Luke 14:7

THE MESSAGE

He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, "When someone invites you to dinner, don't take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he'll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You're in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.' Red-faced, you'll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they would choose the best places for themselves:

King James Version (1611)
And he put foorth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked howe they chose out the chiefe roumes, saying vnto them,

King James Version
And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.

English Standard Version
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,

New American Standard Bible
Now He began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

New Century Version
When Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit, he told this story:

Amplified Bible
Now Jesus began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been selecting the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

Legacy Standard Bible
And He was telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they were picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

Berean Standard Bible
When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable:

Contemporary English Version
Jesus saw how the guests had tried to take the best seats. So he told them:

Complete Jewish Bible
When Yeshua noticed how the guests were choosing for themselves the best seats at the table, he told them this parable:

Darby Translation
And he spoke a parable to those that were invited, remarking how they chose out the first places, saying to them,

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit. So he told this story:

Geneva Bible (1587)
He spake also a parable to the ghestes, when he marked howe they chose out the chiefe roomes, and said vnto them,

George Lamsa Translation
And he spoke a parable to those who were invited there, because he saw them choosing places among the front seats.

Good News Translation
Jesus noticed how some of the guests were choosing the best places, so he told this parable to all of them:

Lexham English Bible
Now he told a parable to those who had been invited when he noticed how they were choosing for themselves the places of honor, saying to them,

Literal Translation
And He spoke a parable to those who had been invited, noting how they were choosing out the chief seats, saying to them,

American Standard Version
And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them,

Bible in Basic English
And he gave teaching in the form of a story to the guests who came to the feast, when he saw how they took the best seats; saying to them,

Hebrew Names Version
He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,

International Standard Version
When Jesushe">[fn] noticed how the guests were choosing the places of honor, he told them a parable.

Etheridge Translation
And he spoke a parable to them who had been invited there, forasmuch as he had observed them, that they chose the chief places of reclining:

Murdock Translation
And he spoke a similitude to the guests that were present, as he noticed how they chose places on the highest couches.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He put foorth also a similitude to the ghestes, when he marked howe they chose out the chiefe rowmes, and sayde vnto them:

English Revised Version
And he spake a parable unto those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them,

World English Bible
He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he spake a parable to them that were invited, when he marked how they chose the chief seats,

Weymouth's New Testament
Then, when He noticed that the invited guests chose the best seats, He used this as an illustration and said to them,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He seide also a parable to men bodun to a feeste, and biheld hou thei chesen the first sittyng placis, and seide to hem,

Update Bible Version
And he spoke a parable to those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying to them,

Webster's Bible Translation
And he put forth a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying to them,

New English Translation
Then when Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. He said to them,

New King James Version
So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:

New Living Translation
When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:

New Life Bible
Jesus had been watching those who were asked to come to supper. They were all trying to get the important seats. He told them a picture-story, saying,

New Revised Standard
When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he went on to speak, unto the invited, a parable, - observing how, the first couches, they were choosing; saying unto them -

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them:

Revised Standard Version
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
He put forthe a similitude to ye gestes whe he marked how they preased to the hyest roumes and sayd vnto the:

Young's Literal Translation
And he spake a simile unto those called, marking how they were choosing out the first couches, saying unto them,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he tolde a symilitude vnto ye gestes, wha he marked how they chose the hyest seates, & sayde vnto the:

Mace New Testament (1729)
Afterwards observing how eager the guests were for the first places, he gave them this instruction:

Simplified Cowboy Version
As people were sitting down to eat, Jesus noticed how everyone was trying to get the best spots near the head of the table. Jesus said,

Contextual Overview

⁷He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, "When someone invites you to dinner, don't take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he'll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You're in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.' Red-faced, you'll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left. ¹⁰"When you're invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.' That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I'm saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself." ¹²Then he turned to the host. "The next time you put on a dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You'll be—and experience—a blessing. They won't be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God's people."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

put: Judges 14:12, Proverbs 8:1, Ezekiel 17:2, Matthew 13:34

they: Luke 11:43, Luke 20:46, Matthew 23:6, Mark 12:38, Mark 12:39, Acts 8:18, Acts 8:19, Philippians 2:3, 3 John 1:9

Reciprocal: Matthew 20:26 - it Luke 9:46 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 14:1
Then this: Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim went off to war to fight Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.

Genesis 14:8
That's when the king of Sodom marched out with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. They drew up in battle formation against their enemies in the Valley of Siddim—against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.

Genesis 16:14
That's how that desert spring got named "God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring." That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

Genesis 20:1
Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman." Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, ‘She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, ‘He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this." God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family." Abimelech was up first thing in the morning. He called all his house servants together and told them the whole story. They were shocked. Then Abimelech called in Abraham and said, "What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you that you would bring on me and my kingdom this huge offense? What you've done to me ought never to have been done." Abimelech went on to Abraham, "Whatever were you thinking of when you did this thing?" Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, ‘Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'" Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and along with her sent sheep and cattle and servants, both male and female. He said, "My land is open to you; live wherever you wish." And to Sarah he said, "I've given your brother a thousand pieces of silver—that clears you of even a shadow of suspicion before the eyes of the world. You're vindicated." Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his maidservants, and they started having babies again. For God had shut down every womb in Abimelech's household on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Numbers 13:26
They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the People of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told the story of their trip: "We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan." Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, "Let's go up and take the land—now. We can do it." But the others said, "We can't attack those people; they're way stronger than we are." They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, "We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it's a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers."

Numbers 20:1
In the first month, the entire company of the People of Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Zin. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and she was buried.

Numbers 24:20
Then Balaam spotted Amalek and delivered an oracle-message. He said, Amalek, you're in first place among nations right now, but you're going to come in last, ruined.

Deuteronomy 1:19
Then we set out from Horeb and headed for the Amorite hill country, going through that huge and frightening wilderness that you've had more than an eyeful of by now—all under the command of God , our God—and finally arrived at Kadesh Barnea. There I told you, "You've made it to the Amorite hill country that God , our God, is giving us. Look, God , your God, has placed this land as a gift before you. Go ahead and take it now. God , the God-of-Your-Fathers, promised it to you. Don't be afraid. Don't lose heart."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden,.... To the dinner at the Pharisee's house, particularly the lawyers, or Scribes and Pharisees:

when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; the uppermost places at the table, which these men loved, coveted, and sought after; :-

saying unto them; as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A parable - The word parable, here, means rather a “precept, an injunction.” He gave a “rule or precept” about the proper manner of attending a feast, or about the humility which ought to be manifested on such occasions.

That were bidden - That were invited by the Pharisee. It seems that he had invited his friends to dine with him on that day.

When he marked - When he observed or saw.

Chief rooms - The word “rooms” here does not express the meaning of the original. It does not mean “apartments,” but “the higher places” at the table; those which were nearest the head of the table and to him who had invited them. See the notes at Matthew 23:6. That this was the common character of the Pharisees appears from Matthew 23:6.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 14:7. They chose out the chief rooms — When custom and law have regulated and settled places in public assemblies, a man who is obliged to attend may take the place which belongs to him, without injury to himself or to others: when nothing of this nature is settled, the law of humility, and the love of order, are the only judges of what is proper. To take the highest place when it is not our due is public vanity: obstinately to refuse it when offered is another instance of the same vice; though private and concealed. Humility takes as much care to avoid the ostentation of an affected refusal, as the open seeking of a superior place. See Quesnel. In this parable our Lord only repeats advices which the rabbins had given to their pupils, but were too proud to conform to themselves. Rabbi Akiba said, Go two or three seats lower than the place that belongs to thee, and sit there till they say unto thee, Go up higher; but do not take the uppermost seat, lest they say unto thee, Come down: for it is better that they should say unto thee, Go up, go up; than that they should say, Come down, come down. See Schoettgen.