Parable of the Great Banquet

The following artwork is part of a series of 56 paintings on biblical themes by Kazakh artist Nelly Bube (born 1949):

Copyright by Norwegian Bible Society , used with permission.

For other images of Nelly Bube in TIPs, see here.

Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

In this painting, we see a generous, wealthy host, choosing to hold a feast for the poor. A large group of disenfranchised people are gathered together eating, talking, and enjoying one another’s company. The faces of the host and all his guests show expressions of joy and gratitude. This scene reveals a community who took Jesus’ instructions from Luke 14:13 seriously: “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.” Followers of Jesus are to remain humble, expecting nothing in return for the Christ-like love we are called to share with the world.

From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.

complete verse (Luke 14:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:17:

  • Noongar: “The day came, he sent his servant to tell his friends, ‘Come! Everything is prepared!'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “When everything was ready, he ordered his servants to go say to those who had been invited: ‘Let us go to the feast, for everything is ready.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the day of the feast arrived, he sent his servant to the invited people taking a word/message, saying, ‘Come now, everything is ready.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the day for the feast arrived, he sent his servant to notify the people that the feast was ready. And he said to his servants, ‘Tell them that they should come because everything is ready!’ ‘” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When everything was prepared, he sent someone to go tell the guests, ‘Come now so we will go eat.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When the time for the feast arrived, he ordered his messenger/errand-runner to inform those who had been invited. They would be told to go there now for all was prepared.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (oide)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, oide (おいで) or “come” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

respectful form of "come" (oide ni naru)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, oide ni naru (おいでになる), a respectful form of kuru (来る) or “come” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 14:16 – 14:17

Exegesis:

anthrōpos tis epoiei deipnon mega ‘a man was giving a big dinner.’ The imperfect tense of epoiei as contrasted with the aorists ekalesen and apesteilen (v. 17), is durative and refers to both the preparations and the actual giving of the dinner. For poiein deipnon cf. on v. 12.

kai ekalesen pollous ‘and invited many people.’ The clause refers to a first invitation, to be followed by a second call when the appointed time had come. It is possible to render ekalesen ‘he had invited’ as expressing an act prior to that denoted by apesteilen in v. 17.

(V. 17) kai apesteilen ton doulon autou … eipein tois keklēmenois ‘and he sent his servant … to say to those who had been invited.’ For apostellō with following infinitive cf. on 1.19.

tē hōra tou deipnou ‘at the time of the dinner.’

erchesthe, hoti ēdē hetoima estin ‘come, for things are (or, it is) ready now.’ ēdē is used without emphasis. The subject of hetoima estin is not stated but refers to the preparations for the dinner.

Translation:

He, i.e., Jesus.

Gave a great banquet, or, since the banquet is not yet begun, ‘made-preparations-for a big meal’ (Tae’), ‘was-to entertain on-a-big-scale’ (Balinese).

Invited many, i.e. ‘many people/guests.’ Batak Toba possesses a verb implying that those invited have been requested to remain at home on the day of the feast awaiting the announcement that everything is ready, which fits this context admirably.

(V. 17) At the time for the banquet, or, ‘shortly-before the banquet’ (Bahasa Indonesia 1968), ‘when the feast was about to begin,’ ‘at the time they were-to sit-down’ (Balinese).

Sent his servant to say to those who …, or ‘sent his servant to those who … with the message.’ In honorific languages it may be the status of the master, who causes the message to be sent, rather than that of the servant, who actually conveys it, that is decisive for the level of language to be chosen. The former probably requires a polite form of address, as would be used towards equals one wishes to honour, whereas in the latter case the servant would address his master’s guests as his superiors, using reverent honorifics. To those who … The plural is basically distributive, ‘to say to each of those who…’; cf. also An American Translation‘s less explicit “he sent around … to say to those who…”.

Come. A form of request may be preferable, e.g. “please come” (New English Bible, similarly Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘be so kind as to come along.’

All is now ready, or, ‘everything is just waiting’ (Shona 1966), ‘the food has now been prepared’ (Shona 1963); in Yao the idiom is, ‘things are matured.’

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 14:17

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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