14:16a

But Jesus replied: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But Jesus replied is more literally “But/and he said to him.” Notice that Jesus was responding to a comment, not a question. Use a quote introduction that is appropriate in your language for this kind of situation.

A certain man prepared a great banquet: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as A certain man was a natural way to begin a story. It introduced the main character by telling what he was doing. Consider how to naturally introduce a short story like this in your language. Another way to do this in English is:

There was once a man who began to prepare a great banquet.

prepared: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as prepared literally means “made.” In this context it means “was planning.” The man himself would have been a rich man who had slaves to do the actual work of purchasing the food and cooking.

a great banquet: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as banquet is the same word that it translated as “banquet” in 14:12b. In this context it clearly refers to a large meal or feast.

14:16b

and invited many guests: According to Jewish custom, a person who was planning a banquet first sent out a servant with an invitation that gave general information. He probably did not go personally to invite the guests. Invited guests normally indicated whether they planned to attend. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

and had sent out many invitations (Revised English Bible)
-or-
He sent a servant to invite many people to attend

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