Translation commentary on Luke 14:22

Exegesis:

kurie, gegonen ho epetaxas ‘master, what you ordered has been done.’ This assumes tacitly that there is an interval in time between v. 21 and v. 22 in which the master’s orders are carried out. For kurios cf. on 1.6; for epitassō cf. on 4.36.

kai eti topos estin ‘and still there is room,’ scil. for more people. For topos cf. on v. 9.

Translation:

When one does not clearly indicate an interval between v. 21 and v. 22 the latter may easily be taken to mean that the servant had already gone out to the streets, anticipating his master’s orders, an impression actually made in some versions. To avoid this one may have to use a transitional word or phrase, e.g. ‘when (he was) back’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘after a while’ (Shona 1966, similarly Kituba, Good News Translation), ‘after that’ (Balinese); or to make the command more specific, as in ‘the things you have sent me to do I have done’ (Sranan Tongo); or, again, to change the sentence structure, cf. “reporting to him that these orders had been carried out, ‘Sir,’ said the servant, ‘there is still room for more’ ” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).

And still there is room, or “and there are still empty places” (Phillips), ‘but the room/house is not yet full.’

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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