The Meaning of Luke 14:9 Explained

Luke 14:9

KJV: And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

YLT: and he who did call thee and him having come shall say to thee, Give to this one place, and then thou mayest begin with shame to occupy the last place.

Darby: and he who invited thee and him come and say to thee, Give place to this man, and then thou begin with shame to take the last place.

ASV: and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  he that bade  thee  and  him  come  and say  to thee,  Give  this man  place;  and  thou begin  with  shame  to take  the lowest  room. 

What does Luke 14:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 14:7-14 - Lessons For Guests And Hosts
The word rooms should be seats, r.v. We must, of course, guard against a false humility, which chooses a low seat in the hope of being invited forward. Let us seek it, because we are absolutely careless of prominence except as it gives us wider opportunity. The unconscious humility and meekness of a little child are very dear to Christ. Dwell on your own defects and on the excellencies of others till you realize that you are the least of all saints! Philippians 3:8.
Our Lord's words about invitations to our houses strike at the root of much of the so-called hospitality of modern society. Did not our Lord intend His words to be interpreted literally? They are imperative in their tone. He probably meant what He said. Some of us get so much thanks down here that there will be very little left to come to us at the resurrection of the just, when we shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive our rewards, 2 Corinthians 5:10. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 14

1  Jesus heals the dropsy on the Sabbath;
7  teaches humility;
12  to feast the poor;
15  under the parable of the great supper,
23  shows how worldly minded men shall be shut out of heaven
25  Those who will be his disciples, to bear their cross must make their accounts beforehand,
31  lest with shame they revolt from him afterward;
34  and become altogether unprofitable, like salt that has lost its flavor

Greek Commentary for Luke 14:9

And say [και ερει]
Changes to future indicative with μη ποτε — mē pote as in Luke 12:58. [source]
Shalt begin with shame [αρχηι μετα αισχυνης]
The moment of embarrassment.To take the lowest place (τον εσχατον τοπον κατεχειν — ton eschaton topon katechein). To hold down the lowest place, all the intermediate ones being taken. [source]
To take the lowest place [τον εσχατον τοπον κατεχειν]
To hold down the lowest place, all the intermediate ones being taken. [source]
Begin []
Emphasizing the shame of the reluctant movement toward the lower place. [source]
The lowest []
Since the other, intervening places are all assigned. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 14:9

Luke 9:26 Shall be ashamed [ἐπαισχυνθῇ]
The feeling expressed by this word has reference to incurring dishonor or shame in the eyes of men. It is “the grief a mail conceives from his own imperfections considered with relation to the world taking notice of them; grief upon the sense of disesteem” (“South,” cit. by Trench). Hence it does not spring out of a reverence for right in itself, but from fear of the knowledge and opinion of men. Thus in the use of the kindred noun αἰσχύνη , shame, in the New Testament. In Luke 14:9, the man who impudently puts himself in the highest place at the feast, and is bidden by his host to go lower down, begins with shame to take the lowest place; not from a right sense of his folly and conceit, but from being humiliated in the eyes of the guests. Thus, Hebrews 12:2, Christ is said to have “endured the shame, ”i.e., the public disgrace attaching to crucifixion. So, too, in the use of the verb, Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” though espousing its cause subjects me to the contempt of the Jew and of the Greek, to whom it is a stumbling-block and foolishness. Onesiphorus was not ashamed to be known as the friend of a prisoner (2 Timothy 1:16). Compare Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 11:16. It is used of the Son of Man here by a strong metaphor. Literally, of course, the glorified Christ cannot experience the sense of shame, but the idea at the root is the same. It will be as if he should feel himself disgraced before the Father and the holy angels in owning any fellowship with those who have been ashamed of him. [source]
Luke 4:42 Sought after him [επεζητουν αυτον]
Imperfect active indicative. The multitudes kept at it until “they came unto him” They accomplished their purpose, εως αυτου — heōs autou right up to him.Would have stayed him (κατειχον αυτον — kateichon auton). Better, They tried to hinder him. The conative imperfect active of κατεχω — katechō an old and common verb. It means either to hold fast (Luke 8:15), to take, get possession of (Luke 14:9) or to hold back, to retain, to restrain (Philemon 1:13; Romans 1:18; Romans 7:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:6; Luke 4:42). In this passage it is followed by the ablative case.That he should not go from them Literally, “from going away from them.” The use of μη — mē (not) after κατειχον — kateichon is the neat Greek idiom of the redundant negative after a verb of hindering like the French ne (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1171). [source]
Luke 4:42 Would have stayed him [κατειχον αυτον]
Better, They tried to hinder him. The conative imperfect active of κατεχω — katechō an old and common verb. It means either to hold fast (Luke 8:15), to take, get possession of (Luke 14:9) or to hold back, to retain, to restrain (Philemon 1:13; Romans 1:18; Romans 7:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:6; Luke 4:42). In this passage it is followed by the ablative case. [source]
Luke 9:26 Whosoever shall be ashamed [ος αν επαισχυντηι]
Rather, Whosoever is ashamed as in Mark 8:38. The first aorist passive subjunctive in an indefinite relative clause with αν — an The passive verb is transitive here also. This verb is from επι — epi and αισχυνη — aischunē shame (in the eyes of men). Jesus endured the shame of the cross (Hebrews 12:2). The man at the feast who had to take a lower seat did it with shame (Luke 14:9). Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel (Romans 1:16). Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul (2 Timothy 1:16). [source]
1 Corinthians 7:30 As though they possessed not [ως μη κατεχοντες]
See this use of κατεχω — katechō old verb to hold down (Luke 14:9), to keep fast, to possess, in 2 Corinthians 6:10. Paul means that all earthly relations are to hang loosely about us in view of the second coming. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 14:9 mean?

and having come the [one] you him having invited will say to you Give to this one [your] place then you should begin with shame the last place to take
καὶ ἐλθὼν σὲ αὐτὸν καλέσας ἐρεῖ σοι Δὸς τούτῳ τόπον τότε ἄρξῃ μετὰ αἰσχύνης τὸν ἔσχατον τόπον κατέχειν

ἐλθὼν  having  come 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
  the  [one] 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
καλέσας  having  invited 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: καλέω  
Sense: to call.
ἐρεῖ  will  say 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to utter, speak, say.
σοι  to  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
Δὸς  Give 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: διδῶ 
Sense: to give.
τούτῳ  to  this  one 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
τόπον  [your]  place 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: τόπος 
Sense: place, any portion or space marked off, as it were from surrounding space.
ἄρξῃ  you  should  begin 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἄρχω  
Sense: to be the first to do (anything), to begin.
αἰσχύνης  shame 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: αἰσχύνη  
Sense: the confusion of one who is ashamed of anything, sense of shame.
ἔσχατον  last 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: ἔσχατος  
Sense: extreme.
τόπον  place 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: τόπος 
Sense: place, any portion or space marked off, as it were from surrounding space.
κατέχειν  to  take 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: κατέχω  
Sense: to hold back, detain, retain.