61. — [Bid..,fareweU.'] The Greek word so translated is peculiar. In Mark vi. 40, it is rendered "sent away;" in Luke xiv. 33, it is "forsaketh;" but in Acts xviii. 18, 21, and 2 Cor. ii. 13, it is " taking leave," and " bidding farewell."
Heinsius thinks that it should be translated, " suffer me first to go and give my commands" to them at home, as if the man was ubout to die, or take a long journey.
It is probable, that, like the. expression, ^"bury my father," more is implied than appears. Had the desire to bid farewell been like the simple wish of Elisha, " to kiss his father and mother," when Elijah called him, our Lord would hardly have said what He did. (1 Kings xix. 20.) It is evident at any rate that our Lord saw the man's heart was more at his home than at his work.
62. — [Fit for the kingdom.] In this proverb the Greek word ren- dered, "fit," is remarkable, and only used here and Luke xiv. 35, and Heb. vi. 7. It means literally, "well-placed," or "well- disposed." — It implies that a man wanting to go home to take leave of his friends is not rightly disposed for Gospel work, any more than a man looking behind him is rightly placed for •ploughing.
Let it be noted in the whole passage, that both in the second and third cases the grand fault manifestly was the desire to do something "first," (59, 61 verses) before doing Christ's work.