What Does Luke 14:18 Mean?
And they all, as one, began to beg off. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I am bound to go out and see it. I ask you, hold me excused.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.THE KEY
The same Greek verb describes both the guests’ excuses and the first man’s request to be excused, making his reason part of his refusal.
THE MEANING
The invitation reaches everyone, and each person begins to turn aside with a reason. The first man’s purchase and need to inspect it fill the space where his answer belongs; then he asks to be excused. The repeated verb makes his explanation and his refusal one movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
“If I have a reasonable explanation, I have not really refused.” Here, the explanation is exactly how the refusal is spoken.
THE ROOT
παραιτεῖσθαι
paraiteisthai
GROWS FROM
παρά (para) + αἰτέω (aiteō)
αἰτέω means to ask or request; παραιτέομαι means to ask to be excused or to decline.
“beg off” in this verse is paraiteisthai. Luke uses forms of παραιτέομαι twice: the guests begin to excuse themselves, and the first man asks to be excused. English makes these sound like an explanation followed by a polite request, while the repeated Greek verb joins them as one act of declining the invitation.
ALSO GROWS
aiteō: ask, request
αἰτέω
This is the asking word within παραιτέομαι; the man’s final words are explicitly a request to be excused.
aitēma: a request, petition
αἴτημα
This noun shares the ask-root and makes clear that the man’s response is not only a reason but also a request to be released from the invitation.
THE PATTERN
A summons or invitation can be answered by turning toward a competing concern.
But Jonah rose up to run to Tarshish from the face of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish. He gave its price, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the face of the LORD.But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his field, another to his trade.His face darkened at that word, and he went away grieved, for he had great possessions.THE THREAD
See that you do not refuse the one who speaks. For if those who refused the one who gave the oracle on earth did not escape, how much more shall we not escape if we turn away from the one from the heavens.The Greek verb translated “refuse” here is the same verb Luke uses twice for “make excuse” and “have me excused.” What sounds like a reason for stepping away is also, in the shared word, a refusal.
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