Matthew 22:8 (DBY)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Matthew 22:6 And the rest, laying hold of his bondmen, ill-treated and slew [them].

Matthew 22:7 And [when] the king [heard of it he] was wroth, and having sent his forces, destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Matthew 22:8 Then he says to his bondmen, The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy;

Matthew 22:9 go therefore into the thoroughfares of the highways, and as many as ye shall find invite to the wedding feast.

Matthew 22:10 And those bondmen went out into the highways, and brought together all as many as they found, both evil and good; and the wedding feast was furnished with guests.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "says", "bondmen", "wedding", "feast", "ready", "invited", and "worthy". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "says" and "bondmen", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "And when the king heard of it..." into verse 9's "go therefore into the thoroughfares of the...", so "says" and "bondmen" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "says" and "bondmen" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.