Dale Allison notes that the passage consists of an introduction (verse 1), the parable itself (verses 2–13b) and a commentary (verses 13c and 14:
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen). Protestant biblical commentator
Heinrich Meyer creates a similar break in
verse 13, with the final words of the king in the story being "take him away, and cast him into outer darkness" and Jesus adding the remark
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Although the topic concerns a
wedding feast, the dominant idea here concerns the guests who have been invited to attend.
R. T. France suggests that the theological theme of
replacement is very strong in this
parable, when
those who had been invited but refused the repeated invitations, and even murdered the messengers, were substituted by the
new people from unlikely groups, from
the street corners, including
both good and bad, as the guests.
Verse 1 :
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: Meyer suggests that Jesus' reply, "by way of rejoinder", was his answer to the
chief priests' and scribes' desire to arrest him in the previous verse (
Matthew 21:46). A number of modern English translations lack wording corresponding to the ,
kai apokritheis: for example, the
Jerusalem Bible reads:
Jesus began to speak to them in parables once again and the
New International Version reads
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ... The
Revised Geneva Translation (2019) maintains the wording
Then Jesus answered, and spoke to them again in parables, saying... Verse 5 :
But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. Those invited to the wedding feast declined to attend. Meyer suggests that those who left "having paid no attention" formed the majority, while "the rest", in verse 6, formed a smaller "remainder" of the invitees. The words "take him away, and" (ἄρατε αὐτὸν καὶ) are missing from the critical
Novum Testamentum Graece. Meyer argues that "the word ἄρατε, not being needed to complete the picture, was struck out. The reading of the
Received text [which includes these words] ought to be maintained". ==Roman taxation (22:15–22)==