New Testament · Gospel

Luke 14:31

The Great Banquet

Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Luke 14:31 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Luke 14:31, in plain English

Jesus gives a second example: what king would go to war without first figuring out if his army can actually win?

Why it's here

He's raising the stakes — from building a tower to fighting a war. The decisions get bigger, the consequences more serious.

Who's speaking

Jesus continues His cost-counting theme, this time with a life-and-death military scenario.

Where it sits in the story

A king with 10,000 soldiers faces an enemy with 20,000. He'd better think carefully before marching into battle.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The second parable involves a king assessing military odds — ten thousand versus twenty thousand. The verb 'consider' (bouleusetai) emphasizes strategic deliberation before engagement.

Language and setting

This military parable escalates the stakes from personal embarrassment (tower) to national survival, reinforcing that the cost of discipleship is total and non-negotiable.

Voice

Jesus presents a second illustration of cost-counting, using a royal military scenario to heighten the gravity of the decision.

Significance

Jesus offers another picture: a king going to war must evaluate whether his ten thousand troops can defeat an army twice their size.

In context

Luke 14:29–33

29Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,

30saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

31Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.

33In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

Read all of Luke 14 — The invited guests make excuses, so the host sends servants into the streets and alleys. God's table will be full — just not with who you'd expect.

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