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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 14:18 - 14:20
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The excuses:
v. 18. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; I pray thee have me excused.
v. 19. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me. excused.
v. 20. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
With one consent, as if by previous agreement, the invited guests began to excuse themselves, courteously enough, but with an air of finality which cannot be overlooked; they begged off, they did not want to 'come. The excuses of three of them are given as examples. One had bought a piece of ground, and just at that time the necessity devolved upon him to look it over; the purchase had not yet been made unconditional, and so it was absolutely necessary for him to go out at just this moment. His business was more important than the supper: he begged to be released from his promise. A second invited guest had just purchased five yoke, or pair, of oxen, and he was on the way to examine them. He was not even so anxious as the first man to make his refusal appear unavoidable: he wanted to go, it pleased him to do so, his business was also dearer and more important to him than the invitation. A third coolly stated to the servant that he had married a wife and therefore could not come. His marriage had taken place since he had first received the invitation, and that, he considered, absolved him from any social duties that he may have promised. It is not the factor of carnal pleasure that is here emphasized, but merely the fact that in his new happiness he cared nothing for distractions.