For the king to graciously extend the honor of an invitation to a banquet and be rebuffed as if his benefaction were meaningless was a traumatic breach of the social order, an act of rebellion. The king can salvage some honor only by getting others to attend the banquet and by punishing these who have insulted his kindness; even in less dramatic circumstances, Jewish stories could envisage a king avenging his honor by executing those who have scorned his invitation to eat (Gen. Rab. 9:10).

Slaughtering messengers (v. 6) constituted an explicitly revolutionary act (compare Jos. War 2.450-56; Ant. 9.264-66). The parable's audience would naturally applaud the king's rage as just-except those who were aware that the lesson was aimed at them (21:45). The violence is realistic: after such an insult to a king's honor, nothing less than such vengeance as verse 7 depicts would satisfy his honor. Of course the parable is at the same time unrealistic to suppose that the king would engage in a military expedition while his banquet food was getting cold (Young 1989:171)! The expedition is noted here so the parable can climax with its primary point at the end-a point that also bursts the bounds of realism to show the horrible fate of the disobedient.