Luke 14:3

Jesus answering. Jesus did not “answer” in the sense of replying to any question addressed to Him. He was “answering” the thoughts of the Pharisees, who were watching to see what He would do. The use of the word “answer” in this sense is common in Hebrew (see on chapter 13:14).

The lawyers and Pharisees. In Greek there is but one definite article for both words. This indicates that here they are treated as belonging to one group rather than to two (cf. chapter 7:30, where the definite article appears twice in the Greek). Concerning “lawyers” and “Pharisees” see pp. 51, 52, 55.

Is it lawful? Important textual evidence may be cited for adding “or not.”