14:17a
When it was time for the banquet: The phrase When it was time for the banquet is more literally “at the hour of the feast.” It refers to the time when the host was ready for his guests to come to the feast. At this time the host sent out another message telling the invited guests to come.
14:17b
he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited: This verse part introduces a message that the host wanted to give his guests. Another way to translate this is:
he gave his servant this message to deliver/take to the people who had been invited
The message in 14:17c is in direct speech. In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech here. See the General Comment on 14:17b–c for suggestions.
his servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant means “slave” (as in the New Revised Standard Version). This word refers to someone who was owned by another person. He worked for his owner/master without receiving pay. The plural form of this word also occurs in 12:37a.
In some cultures, slaves may not be known. In other cultures, the word for slave may imply different customs than in biblical culture. If that is true in your language, some ways to translate this are:
worker/servant
-or-
messenger
those who had been invited: The verb had been invited is a passive verb. If a passive verb is not natural in your language here, some other ways to translate this clause are:
his guests (Good News Translation)
-or-
those whom ⌊he⌋ had invited
-or-
them
14:17c
Come, for everything is now ready: This message implies that the guests should come to the host’s house for the banquet. In some languages it may be necessary to make the message more explicit. For example:
Come ⌊to the banquet⌋, for everything is now ready.
-or-
Come ⌊to my house⌋, for everything is now ready ⌊for the banquet⌋.
Translate this message in a natural way in your language. In some languages it may be necessary to change the order of clauses in the message. For example:
Everything is now ready. So come!
General Comment on 14:17b–c
In some languages it may be more natural to translate this message as indirect speech. For example:
he sent his servant to tell the guests that they should come to the feast because everything was ready
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