Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy.

Then he says to his bondmen, The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy;

then saith he to his servants, The marriage-feast indeed is ready, and those called were not worthy,

Then he said to his servants, "'The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were unworthy of it.

Then he said to his servants, The feast is ready but the guests were not good enough.

Then he said to his servants: 'The wedding, indeed, has been prepared. But those who were invited were not worthy.

Then he said to his servants 'The banquet is prepared, but those who were invited were not worthy.

Were not worthy - Because they made light of it, and would not come; preferring earthly things to heavenly blessings. Among the Mohammedans, refusal to come to a marriage feast, when invited, is considered a breach of the law of God. Hedayah, vol. iv. p. 91. Any one that shall be invited to a dinner, and does not accept the invitation, disobeys God, and his messenger: and any one who comes uninvited, you may say is a thief, and returns a plunderer. - Mischat ul Mesabih. It was probably considered in this light among all the oriental nations. This observation is necessary, in order to point out more forcibly the iniquity of the refusal mentioned in the text. A man may be said to be worthy of, or fit for, this marriage feast, when, feeling his wretchedness and misery, he comes to God in the way appointed, to get an entrance into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus.

Then saith he to his servants, The (b) wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
(b) The marriage feast.

Then saith he to his servants,.... That were preserved from their rage and malice, and outlived their implacable enemies, and saw their utter ruin and destruction:
the wedding is ready; meaning not the marriage contract, which was secretly performed in eternity; or the calling of God's elect among the Jews, and their open espousal to Christ, which for the present was now over; but the marriage feast, or the Gospel dispensation, which was ushered in, and the ministry of it, to which nothing was wanting; all the promises, prophecies, types, and shadows, of the former dispensation, were now accomplished; the Lamb of God was slain, and all things to be done by him, were now finished; the ministers of the Gospel, the apostles, were called, their commission enlarged, and they qualified with a greater measure of the Spirit, and were sent to preach both to Jews and Gentiles:
but they which were bidden were not worthy; that is, the Jews, who had notice of this dispensation by the prophets, were told by John the Baptist, that it was at hand; were once, and again externally called unto it by the ministry of the apostles; but they were not only unworthy in themselves, as all men are, of such a blessing and privilege, but they behaved towards it in a very unworthy manner; they were so far from attending on it in a diligent and peaceable way, as becomes all such persons that are blessed with the external ministry of it; who when they do so, may be said to behave worthily, and, in some sense, to be worthy of such a privilege being continued with them; see Matthew 10:13 compared with Luke 10:6 that they contradicted and blasphemed it, and by their own outrageous carriage, showed plainly that they were unworthy of it; and were so judged by Christ and his apostles, who ordered them to turn from them, and go to the Gentiles, and which may be intended in the following words.

The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy--for how should those be deemed worthy to sit down at His table who had affronted Him by their treatment of His gracious invitation?

The wedding is ready, but the bidden were not worthy. Those who reject the gospel invitation show that they are not worthy. Compare Paul, Acts 13:46.

Go into the highways - The word properly signifies, the by - ways, or turnings of the road.