SEV Biblia, Chapter 23:6
y aman el primer lugar en las cenas, y las primeras sillas en las sinagogas;
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 6. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts , etc.] Or the first and chief places to sit, or lie down on, at ordinary meals, and especially at large entertainments, where the great ones sat, as in ( 1 Samuel 9:22) where Jarchi on the place observes, that by the manner of their sitting, it was known who was the greatest; and this the Scribes and Pharisees affected. With the Romans, the most honourable place was at the upper end of the table: some think it was more honourable to sit in the middle, but the master of the feast sat at the lower end; and to senior men, and who were venerable with age, or excelled in prudence and authority, the first sitting down, and the more honourable place, were given; and when the table was taken away, they used to rise first f1234 : the middle place was the more honourable with the Numidians f1235 , and so it seems to be with the Romans f1236 , and also with the Jews; and this the Scribes and Pharisees loved, desired, sought for, and were pleased if they had not it. It is said of Simeon ben Shetach, a noted Pharisee, about, or rather before the time of Christ, that having fled upon a certain account from king Jannai, he sent for him, and when he came, he sat himself between the king and the queen: the king said to him, why dost thou mock me? he replied to him, I do not mock thee, thou hast riches and I have learning, as it is written, Wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence, ( Ecclesiastes 7:12). He said to him, but why dost thou sit between the king and queen?
He replied, in the book of Ben Sira, it is written, Exalt her and she shall promote thee, and cause thee to sit among princes. He ordered to give him a cup, that he might ask a blessing; he took the cup and said, blessed be the food that Jannai and his friends eat.
Thus on account of their wisdom and learning, they thought they had a right to take the upper hand of kings themselves: and the chief seats in the synagogues ; for these were different; the seats of the senior men were turned towards the people, and the backs of them were towards the ark or chest, in which the holy books were put; and these seem to be what the Scribes and Pharisees coveted, that they might be in the full view of the people. And so says Maimonides f1238 , How do the people sit in the synagogues? The elders sit, i.e. first, and their faces are towards the people, and their backs are to the temple, or holy place; and all the people sit in rows, and the faces of one row are to the backs of the row that is before them; so that the faces of all the people are to the holy place, and to the elders, and to the ark.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-12 - The scribes and Pharisees explained the law of Moses, and enforce obedience to it. They are charged with hypocrisy in religion. We can only judge according to outward appearance; but God searches the heart They made phylacteries. These were scrolls of paper or parchment wherein were written four paragraphs of the law, to be worn on their foreheads and left arms, Ex 13:2-10; 13:11-16; De 6:4-9; 11:13-21. The made these phylacteries broad, that they might be thought more zealou for the law than others. God appointed the Jews to make fringes upo their garments, Nu 15:38, to remind them of their being a peculia people; but the Pharisees made them larger than common, as if they wer thereby more religious than others. Pride was the darling, reigning sin of the Pharisees, the sin that most easily beset them, and which ou Lord Jesus takes all occasions to speak against. For him that is taugh in the word to give respect to him that teaches, is commendable; but for him that teaches, to demand it, to be puffed up with it, is sinful How much is all this against the spirit of Christianity! The consisten disciple of Christ is pained by being put into chief places. But wh that looks around on the visible church, would think this was the spirit required? It is plain that some measure of this antichristia spirit prevails in every religious society, and in every one of ou hearts.
Greek Textus Receptus
φιλουσιν 5368 5719 V-PAI-3P τε 5037 PRT την 3588 T-ASF πρωτοκλισιαν 4411 N-ASF εν 1722 PREP τοις 3588 T-DPN δειπνοις 1173 N-DPN και 2532 CONJ τας 3588 T-APF πρωτοκαθεδριας 4410 N-APF εν 1722 PREP ταις 3588 T-DPF συναγωγαις 4864 N-DPF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
6. The uppermost rooms (prwtoklisian). Rev., more correctly, the chief place, the foremost couch or uppermost place on the divan.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
23:6 {The chief place at feasts} (ten prwtoklisian en tois deipnois). Literally, the first reclining place on the divan at the meal. The Persians, Greeks, Romans, Jews differed in their customs, but all cared for the post of honor at formal functions as is true of us today. Hostesses often solve the point by putting the name of each guest at the table. At the last passover meal the apostles had an ugly snarl over this very point of precedence (#Lu 22:24; Joh 13:2-11), just two days after this exposure of the Pharisees in the presence of the apostles. {The chief seats in the synagogues} (tas pr"tokathedrias en tais sunag"gais). "An insatiable hunger for prominence" (Bruce). These chief seats (Zuchermandel) were on the platform looking to the audience and with the back to the chest in which were kept the rolls of scripture. The Essenes had a different arrangement. People today pay high prices for front seats at the theatre, but at church prefer the rear seats out of a curious mock-humility. In the time of Jesus the hypocrites boldly sat up in front. Now, if they come to church at all, they take the rear seats.
