Verse 11
When the king came - When God shall come to judge the world.
Wedding garment - Among the orientals, long white robes were worn at public festivals; and those who appeared on such occasions with any other garments were esteemed, not only highly culpable, but worthy of punishment. Our Lord seems here to allude to Zephaniah 1:7 , Zephaniah 1:8 , The Lord hath prepared a Sacrifice, he hath Bidden his guests. And it shall come to pass, in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will Punish the princes, and the King's Children, and All Such as are clothed with Strange Apparel. The person who invited the guests prepared such a garment for each, for the time being; and with which he was furnished on his application to the ruler of the feast. It was this which made the conduct of the person mentioned in the text inexcusable; he might have had a proper marriage garment, if he had applied for it.
To afford accidental guests clothing suitable to a marriage feast, was a custom among the ancient Greeks. Homer relates that Telemachus, and the son of Nestor, arriving at Lacedaemon when Menelaus was making a marriage feast for his son and daughter, were accommodated with garments suited to the occasion, after having been bathed and anointed.
Τους δ ' επει ουν δρωμαι λουσαν και χρισαν ελαιῳ,π
Αμφι δ ' αρα χλαινας ουλας βαλον ηδε χιτωνας,π
Ες ρα θρονους εζοντο παρ ' Ατρειδην Μενελαον
Odyss. l. iv. ver. 49-51
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