The place of honor at feasts would be the position immediately to the right of the host; in addition to sitting beside the host, the person there would be served first with the choice portions. This can be translated as “the best places” (Good News Translation) or “the places for the most honored people.”

The best seats in the synagogues (Good News Translation “the reserved seats in the synagogues”) were the seats on the elevated podium, while the remainder of the people sat on the floor. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders the entire verse “During feasts they sit at the places of honor, and during worship they sit in the most prominent places.”

For synagogues, see comment at 4.23.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .