14:23a

So the master told his servant: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So introduces the master’s response to what his servant had just said. Another way to translate this is:

Then (New International Version)

Go out to the highways and hedges: The phrase the highways and hedges refers to places outside the town where the servant would probably be able to find other people. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

into the country lanes and behind the hedges (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
along the back roads and fence rows (Contemporary English Version)

highways: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as highways refers to roads that lie outside of towns in the rural areas. However, it does not refer to a major highway in the sense of a wide road with much traffic. Some English versions translate this word as “roads.”

hedges: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as hedges refers to the rows of bushes that acted as fences in the countryside. They were planted along the country paths and divided the fields from each other. In your culture hedges may not have this purpose. If that is true, you may wish to use a general word such as “lanes” or “paths,” since there would have been narrow walkways alongside these hedges and that may be what the master was referring to by using the word “hedges.”

14:23b

compel them to come in: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as compel in this context means to urge or persuade strongly. It does not imply that the servant should threaten the people or force them to do something that they did not want to do. The master wanted his servant to convince the people to come.

them: Make sure that the pronoun them refers to the people in the rural areas, not to the highways and hedges. Many English versions make this explicit. For example:

compel people to come in (Revised Standard Version)

14:23c

so that my house will be full: This is a purpose clause. It is also a hyperbole (deliberate exaggeration for emphasis). The master wanted every seat in the dining area to have a person sitting in it. He did not literally want his entire house to be full of people. In many languages the hyperbole will be clear and natural. In other languages it may be necessary to state the meaning more directly. For example:

so that there will be people sitting in every seat at my feast

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