in general men of an immoral stamp, with whom were also classed the publicans as being servants of the Roman government, and often guilty of fraudulent conduct (Luk_3:13); comp. Luk_19:7. Observe that Jesus Himself by no means denies the πονηρὸν εἶναι in regard to those associated with Him at table, Mat_9:12 f. They were truly diseased ones, who were now, however, yielding themselves up to the hands of the physician.