14:24

For I tell you: The phrase For I tell you introduces an important statement about the people who refused to come to the banquet (14:18). The host wanted to emphasize this statement. Some ways to show this emphasis are:

• As a phrase before the master’s statement. For example:

For let me tell you this
-or-
Listen
-or-
I assure you

• As an emphatic word within the master’s statement. For example:

I will certainly not allow any of those men whom I originally invited to come to my feast.

See the notes on 3:8d and 10:12.

The pronoun you is plural in Greek. It probably refers here to the servant and the second group of invited guests who were already present in the house.

The command I tell you contrasts with the singular commands given to the servant in the preceding verses. Almost all English versions indicate with quotation marks that this command is part of the parable and gives the words of the host. However, Jesus probably implied that God would react in a similar way at the feast in the kingdom of God (see 14:15).

not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet: The leader of the feast was speaking very strongly here. He meant that he would certainly not allow any of the people he had first invited to come to his feast. He was referring to those who had refused his first invitation (14:16–20). In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit:

⌊I will not permit⌋ any of those men whom ⌊I⌋ invited ⌊at the beginning⌋ to eat any of my banquet.

will taste my banquet: This phrase indicates that the people who made excuses would not be allowed to attend the feast or to eat any of the food. In some languages, this phrase is clear and natural. Otherwise, you may use a more general phrase. Some of the ways to translate this phrase are:

will taste my dinner (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
will get even a bite of my food (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
will eat with me (New Century Version)

my banquet: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as my banquet means “the banquet that I caused to be prepared.” It refers to the feast that the master had prepared for his guests.

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