Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

I may sup - Make ready my supper.

Gird thyself - See the notes at Luke 12:37.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And will not rather say to him,.... Or, "will he not say to him?" it is very likely, it is more agreeable to the language of a master, and the condition of a servant, that he should say to him,

make ready wherewith I may sup: by dressing the food, spreading the table, and putting the food on it; for it was the business of servants to prepare, as at the passover; see Gill on Matthew 26:17 so at ordinary suppers:

and gird thyself and serve me; by giving him drink, or whatsoever he called for: and as they used to wear long garments in those countries, servants girded them up about their loins, that they might be fit for service, expedite in it, and perform it more readily, and with greater ease and dispatch:

till I have eaten and drunken; finished his meal:

and afterward thou shalt eat and drink: the, Persic and Ethiopic versions read in the imperative, "then eat thou and drink". If he was an Hebrew servant, he ate and drank the same as his master did: for so one of the Jewish canons runs^F24Maimon. Hilch. Abadim, c. 1. sect. 9. Vid. T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 22. 1. ;

"every Hebrew servant, or handmaid, their master is obliged to make them equal to himself "in food and in drink", in clothing, and in dwelling, as it is said, Deuteronomy 15:16 "because he is well with thee": wherefore, thou shalt not eat fine bread, and he eat coarse bread, nor drink old wine and he drink new wine, &c.'

And even a Canaanitish servant was to be provided with proper food and drink: they say indeed^F25Maimon. ib. c. 9. sect. 8. ,

"it is lawful to cause a Canaanitish servant to serve with rigour: but though the law is such, the property of mercy, and the ways of wisdom are, that a man should be merciful, and not make his yoke heavy on his servant, nor oppress him; but cause him to "eat and drink" of all sorts of food and drink; and the former wise men used to give their servants of all sorts of food that they themselves ate of;'

which was using them as they did their Hebrew servants: yea, it is added;

"and they gave their beasts, and their servants, food, before they ate their own meal;'

but this was not commonly done: it does not appear to have been the practice in Christ's time; nor was it necessary.

Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament

And will not rather say (αλλ ουκ ερει — all' ouk erei).

But will not say? Ουκ — Ouk in a question expects the affirmative answer.

Gird thyself (περιζωσαμενος — perizōsamenos). Direct middle first aorist participle of περιζωννυμι — perizōnnumi to gird around.

Till I have eaten and drunken (εως παγω και πιω — heōs phagō kai piō). More exactly, till I eat and drink. The second aorist subjunctives are not future perfects in any sense, simply punctiliar action, effective aorist.

Thou shalt eat and drink (παγεσαι και πιεσαι — phagesai kai piesai). Future middle indicative second person singular, the uncontracted forms -εσαι — esai as often in the Koiné. These futures are from the aorist stems επαγον — ephagon and επιον — epion without sigma.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

Ver. 8. Gird thyself and serve me] It implies, first, readiness; secondly, nimbleness, handiness, and handsomeness. A loose, discinct, and diffluent mind is unfit to serve God. The deacons cried of old in the Church meetings, Oremus, attendamus, Let us pray, let us attend to prayer, &c.

Sermon Bible Commentary

Luke 17:8

We want some method of investigating spiritual ideas which will give us enough of results to satisfy the intellect, not fully, but sufficiently to permit the spirit to go on in its course without the sacrifice of the intellect. For we are bound to educate and bring into play all the capabilities of our nature; and to sacrifice any one of them is to injure the whole of our being.

I. There is a spiritual world as extended as humanity, and to assert its existence is no more to beg the question than the assertion of a physical world. I mean by it the world of the human heart in its relations to the idea of God, and to all the feelings and actions which cluster round that idea. Then there are the innumerable facts which have been recorded of the varied and passionate feelings of individuals in their relation to their idea of God, and of the lives which flowed from these feelings: every appetite mental or physical, every passion of humanity being profoundly modified and changed by being brought into contact with certain large religious thoughts. It is ridiculous to deny the existence of these phenomena, or to explain them as diseases of the mind. What should be the method of the sceptic who is desirous of finding truth? He should take all the facts he can find, he should classify them as far as possible, he should not blind himself to any, and he should bring them up to the theories and say to them, "Do you explain that?" He should test religious theories by religious facts. I cannot imagine, keeping myself strictly within logical limits, how the atheistic theory in any form can stand that test It does not explain a millionth part of the phenomena; and in place of any proof, it substitutes another theory, which it gives no proof, that the facts are not what they seem, or that they know nothing about their explanation, which is giving up the whole affair—a very unscientific mode of proceeding.

II. But there are certain grand Christian ideas, which go naturally with each other, which, as it were, infer each other, and which, taken together, form a theory of the relation between God and man, which I do think explains the greater part of the spiritual phenomena of the world of man. Take, then, the facts of the spiritual history of the world and of your own personal life. Bring them to these ideas—to this theory. See if it will explain them, see if it does not of itself arrange them into order, see if it does not harmonise them into a whole; and I venture to say that you will find things growing clearer and clearer, difficulties melting away—or, at least, such light coming upon them that you seem to know that they will melt away. We have faith enough now not to despair, and our cry is this, "Lord, increase our faith."

S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 108.

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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible

Luke 17:8. Gird thyself,— Servants at that time used to be girded while waiting on their masters. See chap. Luke 12:37.

Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary

8.] ἕως φ. κ. π., till I shall have eaten and drunken: see ch. Luke 12:37, where a different assurance seems to be given. But our Lord is here speaking of what we in our state of service are to expect; there, of what in our state of manumission (‘mensæ servos adhibere manumissionis erat species.’ Grotius, citing from Ulpian) and adoption, the wonders of His grace will confer on us. Here the question is of right; there, of favour.

Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament

Luke 17:8. εὥς) until, even up to the time that, and as long.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

See Poole on "Luke 16:7"

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

“And will not rather say to him, ‘Make ready that on which I may sup, and gird yourself, and serve me, until I have eaten and drunk, and afterwards you will eat and drink?’ ”

Will the master not rather tell the servant to get the meal ready, and serve it up to the master and his family, until they are satisfied, and only then be able to eat and drink? The servant will be made to acknowledge that he is a servant. He is not invited to the formal meal. This austerity of grace (he is still fed) is so unlike much of what is said elsewhere about God’s bounty (Luke 12:37; Luke 22:29-30), that it demands a special context like it has here.

However, overall this is one of Jesus’ constant stresses, that just as He has come as the Servant of the Lord, so must they recognise that they too are servants, and that the highest honour is found in serving (Luke 22:25-27). It is in direct contrast with man’s view that he indicates his superiority by being served.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

8.Gird thyself—Draw thy girdle tight around thy loose garments, so that thou canst easily perform the service.

 

Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Luke 17:8. Will not rather? This assumes an affirmative answer.

Make ready, etc. As a matter of right this was all that could be expected. But compare chap. Luke 12:37, where the very reverse is promised. There the privileges of a state of grace are spoken of;. here our Lord is telling of what could be expected on the ground of merit.

The Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 17:8_{. : implies the negation of the previous supposition.— , etc., “till I have eaten,” etc., A.V[134]; or, while I eat and drink.}

_{[134] Authorised Version.}

 

 

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

And will not rather = But will he not (App-105).

till = while.

I have, &c. = I eat and drink.

afterward = after (Greek. meta. App-104.) these things.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, until I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) Gird thyself, and serve me.—Better, minister to me. The words receive a fresh significance if we connect them with Luke 12:37, of which they are, as it were, the complement. There the Master promises that He will gird Himself, and minister to His disciples. Here He tells them that He too requires a service. They must give Him the meat and the drink of seeing that His Father’s will is done on earth (John 4:32; John 4:34), and then they too shall be sharers in His joy. Yet another aspect of the same truths is found in the later promise of the Lord of the Churches to the servant who watches for His coming, “I will sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

Make

Genesis 43:16; 2 Samuel 12:20

and gird

12:37

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:8 - stood;  Deuteronomy 15:18 - a double;  1 Corinthians 9:10 - that ploweth;  1 Peter 1:13 - gird;  Revelation 3:20 - will sup