What Does Luke 14:17 Mean in the King James?
And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The invitation arrives when the feast is already ready, so welcome begins with receiving what has been prepared.
THE MEANING
The message reaches you with provision already ready. Your place begins with an invitation into what is prepared, not with proving that you are ready. The call remains simple: “Come.”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
You must make yourself worthy before you can be welcomed.
THE ROOT
ἀπέστειλεν
apesteilen
GROWS FROM
ἀποστέλλω
apostellō
To send forth or dispatch.
This verb describes a dispatch: the invitation reaches the guests through someone sent to carry it. Its word family keeps the messenger tied to the sending and the message entrusted to him.
ALSO GROWS
apostolos: Envoy; one who is sent.
ἀπόστολος
The servant’s role is defined by carrying the invitation outward.
apostolē: Sending; commission.
ἀποστολή
The invitation is not detached information; it is carried through an act of sending.
ἕτοιμα
hetoima
GROWS FROM
ἑτοιμ-
hetoim-
Ready; prepared.
The word family holds both the state of being ready and the act of preparing. The guests receive the call at the point when preparation has reached readiness.
ALSO GROWS
hetoimazō: To prepare; make ready.
ἑτοιμάζω
It names the preparing that has brought the feast to its ready state.
hetoimasia: Preparation; readiness.
ἑτοιμασία
It makes visible the preparation contained beneath the simple word “ready.”
κεκλημένοις
keklēmenois
GROWS FROM
καλέω
kaleō
To call; invite.
“bidden” in this verse is keklēmenois. The guests are described as those who have already been called. The servant brings that prior invitation into the present moment, and “Come” gives it an open next step.
ALSO GROWS
klēsis: Calling; invitation.
κλῆσις
It names the call that makes the guests invited before they arrive.
klētos: Called; invited.
κλητός
It describes someone as already included in the call, rather than self-appointed.
THE PATTERN
The invitation arrives with provision already prepared, making welcome a response to what is given rather than a reward for arriving equipped.
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.THE THREAD
And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.Luke’s “sent” and John’s “Sent” gloss for Siloam come from the same Greek word family: ἀποστέλλω (apostellō), meaning to send or dispatch. In John, the man washes in the Sent pool and comes seeing; in Luke, a sent servant carries an invitation to a feast already ready.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us