Zetemata

Luke 15

The chapter in full, then what it says, what the Greek or Hebrew decides, and where readers have disagreed.

Luke 15 WEB
  1. 1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
  2. 2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them."
  3. 3 He told them this parable:
  4. 4 "Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
  5. 5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
  6. 6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'
  7. 7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
  8. 8 "Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn't light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
  9. 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost!'
  10. 10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting."
  11. 11 He said, "A certain man had two sons.
  12. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of your property.' So he divided his livelihood between them.
  13. 13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
  14. 14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
  15. 15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
  16. 16 He wanted to fill his belly with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
  17. 17 But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I'm dying with hunger!
  18. 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
  19. 19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants."'
  20. 20 He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
  21. 21 The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
  22. 22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
  23. 23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let's eat and celebrate;
  24. 24 for this, my son, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.' Then they began to celebrate.
  25. 25 "Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
  26. 26 He called one of the servants to him and asked what was going on.
  27. 27 He said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.'
  28. 28 But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and begged him.
  29. 29 But he answered his father, 'Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
  30. 30 But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'
  31. 31 "He said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
  32. 32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.'"

Luke 15

What is happening

Luke 15 is one continuous scene with three linked parables, all provoked by a single complaint. Jesus has drawn a crowd of "tax collectors and sinners" — the collaborators and the morally disreputable of first-century Galilee, people the religious establishment kept at a distance — and they are "coming close to him to hear him" (15:1). The Pharisees and scribes, the recognized teachers of the law, respond with something more corrosive than criticism: they "murmured" (Greek diegongyzon, the same verb used of Israel grumbling against God in the wilderness). Their complaint is precise: "This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them" (15:2). In a culture where table fellowship signified acceptance and shared status, that was the charge — not that Jesus spoke to sinners, but that he ate with them as equals.

Jesus answers with three parables that all move the same way: something is lost, something is found, and the finding produces a joy disproportionate to the object — a joy that insists on being shared. The chapter sits at the heart of Luke's travel narrative, where Jesus's identity and mission are defined less by miracle than by whom he receives.

The passage, walked through

The lost sheep (15:4–7). A shepherd with a hundred sheep loses one and leaves "the ninety-nine in the wilderness" to go after it "until he found it." The search is not casual; the verb tense in Greek (heōs heurē, aorist subjunctive) marks it as a search with an end, not an open-ended hope. On finding it he doesn't drive it home — he "carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing" (chairōn), and summons neighbors to celebrate. Jesus draws the moral himself: "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance" (15:7). The line is not arithmetic about numbers of sinners; it is about where joy in heaven actually locates itself — on recovery, not on the maintenance of the untroubled.

The lost coin (15:8–10). A woman with ten drachmas loses one — roughly a day's wage, not a fortune, but not nothing either — and searches the house with a lamp, sweeping "diligently until she found it." Same shape, same summons to neighbors, same explicit application: "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting" (15:10). Two short parables, virtually identical in structure, function as a matched pair reinforcing one point before the third, longer parable complicates it.

The two sons (15:11–32). The younger son demands his inheritance while his father is alive — "give me my share of your property" — a request the culture would have found shocking, effectively wishing the father dead. He squanders it "in a far country" living asōtōs, "riotously" (the word gives English "wastrel"), and ends up feeding pigs — for a Jewish audience, the depth of degradation — desperate enough to envy the pigs' food. "He came to himself" (15:17) is the turning point: not a moral epiphany so much as hunger doing what pride wouldn't. His planned speech is calculated and rehearsed, aiming at servant status, not restoration — he plans to say he is unworthy to be called son.

But the father doesn't wait for the speech to finish, doesn't wait at all: "while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran" (15:20). Running was undignified for a man of his standing; he does it anyway. The son gets out half his rehearsed line before the father cuts in with robe, ring, sandals, and a slaughtered calf — restoration to full sonship, not probation. "This my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found" (15:24) exactly echoes the language of the sheep and coin: this is the same story, told once more at greater length.

The chapter does not end there. The elder son, working the field, hears the celebration and refuses to enter. His complaint to his father is telling: years of obedient service, "and you never gave me a goat" — he measures the relationship in wages, precisely the servant status his brother rejected. The father's answer is the last word of the chapter: "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours" (15:31) — everything the elder son wanted was already his, unasked. The chapter ends without resolution: no report of whether the elder son goes in.

Where readers have disagreed

The main crux is whether the elder son represents the Pharisees specifically or a broader danger of self-righteousness generally — the narrative frame (15:1–2) makes the first reading almost unavoidable, but the parable's ending, deliberately open, has been read as an invitation rather than a verdict, leaving room for the audience (Pharisees included) to choose which son they are.

A second dispute concerns 15:7's "ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance" — some read this as concessive irony (there are no such people, and Jesus is needling the Pharisees' self-image), others as a straightforward acknowledgment that the parable's force lies in the shepherd's disproportionate care for the one, regardless of what the ninety-nine deserve. The text does not settle which; both readings serve the same point about where joy falls.

What it asks of a reader

The chapter refuses two temptations at once. It will not let the irreligious take comfort in a father who overlooks what happened — the son's confession, "I have sinned against heaven and in your sight" (15:18, 21), stands unretracted even after restoration; grace here answers real guilt, it doesn't dissolve it. And it will not let the religious take comfort in their own record — the elder son's flawless service earns him standing outside his own father's celebration, sour at a mercy he was never denied.

What the chapter presses is the nature of the joy itself: three times over, joy that cannot be contained privately, that must call in neighbors, that insists on throwing a party for someone many would think undeserving of one. Richard Sibbes names the same asymmetry from a different angle: "There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us" (The Bruised Reed, ch. 2). The chapter asks whether that asymmetry is received as good news or resented as an insult to one's own accounting — and leaves that question, like the elder son at the door, unanswered for the reader to finish.

The verses this turns on

Luke 15:1 WEB
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

Ἦσαν δὲ αὐτῷ ἐγγίζοντες πάντες οἱ τελῶναι καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ.

  • Ἦσαν εἰμί verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural G1510
  • δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
  • αὐτῷ αὐτός personal pronoun · dative singular masculine G846
  • ἐγγίζοντες ἐγγίζω verb · present active participle, nominative plural masculine G1448
  • πάντες πᾶς adjective · nominative plural masculine G3956
  • οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
  • τελῶναι τελώνης noun · nominative plural masculine G5057
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
  • ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἁμαρτωλός adjective · nominative plural masculine G268
  • ἀκούειν ἀκούω verb · present active infinitive G191
  • αὐτοῦ. αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. 1 Timothy 1:15 The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
  2. Matthew 9:10 As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.
  3. Luke 5:29 Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them.
  4. Matthew 21:28 But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.'
  5. Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he will save his soul alive.
Luke 15:2 WEB
The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them."
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ διεγόγγυζον οἵ τε Φαρισαῖοι καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς λέγοντες ὅτι Οὗτος ἁμαρτωλοὺς προσδέχεται καὶ συνεσθίει αὐτοῖς.

  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • διεγόγγυζον διαγογγύζω verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural G1234
  • οἵ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
  • τε τέ particle G5037
  • Φαρισαῖοι Φαρισαῖος noun · nominative plural masculine G5330
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
  • γραμματεῖς γραμματεύς noun · nominative plural masculine G1122
  • λέγοντες λέγω verb · present active participle, nominative plural masculine G3004
  • ὅτι ὅτι conjunction G3754
  • Οὗτος οὗτος demonstrative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3778
  • ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἁμαρτωλός adjective · accusative plural masculine G268

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Matthew 9:11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
  2. Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner."
  3. Luke 19:7 When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, "He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner."
  4. Luke 5:30 Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?"
  5. Acts 11:3 saying, "You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!"
Luke 15:4 WEB
"Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

Τίς ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ὑμῶν ἔχων ἑκατὸν πρόβατα καὶ ἀπολέσας ἐξ αὐτῶν ἓν οὐ καταλείπει τὰ ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ πορεύεται ἐπὶ τὸ ἀπολωλὸς ἕως εὕρῃ αὐτό;

  • Τίς τίς interrogative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G5101
  • ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος noun · nominative singular masculine G444
  • ἐξ ἐκ preposition G1537
  • ὑμῶν σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • ἔχων ἔχω verb · present active participle, nominative singular masculine G2192
  • ἑκατὸν ἑκατόν numeral (indeclinable) G1540
  • πρόβατα πρόβατον noun · accusative plural neuter G4263
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • ἀπολέσας ἀπόλλυμι verb · aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine G622
  • ἐξ ἐκ preposition G1537
  • αὐτῶν αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive plural neuter G846
  • ἓν εἷς adjective · accusative singular neuter G1520

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Ezekiel 34:16 "I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice."'
  2. Ezekiel 34:11 "'For the Lord Yahweh says: "Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
  3. Matthew 18:12 "What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
  4. Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost."
  5. 1 Peter 2:25 For you were going astray like sheep; but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Luke 15:7 WEB
I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὕτως χαρὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔσται ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι ἢ ἐπὶ ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα δικαίοις οἵτινες οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν μετανοίας.

  • λέγω λέγω verb · present active indicative, 1st person singular G3004
  • ὑμῖν σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • ὅτι ὅτι conjunction G3754
  • οὕτως οὕτω adverb G3779
  • χαρὰ χαρά noun · nominative singular feminine G5479
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
  • οὐρανῷ οὐρανός noun · dative singular masculine G3772
  • ἔσται εἰμί verb · future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
  • ἐπὶ ἐπί preposition G1909
  • ἑνὶ εἷς adjective · dative singular masculine G1520
  • ἁμαρτωλῷ ἁμαρτωλός adjective · dative singular masculine G268

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Luke 15:10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting."
  2. Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
  3. Luke 15:32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.'"
  4. Matthew 18:13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
  5. Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.
Luke 15:8 WEB
"Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn't light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

Ἢ τίς γυνὴ δραχμὰς ἔχουσα δέκα, ἐὰν ἀπολέσῃ δραχμὴν μίαν, οὐχὶ ἅπτει λύχνον καὶ σαροῖ τὴν οἰκίαν καὶ ζητεῖ ἐπιμελῶς ἕως οὗ εὕρῃ;

  • Ἢ ἤ particle G2228
  • τίς τίς interrogative pronoun · nominative singular feminine G5101
  • γυνὴ γυνή noun · nominative singular feminine G1135
  • δραχμὰς δραχμή noun · accusative plural feminine G1406
  • ἔχουσα ἔχω verb · present active participle, nominative singular feminine G2192
  • δέκα, δέκα numeral (indeclinable) G1176
  • ἐὰν ἐάν conditional G1437
  • ἀπολέσῃ ἀπόλλυμι verb · aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular G622
  • δραχμὴν δραχμή noun · accusative singular feminine G1406
  • μίαν, εἷς adjective · accusative singular feminine G1520
  • οὐχὶ οὐχί particle G3780
  • ἅπτει ἅπτω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G681

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost."
  2. Ezekiel 34:12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
  3. John 10:16 I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
  4. John 11:52 and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
  5. Ephesians 2:17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near.
Luke 15:10 WEB
Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting."
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

οὕτως, λέγω ὑμῖν, γίνεται χαρὰ ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀγγέλων τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι.

  • οὕτως, οὕτω adverb G3779
  • λέγω λέγω verb · present active indicative, 1st person singular G3004
  • ὑμῖν, σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • γίνεται γίνομαι verb · present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular G1096
  • χαρὰ χαρά noun · nominative singular feminine G5479
  • ἐνώπιον ἐνώπιον preposition G1799
  • τῶν ὁ article · genitive plural masculine G3588
  • ἀγγέλων ἄγγελος noun · genitive plural masculine G32
  • τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular masculine G3588
  • Θεοῦ θεός noun · genitive singular masculine G2316
  • ἐπὶ ἐπί preposition G1909
  • ἑνὶ εἷς adjective · dative singular masculine G1520

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Luke 15:7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
  2. Ezekiel 33:11 Tell them, '"As I live," says the Lord Yahweh, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?"'
  3. 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.
  4. Ezekiel 18:23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?" says the Lord Yahweh, "and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?
  5. Luke 13:5 I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way."
Luke 15:11 WEB
He said, "A certain man had two sons.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

Εἶπεν δέ Ἄνθρωπός τις εἶχεν δύο υἱούς.

  • Εἶπεν λέγω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G3004
  • δέ δέ conjunction G1161
  • Ἄνθρωπός ἄνθρωπος noun · nominative singular masculine G444
  • τις τὶς indefinite pronoun · nominative singular masculine G5100
  • εἶχεν ἔχω verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G2192
  • δύο δύο numeral (indeclinable) G1417
  • υἱούς. υἱός noun · accusative plural masculine G5207

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

Luke 15:17 WEB
But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I'm dying with hunger!
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν ἔφη Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύονται ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι.

  • εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
  • ἑαυτὸν ἑαυτοῦ reflexive pronoun G1438
  • δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
  • ἐλθὼν ἔρχομαι verb · aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine G2064
  • ἔφη φημί verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G5346
  • Πόσοι πόσος correlative or interrogative pronoun · nominative plural masculine G4214
  • μίσθιοι μίσθιος adjective · nominative plural masculine G3407
  • τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular masculine G3588
  • πατρός πατήρ noun · genitive singular masculine G3962
  • μου ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
  • περισσεύονται περισσεύω verb · present middle or passive indicative, 3rd person plural G4052
  • ἄρτων, ἄρτος noun · genitive plural masculine G740

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Ezekiel 18:28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
  2. Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
  3. Luke 15:18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
  4. Ephesians 5:14 Therefore he says, "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
  5. Acts 16:29 He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,

From the interpretive tradition

Not to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life; we do not possess our own wealth but theirs.
John Chrysostom Homily II father · eastern public domain
There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.
Richard Sibbes The Bruised Reed, ch. 2 pastor · puritan public domain

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