Luke 14 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialpurposecausecontentconditionaldashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The man with dropsy — a sabbath test at the Pharisee's table 14:1–6

vv. 1–2 — the watched meal and the man placed before him

And it happened, when he came into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread,independent — Septuagintal ἐγένετο-frame; ἐν τῷ + infinitive = 'when' — a sabbath meal at a leader's table

that they were watching him closely.independent — apodotic καί; periphrastic imperfect — παρατηρέω, surveillance with hostile intent

And behold, a man with dropsy was there before him.independent — ἰδού spotlights the afflicted man 'before him' — the bait of the test; ὑδρωπικός a NT hapax

vv. 3–6 — the ἔξεστιν question, the healing, the unanswerable argument

And Jesus, answering, said to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying:independent — ἀποκριθείς — he 'answers' their unspoken watching; the question put to the experts first

Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?content — the ἔξεστιν question — Jesus seizes the initiative before acting

But they kept silent.independent — ingressive aorist — the experts fall silent; the floor is his

And taking hold of him,participial — preposed aorist participle — the grasp before the healing verb; leans on ἰάσατο

he healed himindependent — the deed done in the silence

and sent him away.independent — the man dismissed — removed from the contest he was bait for

And to them he said:independent — the argument follows the act

Which of you, whose son or ox will fall into a well,content — the rescue argument — υἱὸς ἢ βοῦς printed; the ὄνος ('donkey') variant noted

will not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?content — interrogative οὐκ expects 'yes' — their own sabbath mercy convicts them

And they were not able to reply to these things.independent — ἀνταποκρίνομαι, answer back — the controversy closes in silence, as it began

Places at the table — the humbled and the exalted 14:7–11

v. 7 — the frame: he watches them choose the best couches

Now he was telling a parable to those who had been invited,independent — inceptive imperfect — the table-parable begins; κεκλημένους, the chapter's keyword καλέω enters

noticing how they were choosing the places of honor,participial — causal-circumstantial — the jockeying for πρωτοκλισίαι prompts the parable; indirect question kept in line

saying to them:participial — pleonastic speech-participle — the frame for vv. 8–11

vv. 8–9 — the prohibition and its feared outcome: the walk of shame

When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast,conditional — temporal ὅταν protasis (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on the prohibition

do not recline in the place of honor,content — prohibitive subjunctive — do not presume the top couch

lest someone more distinguished than you have been invited by him,purpose — μήποτε clause of apprehension (typed pur) — the periphrastic perfect: the rival already stands invited

and the one who invited both you and him will come and say to you:purpose — coordinate with the μήποτε clause — the host who called both holds the seating rights

Give this man your place,content — the dreaded sentence — one curt imperative

and then in shame you will begin to take the lowest place.purpose — the chain's last link — μετὰ αἰσχύνης, the public demotion; only the last place is left

vv. 10–11 — the counter-counsel and the reversal maxim

But when you are invited,conditional — the answering ὅταν protasis — forward-leaning on the command

go and recline in the lowest place,content — attendant πορευθείς + imperative — choose the ἔσχατος τόπος yourself

so that, when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you:purpose — ἵνα with future ἐρεῖ (Koine mixing) — the embedded ὅταν clause kept in line

Friend, move up higher.content — φίλε — the address the shamed man never hears; προσαναβαίνω a NT hapax (cf. Prov 25:6–7)

Then you will have honor before all who recline at table with you.content — τότε answers the τότε of v. 9 — δόξα conferred, not seized, before all

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,cause — the reversal maxim grounding the whole counsel — divine passive: God does the humbling

and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.cause — the chiasm's answering half (cf. 18:14) — the etiquette lesson becomes eschatology

Whom to invite — guests who cannot repay 14:12–14

v. 12 — to the host: not those who can reciprocate

And he also said to the one who had invited him:independent — the guests corrected, now the host — τῷ κεκληκότι, καλέω again

When you give a luncheon or a dinner,conditional — ὅταν protasis (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on the prohibition

do not call your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors,content — present prohibition — do not make a habit of it; the fourfold μηδέ list of reciprocators

lest they also invite you in returnpurpose — μήποτε clause (typed pur) — ἀντικαλέω, invite back, a NT hapax: the economy of reciprocity

and repayment come to you.purpose — the feared outcome is being paid back — repayment here forfeits repayment there (v. 14)

vv. 13–14 — the four who cannot repay, and the blessing

But when you give a banquet,conditional — the answering ὅταν protasis — δοχή, a reception-feast

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,content — the asyndetic four — the same list the master will send for in v. 21

and you will be blessed,content — the beatitude on the unrepayable host

because they have no means to repay you;cause — the paradoxical ground — their inability is precisely the blessing

for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.cause — γάρ — divine passive: God repays; the deferred ἀνταπόδομα of v. 12 arrives at the resurrection

The parable of the great banquet 14:15–24

v. 15 — the guest's beatitude that prompts the parable

Now one of those reclining at table, hearing these things,participial — preposed aorist participle with its subject — leans on εἶπεν

said to him:independent — the pious interjection from the couches

Blessed is whoever will eat bread in the kingdom of God!content — verbless beatitude — comfortable eschatology; the parable will test who actually comes

vv. 16–17 — the great dinner and the summons: come, it is ready

But he said to him:independent — the speech-frame for the whole parable, vv. 16–24

A certain man was giving a great dinner,content — the parable opens — imperfect ἐποίει, the preparations under way

and he invited many,content — the first invitation — ἐκάλεσεν, accepted in advance by custom

and at the hour of the dinner he sent his servantcontent — the second, customary summons at the hour itself

to say to those who had been invited:purpose — purpose infinitive — τοῖς κεκλημένοις, the standing state of invitedness

Come,content — one word of summons

for it is now ready.cause — ἤδη — the readiness is the reason; nothing remains to wait for

vv. 18–20 — the three excuses: field, oxen, wife

And they all alike began to make excuses.content — ἀπὸ μιᾶς — the elliptical idiom: with one accord; παραιτέομαι, beg off

The first said to him:content — excuse-frame one

I have bought a field,content — property first — the purchase already made outweighs the acceptance already given

and I must go out and see it;content — ἔχω ἀνάγκην — a manufactured 'necessity': no one inspects a field after buying it

I ask you,content — the polite formula begins

have me excused.content — ἔχε με παρῃτημένον — 'consider me excused'; the refrain the second will repeat verbatim

And another said:content — excuse-frame two

I have bought five yoke of oxen,content — the same verb ἠγόρασα — commerce again; five yoke marks a substantial farmer

and I am going to examine them;content — futuristic present πορεύομαι — already on his way away from the feast

I ask you,content — the formula, word for word

have me excused.content — the refrain repeated verbatim — excuse as liturgy

And another said:content — excuse-frame three

I have married a wife,content — the third pleads Deut 24:5 — but a wedding does not cancel a dinner

and therefore I cannot come.content — no ἐρωτῶ σε — the courtesy is dropped: a blunt οὐ δύναμαι

vv. 21–23 — the report, the anger, the two dispatches

And the servant, arriving,participial — preposed participle with its subject — leans on ἀπήγγειλεν

reported these things to his master.content — the refusals carried home

Then the master of the house, angered,participial — preposed ingressive participle — the anger before the command; leans on εἶπεν

said to his servant:content — the first dispatch-frame

Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city,content — ταχέως — the dinner is hot; the mission turns to the city's margins

and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.content — the fronted objects — the same four Jesus told his host to invite (v. 13)

And the servant said:content — the report-frame

Master, what you commanded has been done,content — perfect γέγονεν — done and standing done; the relative kept in line

and still there is room.content — ἔτι τόπος — the line that keeps the door open

And the master said to the servant:content — the second dispatch-frame

Go out to the highways and hedgescontent — beyond the city walls now — the roads and hedgerows: the outsiders' outsiders

and compel them to come in,content — ἀνάγκασον — the urgency of hospitality toward those who cannot believe they are meant (not coercion; Augustine's misuse noted)

that my house may be filled;purpose — the stated purpose — a full house, whoever fills it

v. 24 — the verdict: none of those invited will taste it

For I tell you,content — still the master's speech, but plural ὑμῖν — the parable's voice merges into Jesus' address to the table

that none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.content — the verdict on the κεκλημένοι — the answer to the beatitude of v. 15: invited is not eating

The cost of discipleship — hating, bearing, counting, renouncing 14:25–33

v. 25 — the scene shifts: the crowds on the road

Now great crowds were going along with him,independent — durative imperfect — the easy company the sayings will sift

and turning,participial — preposed participle — the deliberate about-face to the crowd; leans on εἶπεν

he said to them:independent — the speech-frame for vv. 26–35

vv. 26–27 — the refrain's first two strikes: family and cross

If anyone comes to meconditional — εἰ protasis — forward-leaning on the refrain below

and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life —conditional — coordinate protasis — μισεῖ the Semitic comparative ('love less,' cf. Matt 10:37), climaxing in one's own ψυχή

he cannot be my disciple.content — the refrain, first strike — not 'may not' but 'cannot'

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after meconditional — indefinite relative ὅστις as protasis (typed cnd) — the condemned man's own beam, carried behind Jesus

cannot be my disciple.content — the refrain, second strike — word for word

vv. 28–30 — the tower-builder: count before you lay a stone

For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost,content — Τίς γὰρ ἐξ ὑμῶν — the rhetorical question expecting 'no one'; καθίσας, the deliberate sitting-down; δαπάνη a NT hapax

whether he has enough for completion?content — indirect question — ἀπαρτισμός, completion, a NT hapax

lest, when he has laid a foundation and cannot finish, all who see it begin to mock him,purpose — ἵνα μήποτε — the feared outcome; double genitive absolute kept in line

saying:participial — speech-participle with recitative ὅτι — the mockers get a script

This man began to buildcontent — contemptuous οὗτος — 'this fellow'

and was not able to finish.content — the taunt — the half-built tower as public monument to an uncounted cost

vv. 31–32 — the king at war: ten thousand against twenty

Or what king, going to engage another king in war, will not first sit down and deliberatecontent — the second Τίς-question, raised in stakes — from a farm tower to a kingdom; καθίσας πρῶτον again

whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand?content — indirect question — the arithmetic of two-to-one; the enemy is already ἐρχομένῳ, on the way

But if not,conditional — elliptical protasis ('otherwise') — forward-leaning on ἐρωτᾷ

while the other is still far off,participial — genitive absolute — terms are sought before the armies close; leans on ἐρωτᾷ

sending a delegation,participial — preposed aorist participle — the embassy before the asking

he asks for terms of peace.content — τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην — the prudent surrender of the man who counted

v. 33 — the application: the refrain's third strike

So then, every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple.content — οὕτως οὖν draws the moral of both parables — ἀποτάσσεται, say farewell to; the refrain's third and final strike, embedded relative kept in line

Salt that loses its taste 14:34–35

Salt, then, is good;independent — verbless maxim — οὖν ties the salt-saying to the discipleship just defined

but if even the salt loses its taste,conditional — third-class protasis — μωραίνω, go insipid (lit. 'become foolish'); leans forward on the question

with what will it be seasoned?independent — the unanswerable question — nothing salts the salt (cf. Matt 5:13; Mark 9:50)

It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile;independent — οὔτε … οὔτε — useless even as fertilizer: savorless discipleship has no lower use

they throw it out.independent — impersonal plural — it simply gets discarded; asyndeton makes it a verdict

The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.independent — the formulaic call to attention — the chapter of invitations ends by asking who is listening

Analysis. Luke 14 is one long sabbath dinner-party that keeps turning into teaching, and the layout shows a chapter built of speech: short purple narrative frames flush left — ἐγένετο, εἶπεν, Ἔλεγεν, Συνεπορεύοντο — and beneath each one a blue column of quoted material that does the real work. Three shapes recur. First, the ὅταν protases of table-instruction (vv. 8, 10, 12, 13) lean forward, anchor-less, on the command below them, each trailing a μήποτε chain that spells out the feared outcome (the shame-walk to the last place in vv. 8–9 nests four deep, down to the host's δὸς τούτῳ τόπον). Second, the great banquet (vv. 15–24) is a parable told entirely inside one speech-frame (ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, v. 16), so its own speakers — the three excuse-makers, the servant, the twice-dispatching master — hang as frames-within-the-frame, each excuse ending in the verbatim refrain ἐρωτῶ σε, ἔχε με παρῃτημένον until the third simply says οὐ δύναμαι ἐλθεῖν; the closing λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν (v. 24) is kept inside the master's speech, but the plural ὑμῖν is flagged as the point where the master's voice merges into Jesus' own. Third, the discipleship refrain οὐ δύναται εἶναί μου μαθητής strikes three times (vv. 26, 27, 33), each time as the apodosis of a forward-leaning condition — εἴ τις, ὅστις, and the ὃς-relative of v. 33 — with the two cost-counting questions (tower-builder, king at war) standing between the second and third strike. Cruxes taken or noted: υἱὸς ἢ βοῦς is printed at v. 5 (the ὄνος variant noted); μισεῖ in v. 26 is glossed as the Semitic comparative ('love less') in the tag while 'hate' stands in the text; ἀνάγκασον εἰσελθεῖν (v. 23) is rendered as urgent hospitality, not coercion; and the guest's beatitude of v. 15 is kept verbless, as is the Καλὸν οὖν τὸ ἅλας that opens the salt-coda.