Luke 14:12

12-14. Whom to invite; a Lesson to the Host.

12. call not thy friends, nor thy brethren In this, as many of our Lord's utterances, we must take into account (1) the idioms of Oriental speech; (2) the rules of common sense, which teach us to distinguish between the letter and the spirit. It is obvious that our Lord did not mean to forbidthe common hospitalities between kinsmen and equals, but only, as the context shews, (1) to discourage a mere interestedhospitality intended to secure a return; and (2) to assert that unselfish generosity is superior to the common civilities of friendliness. The "not" therefore means, as often elsewhere in Scripture, "not only, but also," or "not so much...as," as in Proverbs 8:10; John 6:27; 1Co 1:17; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 Timothy 2:9, &c. In other words, "not" sometimes denies "not absolutely but conditionally (Galatians 5:21) and comparatively (1 Corinthians 1:17)." See Matthew 9:13; Jeremiah 7:22; Joel 2:13; Hebrews 8:11

and a recompence be made thee In a similar case Martial says, "You are asking for gifts, Sextus, not for friends." There is a remarkable parallel in Plato's Phaedrus.