And another also said, Lord, I will follow you; but let me first go bid them farewell, who are at home at my house.
All Commentaries on Luke 9:61 Go To Luke 9
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. This verse has been variously explained.
1. Suffer me to give notice to my parents and to consult with them; for he was doubtful what he should do. But Christ would not grant his request, because parents very often do not approve of the higher life, and sometimes dissuade their children from adopting it. Titus.
2. Suffer me to tell my parents of my intention, that knowing what is become of me, they may neither be anxious about me, nor come to seek me. S. Augustin (serm. vii. De verbis Domini) and, Toletus.
3. S. Basil (Constit. cap. xxi.) thinks that the Prayer of Manasseh , like the one who preceded him, was a disciple, and that he only sought permission to say farewell to his friends, as about to return to them no more. The Syriac favours this interpretation, and translates, "Let me go to salute, i.e. to bid farewell to my family at home, and I will come again."
4. The best rendering is that of the Vulgate, which for "them" substitutes "those things." Let me go bid "those things" farewell. Give me time to dispose of my property at home, and divide it amongst my brethren and kinsmen; for this is the trite meaning of the Greek word ὰποτάξασθαι. Hence the Arabic has, "Suffer me to make division amongst my friends at home." So also S. Augustin, Maldonatus, and others.
