Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 14:12

μὴ φώνει τοὺς φίλους σου. In this, as many of our Lord’s utterances, we must take into account (1) the idioms of Oriental speech; (2) the rules of common sense, which teach us to distinguish between the letter and the spirit. It is obvious that our Lord did not mean to forbid the common hospitalities between kinsmen and equals, but only, as the context shews, (1) to discourage a mere interested hospitality intended to secure a return; and (2) to assert that unselfish generosity is superior to the common civilities of friendliness. The “not” therefore means, as often elsewhere in Scripture, “not only, but also,” or “not so much … as,” as in Proverbs 8:10; John 6:27; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 Timothy 2:9, &c. In other words, “not” sometimes denies “not absolutely but conditionally (Galatians 5:21) and comparatively (1 Corinthians 1:17).” See Matthew 9:13; Jeremiah 7:22; Joel 2:13; Hebrews 8:11. In Hellenistic Greek φωνεῖν is used for καλεῖν.

μήποτε καὶ αὐτοὶ κ.τ.λ. Lest perchance they too. “This,” says Bengel, “is a fear not known to the world.” The turn of the sentence is, in fact, what a Greek would have described as a happy παρὰ προσδοκίαν. It teaches by surprise.

καὶ γένηται�. In a similar case Martial says, “You are asking for gifts, Sextus, not for friends.”

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 14:12

Old Testament

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