Bible Strands
Luke 14:20
Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A guest at the banquet responds to the host's invitation through the servant, immediately following two other refusals. The speaker declines attendance by citing a recent marriage as an insurmountable obstacle.
The words — The Greek phrase ἔγημα γυναῖκα (egēma gunaika) literally means "I have married a wife." The phrase διὰ τοῦτο (dia touto) translates to "because of this," which the speaker uses to establish a causal link between the marriage and the refusal.
The thread — The text records a literal claim of marital obligation, which the surrounding narrative treats as an invalid excuse for missing a banquet. Deuteronomy 24:5 grants newly married men exemption from military duty, while 1 Corinthians 7:33 notes the divided concerns of married life, and Luke 14:26 demands priority of allegiance to Christ over family bonds.
Why it lands — The passage presents a straightforward refusal to attend a commanded gathering, followed by the master's anger and the subsequent invitation to the marginalized. The reader must evaluate whether ordinary life commitments are being elevated above immediate obedience to a direct summons.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 24:5 If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
- 1 Corinthians 7:33 But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife,
- Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
- Luke 18:29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
- 1 Corinthians 7:29 What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;