Banquet

VIEW:48 DATA:01-04-2020

BANQUET.—In AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘banquet’ and ‘banqueting’ always mean wine-drinking, not feasting generally. Thus Son_2:4 ‘He brought me to the banqueting house’ (Heb. ‘the house of wine’),1Pe_4:3 ‘banquetings’ (Gr. ‘drinkings,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘carousings’). See Meals.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

The hospitality of the present day in the east exactly resembles that of the remotest antiquity. The parable of the “great supper” is in those countries literally realized. And such was the hospitality of ancient Greece and Rome. When a person provided an entertainment for his friends or neighbours, he sent round a number of servants to invite the guests; these were called vocatores by the Romans, and κλητωρες by the Greeks. The day when the entertainment is to be given is fixed some considerable time before; and in the evening of the day appointed, a messenger comes to bid the guests to the feast. The custom is thus introduced in Luke: “A certain man made a great supper, and bade many; and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready.” They were not now asked for the first time; but had already accepted the invitation, when the day was appointed, and were therefore already pledged to attend at the hour when they might be summoned. They were not taken unprepared, and could not in consistency and decency plead any prior engagement. They could not now refuse, without violating their word, and insulting the master of the feast, and, therefore justly subjected themselves to punishment. The terms of the parable exactly accord with established custom. The Jews did not always follow the same method; sometimes they sent a number of servants different ways among the friends they meant to invite; and at other times, a single male domestic.
The Persians send a deputation to meet their guests: this deputation are called openers of the way; and the more distinguished the persons sent, and the greater the distance to which they go, so much greater is the honour.
So it is proclaimed, “Go forth and behold king Solomon, with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him.” “The bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him.” The names of the persons to be invited were inscribed upon tablets, and the gate was set open to receive those who had obtained them; but to prevent any getting in that had no ticket, only one leaf of the door was left open; and that was strictly guarded by the servants of the family.
Those who were admitted had to go along a narrow passage to the room; and after all who had received tickets of admission were assembled, the master of the house rose and shut to the door; and then the entertainment began. The first ceremony, after the guests arrived at the house of entertainment, was the salutation performed by the master of the house, or one appointed in his place. Among the Greeks, this was sometimes done by embracing with arms around; but the most common salutation was by the conjunction of their right hands, the right hand being reckoned a pledge of fidelity and friendship. Sometimes they kissed the lips, hands, knees, or feet, as the person deserved more or less respect. The Jews welcomed a stranger to their house in the same way; for our Lord complains to Simon, that he had given him no kiss, had welcomed him to his table with none of the accustomed tokens of respect.
The custom of reclining was introduced from the nations of the east, and particularly from Persia, where it seems to have been adopted at a very remote period. The Old Testament Scriptures allude to both customs; but they furnish undeniable proofs of the antiquity of sitting. As this is undoubtedly the most natural and dignified posture, so it seems to save been universally adopted by the first generations of men; and it was not till after the lapse of many ages, and when degenerate man and lost much of the firmness of his primitive character, that he began to recline.
The tables were constructed of three different parts or separate tables, making but one in the whole. One was placed at the upper end crossways, and the two others joined to its ends, one on each side, so as to leave an open space between, by which the attendants could readily wait at all the three. Round these tables were placed beds or couches, one to each table; each of these beds were called clinium; and three of these being united, to surround the three tables, made the triclinium. At the end of each clinium was a footstool, for the convenience of mounting up to it. These beds were formed of mattresses, and supported on frames of wood, often highly ornamented; the mattresses were covered with cloth or tapestry, according to the quality of the entertainer. At the splendid feast which Ahasuerus made for the nobles of his kingdom, beds of silver and gold were placed round the tables; according to a custom in the east of naming a thing from its principal ornament, these must have been couches profusely ornamented with the precious metals. Each guest inclined the superior part of his body upon his left arm, the lower part being stretched out at length, or a little bent; his head was raised up, and his back sometimes supported with pillows. In conversation, those who spoke raised themselves almost upright, supported by cushions. When they ate, they raised themselves on their elbow, and made use of the right hand; which is the reason our Lord mentions the hand of Judas in the singular number: “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me,” Mat_26:23. See ACCUBATION.
When a Persian comes into an assembly, and has saluted the house, he then measures with his eye the place to which his degree of rank entitles him; he straightway wedges himself into the line of guests, without offering any apology for the general disturbance which he produces. It often happens that persons take a higher seat than that to which they are entitled. The Persian scribes are remarkable for their arrogance in this respect, in which they seem to bear a striking resemblance to the Jews of the same profession in the days of our Lord. The master of the entertainment has, however, the privilege of placing any one as high in the rank of the assembly as he may choose. And Mr. Morier saw an instance of it at a public entertainment to which he was invited. When the assembly was nearly full, the governor of Kashan, a man of humble mien, although of considerable rank, came in and seated himself at the lowest place; when the master of the house, after numerous expressions of welcome, pointed with his hand to an upper seat in the assembly, to which he desired him to move, and which he accordingly did. These circumstances furnish a beautiful and striking illustration of the parable which our Lord uttered, when he saw how those that were invited chose the highest places.
Before the Greeks went to an entertainment, they washed and anointed themselves; for it was thought very indecent to appear on such an occasion, defiled with sweat and dust; but they who came off a journey were washed, and clothed with suitable apparel, in the house of the entertainer, before they were admitted to the feast. When Telemachus and Pisistratus arrived at the palace of Menelaus, in the course of their wanderings, they were immediately supplied with water to wash, and with oil to anoint themselves, before they took their seats by the side of the king. The oil used on such occasions, in the palaces of nobles and princes, was perfumed with roses and other odoriferous herbs. They also washed their hands before they sat down to meat. To these customary marks of respect, to which a traveller, or one who had no house of his own, was entitled, our Lord alludes in his defence of Mary: “And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house; thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss; but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment,” Luk_7:44. Homer mentions it as a custom quite common in those days, for daughters to wash and afterward to anoint the feet of their parents. Our Saviour was in the circumstances of a traveller; he had no home to wash and anoint himself in, before he went to Simon's house; and, therefore, had a right to complain that his entertainer had failed in the respect that was due to him as a stranger, at a distance from the usual place of his residence. The Jews regularly washed their hands and their feet before dinner; they considered this ceremony as essential, which discovers the reason of their astonishment, when they observed the disciples of Christ sit down at table without having observed this ceremony: “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread,” Mat_15:2. After meals they wash them again; for, says the evangelist, “the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders,” Mar_7:3-4. When they washed their hands themselves, they plunged them into the water up to the wrists; but when others performed this office for them, it was done by pouring it upon their hands. The same custom prevailed in Greece, for Homer says, the attendants poured water on the hands of their chiefs. This was a part of the service which Elisha performed for his master Elijah; and in every instance under the law where water was applied to the body by another, it was done, not by plunging, but by pouring or sprinkling. To wash the feet was a mean and servile office, and, therefore, generally performed by the female servants of the family. It was occasionally performed, however, by females of the highest rank; for the daughter of Cleobulus, one of the Grecian sages, and king of Lindus, a city on the southeast part of Rhodes, was not ashamed to wash the feet of her father's guests. And it was customary for them to kiss the feet of those to whom they thought a more than common respect was due; for the daughter of Philocleon, in Aristophanes, washed her father, anointed his feet, and, stooping down, kissed them. The towel which was used to wipe the feet after washing, was considered through all the east as a badge of servitude. Suetonius mentions it as a sure mark of the intolerable pride of Caligula, the Roman emperor, that when at supper he suffered senators of the highest rank, sometimes to stand by his couch, sometimes at his feet, girt with a towel. Hence it appears that this honour was a token of humiliation, which was not, however, absolutely degrading and inconsistent with all regard to rank. Yet our blessed Redeemer did not refuse to give his disciples, and Judas Iscariot himself, that proof of his love and humility.
The entertainment was conducted by a symposiarch, or governor of the feast. He was, says Plutarch, one chosen among the guests, the most pleasant and diverting in the company, that would not get drunk, and yet would drink freely; he was to rule over the rest, to forbid any disorder, but to encourage their mirth. He observed the temper of the guests, and how the wine worked upon them; how every one could bear his wine, and to endeavour accordingly to keep them all in harmony, and in an even composure, that there might be no disquiet nor disturbance. To do this effectually, he first proclaimed liberty to every one to drink what he thought proper, and then observing who among them was most ready to be disordered, mixed more water with his wine, to keep him equally sober with the rest of the company; so that this officer took care that none should be forced to drink, and that none, though left to their own choice, should get intoxicated. Such, we have reason to believe, was the governor of the feast at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, which our Lord honoured with his presence. The term αρχιτρικλινος literally signifies the governor of a place furnished with three beds; and he acted as one having authority; for he tasted the wine before he distributed it to the company, which, it is universally admitted, was one of the duties of a symposiarch. Neither the name nor the act accords with the character and situation of a guest; he must, therefore, have been the symposiarch, or governor of the feast. The existence of such an officer among the Jews is placed beyond a doubt, by a passage in the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, where his office is thus described: “If thou be made the master of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as one of the rest; take diligent care of them, and so sit down. And when thou hast done all thine office, take thy place, that thou mayest be merry with them, and receive a crown for the well-ordering of the feast,” Sir_32:1. See ARCHITRICLINUS.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

ban?kwet.
1. The Ancient Hebrew Customs
(1) ?Banquet? and ?banqueting? in the King James Version always include and stand for wine-drinking, not simply ?feast? or ?feasting? in our sense. Thus (Son_2:4), ?He brought me to the banqueting-house? is literally, ?the house of wine,? and Est_7:2 has in the Hebrew ?a banquet of wine.? In the New Testament we see a reflection of the same fact in 1Pe_4:3 the King James Version, ?We walked in ... excess of wine, banquetings? (Greek ?drinkings?; the Revised Version (British and American) ?carousings?). Compare Amo_6:7 the King James Version, ?The banquet of them that stretched themselves,? where the reference seems to be to reclining at wine-drinkings. See MEALS.
The Hebrew of Job_1:4, ?make a banquet,? may refer to a social feast of a less objectionable sort (compare Job_41:6 the King James Version), though the Hebrew for ?to drink? יין, yayin ?wine,? was used as synonymous with ?banquet.? See SYMPOSIUM.
Music, dancing and merriment usually attended all such festivities. Certainly the ancient Hebrews, like other peoples of the ancient East, were very fond of social feasting, and in Christ's day had acquired, from contact with Greeks and Romans, luxurious and bibulous habits, that often carried them to excess in their social feasts.
2. In Christ's Teaching and Practice
Among the Greeks the word for ?feast? (dochḗ) is from déchomai ?to receive? (compare our English usage, ?to receive? and ?reception?). This word dochḗ is used with poieı́n ?to make,? to signify ?to make? or ?give a feast.? Compare Luk_5:29 where Levi ?made a feast.?
(1) In view of existing customs and abuses, Christ taught His followers when they gave a banquet to invite the poor, etc. (Luk_14:13), rather than, as the fashion of the day called for, to bid the rich and influential. Much in the New Testament that has to do with banquets and banquetings will be obscure to us of the West if we do not keep in mind the many marked differences of custom between the East and the West.
(2) ?Banquets? were usually given in the house of the host to specially invited guests (Luk_14:15; Joh_2:2), but much more freedom was accorded to the uninvited than we of the West are accustomed to, as one finds to be true everywhere in the East today. The custom of reclining at meals (see MEALS; TRICLINIUM, etc.) was everywhere in vogue among the well-to-do in Christ's day, even in the case of the ordinary meals, the guest leaning upon the left arm and eating with the aid of the right (compare Mat_26:20 m ?reclining,? and 1Co_11:20, ?the Lord's supper?).
(3) ?Banquets? were considered normal parts of weddings as they are now throughout the East. Jesus and His disciples were bidden to one at Cana in Galilee, and accepted the invitation (Joh_2:2), and wine-drinking was a part of the feast. The ?banquet? Levi gave was in Christ's honor (Luk_5:29). There were numbers present and marked gradations in the places at table (Mat_23:6; Mar_12:39; Luk_14:7; Luk_20:46). Guests were invited in advance, and then, as time-pieces were scarce, specially notified when the feast was ready, which helps to explain Christ's words (Mat_22:4), ?All things are ready: come to the marriage? (compare Luk_14:17; Est_5:8; Est_6:14).
(4) Matthew tells us (Mat_23:6) that the Pharisees ?love the chief place (?uppermost rooms? the King James Version) at feasts.?
In Mat_22:3, Mat_22:4 ?made a marriage feast,? is rendered by some simply ?a feast,? because Greek gámos, ?marriage,? was used by Septuagint to translate the Hebrew for feast? in Est_1:5. But, as this is the only known example of such a use compare gámos, it is better to take it here in the literal sense of ?marriage feast,? as would seem to be required by the words ?for his son? (Messiah). The Greek is plural (gamous) to indicate the several parts or stages of the feast (Button, 23; compare English ?nuptials?).
The ?ruler of the feast? (architrı́klinos, Joh_2:8, Joh_2:9), was usually one of the guests, and his business was to see that wine was provided, superintend the drinking, etc. (compare Luk_22:27).
3. A Distinction Giving Rise to a Question
(1) In Mat_22:4, ?I have made ready my dinner,? ?dinner? in Greek is ariston (compare Luk_11:38). ?Supper? (Greek deı́pnon) is found in Mat_23:6 and often in the New Testament. Both words are found in Luk_14:12. The question arises, What was the distinction? Thus much may be said in answer: The ariston (English Versions ?dinner?) was a meal usually taken about the middle of the forenoon, with variations of earlier or later; the deipnon (English Versions ?supper?), the one taken at the close of the day, often after dark. In Ant, V, iv, 2 Josephus supposes Eglon's guards (Jdg_3:24) were negligent about noon, ?both because of the heat and because their attention was turned to dinner? (ariston). So the ?dinner? (ariston) was sometimes as late as noon. Yet Jn (Joh_21:12, Joh_21:15) shows, on the other hand, that the ariston was on some occasions taken shortly after dawn.
(2) Another question raised is this, Were the ancient Jews accustomed to have two or three meals a day? Vambery, quoted by Morison, gives a saying of the Turks that is in point: ?There are only two meals a day, the smaller at 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning, the second and larger after sunset.? There seems no evidence to sustain the view, maintained by Grimm and entertained by others, that the Jews of Christ's day were accustomed to take a separate and slight meal on rising, as the later Greeks and some of the later Romans did. There is certainly no clear evidence that the Jews of that day had more than two meals a day (see DB, article ?Meals?).
(3) The marriage feast of Mat_22:3 f was an ariston, somewhat like an English ?wedding-breakfast?; but that in Luk_14:16 f was a deipnon, which was as usual delayed till after dark (Luk_14:17). Perhaps the ariston in this case was preliminary, while the marriage with its accompanying deipnon was after dark; such things are not unheard of today (compare Mat_26:20 and 1Co_11:20, ?the Lord's deipnoň?).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Son_2:4 (c) A type of the happy condition of the heart of one who sits in the presence of GOD to feast on the precious truths of His Word, and to enjoy the blessings of His ministry.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.

Banquet
On occasions of ceremony the company were invited a considerable time previous; and on the day and at the hour appointed, an express by one or more servants, according to the number and distance of the expected guests, was dispatched to announce that the preparations were completed, and that their presence was looked for immediately (Mat_22:8; Luk_14:17). (Grotius, in loc.; also Morier's Journey, p. 73.) This custom obtains in the East at the present day; and the second invitation, which is always verbal, is delivered by the messenger in his master's name, and frequently in the very language of Scripture (Mat_22:4). It is observable, however, that this after summons is sent to none but such as have been already invited, and have declared their acceptance; and as, in these circumstances, people are bound by every feeling of honor and propriety to postpone all other engagements to the duty of waiting upon their entertainer, it is manifest that the vehement resentment of the grandee in the parable of the great supper (Luk_14:16 sq.), where each of the guests is described as offering to the bearer of the express some frivolous, apology for absence, was, so far from being harsh and unreasonable, as infidels have characterized it, fully warranted and most natural according to the manners of the age and country. By accepting his invitation they had given a pledge of their presence, the violation of which on such trivial grounds, and especially after the liberal preparations made for their entertainment, could be viewed in no other light than as a gross and deliberate insult.
At the small entrance-door a servant was stationed to receive the tablets or cards of those who were expected; and as curiosity usually collected a crowd of troublesome spectators, anxious to press forward into the scene of gayety, the gate was opened only so far as was necessary for the admission of a single person at a time, who, on presenting his invitation- ticket, was conducted through a long and narrow passage into the receiving-room; and then, after the whole company was assembled, the master of the house shut the door with his own hands-a signal to the servant to allow himself to be prevailed on neither by noise nor by importunities, however loud and long-continued, to admit the by-standers. To this custom there is a manifest reference in Luk_13:24, and Mat_25:10 (see Morier's Journey, p. 142).
One of the first marks of courtesy shown to the guests, after saluting the host, was the refreshment of water and fragrant oil or perfumes; and hence we find our Lord complaining of Simon's omission of these customary civilities (Luk_7:44; see also Mar_7:4). SEE ANOINTING. But a far higher, though necessarily less frequent attention paid to their friends by the great was the custom of furnishing each of the company with a magnificent habit of a light and showy color, and richly embroidered, to be worn during the festivity (Ecc_9:8; Rev_3:4-5). The loose and flowing style of this gorgeous mantle made it equally suitable for all; and it is almost incredible what a variety of such sumptuous garments the wardrobes of some great men could supply to equip a numerous party. In a large company, even of respectable persons, some might appear in a plainer and humbler garb than accorded with the taste of the voluptuous gentry of our Lord's time, and where this arose from necessity or limited means, it would have been harsh and unreasonable in the extreme to attach blame, or to command his instant and ignominious expulsion from the banquet-room. But where a well-appointed and sumptuous wardrobe was opened for the use of every guest, to refuse the gay and splendid costume which the munificence of the host provided, and to persist in appearing in one's own habiliments, implied a contempt both for the master of the house and his entertainment, which could not fail to provoke resentment; and our Lord therefore spoke in accordance with a well-known custom of his country when, in the parable of the marriage of the king's son, he describes the stern displeasure of the king on discovering one of the guests without a wedding garment, and his instant command to thrust him out (Mat_22:11).
At private banquets the master of the house of course presided, and did the honors of the occasion; but in large and mixed companies it was anciently customary to elect a governor of the feast (Joh_2:8; see also Sir_32:1), who should not merely perform the office of chairman, ἀρχιτρίκλινος, in preserving order and decorum, but take upon himself the general management of the festivities. As this office was considered a post of great responsibility and delicacy, as well as honor, the choice, which among the Greeks and Romans was left to the decision of dice, was more wisely made by the Jews to fall upon him who was known to be possessed of the requisite qualities a ready wit and convivial turn, and at the same time firmness of character and habits of temperance. SEE ARCHITRICLINUS. The guests were scrupulously arranged either by the host or governor, who, in the case of a family, placed them according to seniority (Gen_42:33), and in the case of others, assigned the most honorable (comp. 1Sa_9:22) a place near his own person; or it was done by the party themselves, on their successive arrivals, and after surveying the company, taking up the position which appeared fittest for each. It might be expected that among the Orientals, by whom the laws of etiquette in these matters are strictly observed, many absurd and ludicrous contests for precedence must take place, from the arrogance of some and the determined perseverance of others to wedge themselves into the seat they deem themselves entitled to. Accordingly, Morier informs us “that it is easy to observe, by the countenances of those present, when any one has taken a higher place than he ought.” “On one occasion,” he adds, “when an assembly was nearly full, the Governor of Kashan, a man of humble mien, came in, and had seated himself at the lowest place, when the host, after having testified his particular attentions to him by numerous expressions of welcome, pointed with his hand to an upper seat, which he desired him to take” (Second Journey). As a counterpart to this, Dr. Clarke states that “at a wedding feast he attended in the house of a rich merchant at St. Jean d'Acre, two persons who had seated themselves at the top were noticed by the master of ceremonies, and obliged to move lower down” (see also Joseph. Ant. 15:24.) The knowledge of these peculiarities serves to illustrate several passages of Scripture (Pro_25:6-7; Mat_23:6; and especially Luk_14:7, where we find Jesus making the unseemly ambition of the Pharisees the subject of severe and merited animadversion).
In ancient Egypt, as in Persia, the tables were ranged along the sides of the room, and the guests were placed with their faces toward the walls. Persons of high official station were honored with a table apart for themselves at the head of the room; and in these particulars we trace an exact correspondence to the arrangements of Joseph's entertainment to his brethren. According to Lightfoot (Exercit. on Joh_13:23), the tables of the Jews were either wholly uncovered, or two thirds were spread with a cloth, while the remaining third was left bare for the dishes and vegetables. In the days of our Lord the prevailing form was the triclinium, the mode of reclining at which is described elsewhere. SEE ACCUBATION. This effeminate practice was not introduced until near the close of the Old Testament history, for among all its writers prior to the age of Amos, יָשִׁב, to sit, is the word invariably used to describe the posture at table (1 Samuel 16, margin, and Psa_128:3, implying that the ancient Israelites sat round a low table, cross-legged, like the Orientals of the present day), whereas ἀνακλίνω, signifying a recumbent posture, is the word employed in the Gospels. And whenever the word “sit” occurs in the New Testament, it ought to be translated “lie,” or recline, according to the universal practice of that age.
The convenience of spoons, knives, and forks being unknown in the East, or, where known, being a modern innovation, the hand is the only instrument used in conveying food to the mouth; and the common practice, their food being chiefly prepared in a liquid form, is to dip their thin, wafer- like bread in the dish, and, folding it between their thumb and two fingers, enclose a portion of the contents. It is not uncommon to see several hands plunged into one dish at the same time. But where the party is numerous, the two persons near or opposite are commonly joined in one dish; and accordingly, at the last Passover, Judas, being close to his master, was pointed out as the traitor by being designated as the person “dipping his hand with Jesus in the dish.” The Apostle John, whose advantageous situation enabled him to hear the minutest parts of the conversation, has recorded the fact of our Lord, in reply to the question, “Who is it?” answering it by “giving a sop to Judas when he had dipped” (Joh_13:27.) It is not the least among the peculiarities of Oriental manners that a host often dips his hand into a dish, and, lifting a handful of what he considers a dainty, offers the ψωμίον or sop to one of his friends, and to decline it would be a violation of propriety and good manners (see Jowett's Christian Researches). In earlier ages, a double or a more liberal portion, or a choice piece of cookery, was the form in which a landlord showed his respect for the individual he delighted to honor (Gen_43:34; 1Sa_1:4; 1Sa_9:23; Pro_31:15; see Voller's Grec. Ant. 2:387; Forbes, Orient. Mem. 3, 187.)
While the guests reclined in the manner described above, their feet, of course, being stretched out behind, were the most accessible parts of their person, and accordingly the woman with the alabaster box of ointment could pay her grateful and reverential attentions to Jesus without disturbing him in the business of the table. Nor can the presence of this woman, uninvited and unknown even as she was to the master of the house, appear at all an incredible or strange circumstance, when we consider that entertainments are often given in gardens, or in the outer courts, where strangers are freely admitted, and that Simon's table was in all likelihood accessible to the same promiscuous visitors as are found hovering about at the banquets and entering into the houses of the most respectable Orientals of the present day (Forbes, Orient. Mem.). In the course of the entertainment servants are frequently employed in sprinkling the head and person of the guests with odoriferous perfumes, which, probably to counteract the- scent of too copious perspiration, they use in great profusion, and the fragrance of which, though generally too strong for Europeans, is deemed an agreeable refreshment (see Psa_45:8; Psa_23:5; Psa_123:2).
The various items of which an Oriental entertainment consists, bread, flesh, fish, fowls, melted butter, honey, and fruits, are in many places set on the table at once, in defiance of all taste. They are brought in upon trays — one, containing several dishes, being assigned to a group of two, or at most three persons, and the number and quality of the dishes being regulated according to the rank and consideration of the party seated before it. In ordinary cases four or five dishes constitute the portion allotted to a guest; but if he be a person of consequence, or one to whom the host is desirous of showing more than ordinary marks of attention, other viands are successively brought in, until, if every vacant corner of the tray is occupied, the bowls are piled one above another. The object of this rude but liberal hospitality is, not that the individual thus honored is expected to surfeit himself by an excess of indulgence in order to testify his sense of the entertainer's kindness, but that he may enjoy the means of gratifying his palate with greater variety; and hence we read of Joseph's displaying his partiality for Benjamin by making his “mess five times so much as any of theirs” (Gen_43:34). The shoulder of a lamb, roasted, and plentifully besmeared with butter and milk, is regarded as a great delicacy still (Buckingham's Travels, 2:136), as it was also in the days of Samuel. But according to the favorite cookery of the Orientals, their animal food is for the most part cut into small pieces, stewed, or prepared in a liquid state, such as seems to have been the “broth” presented by Gideon to the angel (Jdg_6:19). The made-up dishes are “savory meat,” being highly seasoned, and bring to remembrance the marrow and fatness which were esteemed as the most choice morsels in ancient times. As to drink, when particular attention was intended to be shown to a guest, his cup was filled with wine till it ran over (Psa_23:5), and it is said that the ancient Persians began their feasts with wine, whence it was called “a banquet of wine' (Est_5:6). See Rinck, De apparatu convivii regis Persarum (Regiom. 1755); Kohler, Observatt. (Lips. 1763), p. 1 sq.
The hands, for occasionally both were required, besmeared with grease during the process of eating, were anciently cleaned by rubbing them with the soft part of the bread, the crumbs of which, being allowed to fall, became the portion of dogs (Mat_15:27; Luk_16:21). But the most common way now at the conclusion of a feast is for a servant to go round to each guest with water to wash, a service which is performed by the menial pouring a stream over their hands, which is received into a strainer at the bottom of the basin. This humble office Elisha performed to his master (2Ki_3:11). SEE EWER.
People of rank and opulence in the East frequently give public entertainments to the poor. The rich man in the parable, whose guests disappointed him, dispatched his servants on the instant to invite those that might be found sitting by the hedges and the highways — a measure which, in the circumstances, was absolutely necessary, as the heat of the climate would spoil the meats long before they could be consumed by the members of his own household. But many of the great, from benevolence or ostentation, are in the habit of proclaiming set days for giving feasts to the poor; and then, at the time appointed, may be seen crowds of the blind, the halt, and the maimed bending their steps to the scene of entertainment. This species of charity claims a venerable antiquity. Our Lord recommended his wealthy hearers to practice it rather than spend their fortunes, as they did, on luxurious living (Luk_14:12); and as such invitations to the poor are of necessity given by public proclamation, and female messengers are employed to publish them (Hasselquist saw ten or twelve thus perambulating a town in Egypt), it is probably to the same venerable practice that Solomon alludes in Pro_9:3. SEE FEAST.
Among the Hebrews banquets were not only a means of social enjoyment, but were a part of the observance of religious festivity. At the three solemn festivals, when all the males appeared before the Lord, the family also had its domestic feast, as appears from the place and the share in it to which “the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger” were legally entitled (Deu_16:11). Probably, when the distance allowed and no inconvenience hindered, both males and females went up (e.g. to Shiloh; 1Sa_1:9) together to hold the festival. These domestic festivities were doubtless to a great extent retained, after laxity had set in as regards the special observance by the male sex (Neh_8:17). Sacrifices, both ordinary and extraordinary, as among heathen nations (Exo_34:15; Jdg_16:23), included a banquet, and Eli's sons made this latter the prominent part. The two, thus united, marked strongly both domestic and civil life. It may even be said that some sacrificial recognition, if only in pouring the blood solemnly forth as before God, always attended the slaughter of an animal for food. The firstlings of cattle were to be sacrificed and eaten at the sanctuary if not too far from the residence (1Sa_9:13; 2Sa_6:19; Exo_22:29-30; Lev_19:5-6; Deu_12:17; Deu_12:20-21; Deu_15:19-22). From the sacrificial banquet probably sprang the AGAPAE; as the Lord's Supper, with which it for a while coalesced, was derived from the Passover. Besides religious celebrations, such events as the weaning a son and heir, a marriage, the separation or reunion of friends, and sheep-shearing, were customarily attended by a banquet or revel (Gen_21:8; Gen_29:22; Gen_31:27; Gen_31:54; 1Sa_25:2; 1Sa_25:36; 2Sa_13:23). At a funeral, also, refreshment was taken in common by the mourners, and this might tend to become a scene of indulgence, but ordinarily abstemiousness seems on such occasions to have been the rule. The case of Archelaus is not conclusive, but his inclination toward alien usages was doubtless shared by the Herodianizing Jews (Jer_16:5-7; Eze_24:17; Hos_9:4; Ecc_7:2; Josephus, War, 2:1). Birthday-banquets are only mentioned in the cases of Pharaoh and Herod (Gen_40:20; Mat_14:6). A leading topic of prophetic rebuke is the abuse of festivals to an occasion of drunken revelry, and the growth of fashion in favor of drinking-parties.
Such was the invitation typically given by Jeremiah to the Rechabites (Jer_35:5). The usual time of the banquet was the evening, and to begin early was a mark of excess (Isa_5:11; Ecc_10:16). The slaughtering of the cattle, which was the preliminary of a banquet, occupied the earlier part of the same day (Pro_9:2; Isa_22:13; Mat_22:4). The most essential materials of the banqueting- room, next to the viands and wine, which last was often drugged with spices (Pro_9:2; Son_8:2), were garlands or loose flowers, exhibitions of music, singers, and dancers, riddles, jesting and merriment (Isa_28:1; Wisdom of Solomon 2:6; 2Sa_19:35; Isa_25:6; Isa_5:12; Jdg_14:12; Neh_8:10; Ecc_10:19; Mat_22:11; Amo_6:5-6; Luk_15:25). Seven days was a not uncommon duration of a festival, especially for a wedding, but sometimes fourteen (Tobias 8:19; Gen_29:27; Jdg_14:12); but if the bride were a widow, three days formed the limit (Buxtorf, De Conviv. Hebr.). The reminder sent to the guests (Luk_14:17) was probably only usual in princely banquets on a large scale, involving protracted preparation. There seems no doubt that the Jews of the O.T. period used a common table for all the guests. In Joseph's entertainment a ceremonial separation prevailed, but there is no reason for supposing a separate table for each, as is distinctly asserted in the Talmud (Tosephot Berach. c. 6) to have been usual, The latter custom certainly was in use among the ancient Greeks and Germans (Hem. Od. 23, 10 2:74; Tac. Germ. 22), and perhaps among the Egyptians (Wilkinson, 2:202, engravings). But the common phrase to “sit at table,” or “eat at any ore's table,” shows the originality of the opposite usage. The separation of the woman's banquet was not a Jewish custom (Est_1:9). Portions or messes were sent from the entertainer to each guest at table, and a special part was sometimes reserved for a late comer (1Sa_1:5; Gen_43:34; 1Sa_9:23-24). Portions were similarly sent to poorer friends direct from the banquet-table (Neh_8:10; Est_9:19; Est_9:22). The kiss on receiving a guest was a point of friendly courtesy (Luk_7:45). It was strictly enjoined by the rabbins to wash both before and after eating, which they called the “first water” and the “last water” ( מִיִם רִאשׁוֹנִיםand מִיִם אִחֲרוֹנִים); but washing the feet seems to have been limited to the case of a guest who was also a traveler. SEE ABLUTION.
In religious banquets the wine was mixed, by rabbinical regulation, with three parts of water, and four short forms of benediction were pronounced over it. At the Passover four such cups were mixed, blessed, and passed round by the master of the feast (ἀρχιτρίκλινος). It is probable that the character of this official varied with that of the entertainment; if it were a religious one, his office would be quasi-priestly; if a revel, he would be the mere symposiarch (συμποσιάρχης) or arbiter bibendi. (See Smith's Dict. of Class. Ant. s.v. Symposium; Comissatio.) — Smith, s.v. SEE ENTERTAINMENT; SEE EATING; SEE HOSPITALITY, etc.



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

FACEBOOK

Participe de nossa rede facebook.com/osreformadoresdasaude

Novidades, e respostas das perguntas de nossos colaboradores