Matthew 22:13

τοῖς διακόνοις, the servants waiting on the guests, cf. Luke 22:27; John 2:5. δήσαντες, ἐκβάλετε : disproportionate fuss, we are apt to think, about the rude act of an unmannerly clown. Enough surely simply to turn him out, instead of binding him hand and foot as a criminal preparatory to some fearful doom. But matters of etiquette are seriously viewed at courts, especially in the East, and the king's temper is already ruffled by previous insults, which make him jealous for his honour. And the anger of the king serves the didactic aim of the parable, which is to enforce the lesson: sin not because grace abounds. After all the doom of the offender is simply to be turned out of the festive chamber into the darkness of night outside. ἐκεῖ ἔσται, etc.: stock-phrase descriptive of the misery of one cast out into the darkness, possibly no part of the parable. On this expression Furrer remarks: “How weird and frightful, for the wanderer who has lost his way, the night, when clouds cover the heavens, and through the deep darkness the howling and teeth grinding of hungry wolves strike the ear of the lonely one! Truly no figure could more impressively describe the anguish of the God-forsaken” (Wanderungen, p. 181).