Exegesis:
elegen de pros tous keklēmenous parabolēn ‘then he told those who had been invited a parable.’ Presumably the incident recorded in vv. 1-6 took place before the guests took their places. For kaleō meaning ‘to invite.’ For parabolē cf. on 4.23. Strictly speaking Jesus does not tell a parable-story but gives an injunction or advice (cf. Phillips, “a little word of advice”). This advice is called a parable because it interprets the present situation metaphorically.
epechōn pōs tas prōtoklisias exelegonto ‘noticing how they were selecting the places of honour for themselves.’ pōs refers more to the fact that, than the way in which they selected the places. For eklegomai cf. on 6.13. The imperfect tense is both durative and conative.
epechō ‘to fix one’s attention,’ ‘to notice,’ ‘to mark.’
prōtoklisia (also 20.46) lit. ‘first place at a meal,’ ‘place of honour.’ To what place the word actually refers is not sure, cf. Plummer.
legōn pros autous ‘saying to them,’ taking up the beginning of the clause.
Translation:
Since the “when”-clause is the reason for and base of Jesus’ “parable”, it is often better to give it the initial position, e.g. ‘now he/Jesus marked how those who were invited chose … Therefore he told them….’
He told a parable. The use of “parable” is to show that the subsequent injunctions are not mere rules for politeness (vv. 7-11) and hospitality (12-14) but means to teach true humility and unselfishness. To bring this out one may have to say, ‘taking this (referring to what Jesus marked) as parable/illustration/ comparison, he told them,’ ‘starting from this (example) he gave them this lesson/teaching.’ For parable see 5.36.
Those who were invited, in some languages simply, ‘the guests.’ The verb is often rendered, ‘to call’ (e.g. Zarma, West Nyanja), where necessary specified, e.g. ‘to call to come at table’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘to come to eat’ (Tzeltal, which in v. 8 uses ‘to call to see’—i.e. the wedding); elsewhere, ‘to ask to come (to eat, etc.).’
Marked, or, ‘noticed,’ “observed” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation) ‘saw.’
Chose, or, “picked out” (An American Translation), ‘sought to sit in’ (Sranan Tongo); and see 6.13.
The places of honour, similarly e.g. in Zarma, East and West Nyanja, Lomwe; also in Toraja-Sa’dan (where it refers to places on a mat on the platform between the posts of the rice-barn, less important guests sitting on mats on the ground); also rendered as, ‘seats occupied by senior elders’ (Shona 1966), ‘places of the great’ (Yao). Locative qualifications occur also, cf. e.g. ‘upper seats’ (Ekari, but in v. 8 ‘good place’), ‘first seats at the table,’ i.e. front row (Tzeltal), ‘before table’ (Pohnpeian), ‘places at the head of the table,’ i.e. where the ritual speaker starts to speak (Uab Meto, but ‘place of the famous people’ in v. 8). Another possible way to express the concept is, ‘where one is served first.’
Saying to them, or, ‘and he said to them,’ ‘as follows,’ can sometimes better be omitted.
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.
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