Texts in Conversation
In Luke, guests give one servant various excuses for missing a banquet. The Gospel of Thomas keeps this pattern but adds business deals and rent collection, giving money a larger role in the guests' refusal to come.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Luke 14:18
New Testament
16 But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ 18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’ 21 So the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Then the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge people to come in, so that my house will be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those individuals who were invited will taste my banquet!’”
Gospel of Thomas 1:64
Nag Hammadi
64 Jesus said, “A man had guests, and when he prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite the guests. He went to the first and said to him, ‘My master invites you.’ He said, ‘I have a claim against merchants; they are coming to me this evening. I must go and give orders. I ask to be excused from the dinner.’ He went to another and said, ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him, ‘I have bought a house and I am required for a day. I will not have time.’ He went to another and said, ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him, ‘My friend is getting married, and I am organizing the banquet. I cannot come. I ask to be excused.’ He went to another and said, ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him, ‘I have bought a farm; I am going to collect the rent. I will not be able to come. I ask to be excused.’ The servant returned and said to his master, ‘Those whom you invited to the dinner have asked to be excused.’ The master said to his servant, ‘Go out on the highways; bring those whom you meet, so that they may dine.’ Merchants and traders will not enter the places of my Father.”
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Notes and References
“... (vi) The recalcitrant guests are enumerated. In Luke, we have “the first said . . . and another said . . . and another said,” for a total of three guests. In Thomas, the guests are enumerated in a similar way, though the phrases “the first . . . and another . . . and another . . . and another” are not the subjects of the verb “said” but rather the object of the preposition in the phrase “he [the slave] went to the first . . . to another . . . to another . . . to another.” A further difference is that Thomas has four guests making distinct excuses, while Luke has only three. The excuses are similar but not the same. In Luke, they involve buying a field or a farm (agros), buying five yoke of oxen, and marrying a wife. In Thomas, the four excuses involve settling accounts with merchants, buying a house, giving a banquet (deipnon) for a friend getting married, and buying a village, villa, or farm (the Greek loan word is kōmē) and receiving the rent. What remains the same is that each enumerated guest (“the first . . . another . . . another”) gives a different excuse to the same servant. The extra excuse in Thomas could be explained by his clearly redactional polemic against preoccupation with business and money, voiced openly in Thomas’ addition to the end of the parable: “Buyers and merchants shall not enter the places of my Father.” ...”
Meier, John P.
A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 5: Probing the Authenticity of the Parables
(pp. 276-277) Yale University Press, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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