Luke 5 · Verse 29

Luke 5:29

And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

Luke 5:29, King James Version

Luke 5:29 in other translations

BSB	Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them.
WEB	Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them.
ASV	And Levi made him a great feast in his house: and there was a great multitude of publicans and of others that were sitting at meat with them.
YLT	And Levi made a great entertainment to him in his house, and there was a great multitude of tax-gatherers and others who were with them reclining (at meat),
DARBY	And Levi made a great entertainment for him in his house, and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and others who were at table with them.
BBE	And Levi made a great feast for him in his house: and a great number of tax-farmers and others were seated at table with them.
Webster	And Levi made him a great feast in his own house; and there was a great company of publicans, and of others that sat down with them.

What does Luke 5:29 mean?

Barnes' Notes

Verse 29. Made him a great feast. This circumstance Matthew, or Levi as he is here called, has omitted in his own gospel. This fact shows how little inclined the evangelists are to say anything in favour of themselves or to praise themselves. True religion does not seek to commend itself, or to speak of what it does, even when it is done for the Son of God. It seeks retirement; it delights rather in the consciousness of doing well than in its being known; and it leaves its good deeds to be spoken of, if spoken of at all, by others. This is agreeable to the direction of Solomon (Prov 27:2): "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth." This feast was made expressly for our Lord, and was attended by many publicans, probably men of wicked character; and it is not improbable that Matthew got them together for the purpose of bringing them into contact with our Lord to do them good. Our Saviour did not refuse to go, and to go, too, at the risk of being accused of being a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, Mt 11:19. But his motives were pure. In the thing itself there was no harm. It afforded an opportunity of doing good, and we have no reason to doubt that the opportunity was improved by the Lord Jesus. Happy would it be if all the great feasts that are made were made in honour of our Lord; happy if he would be a welcome guest there; and happy if ministers and pious people who attend them demeaned themselves as the Lord Jesus did, and they were always made the means of advancing his kingdom. But, alas! there are few places where our Lord would be so unwelcome as at great feasts, and few places that serve so much to render the mind gross, dissipated, and irreligious.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 29 A great feast - Δοχην μεγαλην, A splendid entertainment. The word refers more properly to the number of the guests, and the manner in which they were received, than to the quality or quantity of the fare. A great number of his friends and acquaintance was collected on the occasion, that they might be convinced of the propriety of the change he had made, when they had the opportunity of seeing and hearing his heavenly teacher.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 5:27-39

It was a wonder of Christ's grace, that he would call a publican to be his disciple and follower. It was a wonder of his grace, that the call was made so effectual. It was a wonder of his grace, that he came to call sinners to repentance, and to assure them of pardon. It was a wonder of his grace, that he so patiently bore the contradiction of sinners against himself and his disciples. It was a wonder of his grace…

Read the full comment on Luke 5:27-39 →

Luke 5:29 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

καὶkaiAndG2532

ἐποίησενepoiēsenmadeG4160

δοχὴνdochēna banquetG1403

μεγάληνmegalēngreatG3173

ΛευὶςLeuisLeviG3017

αὐτῷautōfor HimG846

ἐνeninG1722

τῇtēatheG3588

οἰκίᾳoikiahouseG3614

αὐτοῦ,autouof him,G846

καὶkaiandG2532

ἦνēnthere wasG1510

ὄχλοςochlosa multitudeG3793

πολὺςpolusgreatG4183

τελωνῶνtelōnōnof tax collectorsG5057

καὶkaiandG2532

ἄλλωνallōnothersG243

οἳhoiwhoG3739

ἦσανēsanwereG1510

μετ᾽met᾽withG3326

αὐτῶνautōnthemG846

κατακείμενοι.katakeimenoireclining.G2621

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Luke 5:29

Mark 2:15
And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.
1 Corinthians 10:27
If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
Luke 15:1
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
Matthew 9:10
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
John 12:2
There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
1 Corinthians 5:9-11
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

made.
Joh 12:2
and there.
Mt 9:10; Mr 2:15; 1Co 5:9-11; 10:27

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Luke 5:28
And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
Luke 5:29
And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
Luke 5:30
But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?

Read all of Luke 5

Luke 5:29 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	E hizo Leví gran banquete en su casa; y había mucha compañía de publicanos y de otros, los cuales estaban á la mesa con ellos.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et Lévi lui fit un grand festin dans sa maison; et il y avait une grande foule de publicains et d’autres gens qui étaient avec eux à table.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und Levi machte ihm ein großes Mahl in seinem Hause; und daselbst war eine große Menge Zöllner und anderer, die mit ihnen zu Tische lagen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et fecit ei convivium magnum Levi in domo sua: et erat turba multa publicanorum, et aliorum qui cum illis erant discumbentes.