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Luke 15 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) But he eventually came to his senses and said to himself, ‘Even my father’s workers have plenty of food, but here I am in this place dying of starvation.![]()
OET-LV To but himself having_come he_was_saying:
How_many hired ones of_the father of_me are_being_plentiful of_bread, but I am_perishing with_famine here?
![]()
SR-GNT Εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν ἔφη, ‘Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύονται ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι; ‡
(Eis heauton de elthōn efaʸ, ‘Posoi misthioi tou patros mou perisseuontai artōn, egō de limōi hōde apollumai;)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT But coming to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father have more than enough loaves, but I am perishing from hunger here!
UST Finally he began to think clearly about how foolish he had been, and he said to himself: ‘All of my father’s hired servants have more than enough food to eat, but here I am dying because I do not have anything to eat!
BSB Finally he came to his senses [and] said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but here I {am}, starving to death!
MSB Finally he came to his senses [and] said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but I {am}[fn] starving to death![fn]
BLB But having come to himself, he was saying, 'How many of my father's hired servants have abundance of bread, but here I am perishing with hunger?
AICNT “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I am perishing here with hunger!
OEB But, when he came to himself, he said “How many of my father’s hired servants have more bread than they can eat, while here am I starving to death!
WEBBE 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!
WMBB (Same as above)
NET But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger!
LSV And having come to himself, he said, How many hired workers of my father have a superabundance of bread, and I am perishing here with hunger!
FBV When he came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘All of my father's workers have more than enough to eat—why am I dying from hunger here?
TCNT When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired workers have an abundance of bread, [fn]while I perish with hunger!
15:17 while I perish ¦ but here I am perishing CT
T4T Finally he thought clearly about what he had done. He said to himself, ‘All of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food! They have more [SYN] than they can eat, but here I am dying because I do not have anything to eat [HYP]!
LEB “But when he[fn] came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have an abundance ⌊of food⌋,[fn] and I am dying here from hunger!
15:17 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“came”) which is understood as temporal
15:17 Literally “of bread”
BBE But when he came to his senses, he said, What numbers of my father's servants have bread enough, and more, while I am near to death here through need of food!
Moff But when he came to his senses he said, "How many hired men of my father have more than enough to eat, and here am I perishing of hunger!
Wymth "But on coming to himself he said, "`How many of my father's hired men have more bread than they want, while I here am dying of hunger!
ASV But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!
DRA And returning to himself, he said: How many hired servants in my father’s house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger?
YLT 'And having come to himself, he said, How many hirelings of my father have a superabundance of bread, and I here with hunger am perishing!
Drby And coming to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have abundance of bread, and I perish here by famine.
RV But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!
SLT And having come to himself, he said, Many hired of my father abound in loaves, and I am perishing with hunger!
Wbstr And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I am perishing with hunger!
KJB-1769 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
KJB-1611 And when he came to himselfe, he said, How many hired seruants of my fathers haue bread inough and to spare, and I perish with hunger?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)
Bshps Then he came to hym selfe, and sayde: Howe many hyred seruauntes at my fathers house haue bread inough, and I perishe with hunger?
(Then he came to himself, and said: How many hired servants at my fathers house have bread enough, and I perish with hunger?)
Gnva Then he came to him selfe, and said, Howe many hired seruaunts at my fathers haue bread ynough, and I die for hunger?
(Then he came to himself, and said, How many hired servants at my fathers have bread enough, and I die for hunger? )
Cvdl Then came he to him self, and sayde: How many hyred seruauntes hath my father, which haue bred ynough, and I perish of honger?
(Then came he to him self, and said: How many hired servants hath/has my father, which have bred enough, and I perish of hunger?)
TNT Then he came to him selfe and sayde: how many hyred servauntes at my fathers have breed ynough and I dye for honger.
(Then he came to himself and said: how many hired servants at my fathers have bread enough and I dye for hunger. )
Wycl And he turnede ayen to hym silf, and seide, Hou many hirid men in my fadir hous han plente of looues; and Y perische here thorouy hungir.
(And he turned again to himself, and said, How many hired men in my father house have plenty of loaves; and I perish here through hunger.)
Luth Da schlug er in sich und sprach: Wieviel Tagelöhner hat mein Vater, die Brot die Fülle haben, und ich verderbe im Hunger!
(So hit/beat(v) he in itself/yourself/themselves and spoke: How_much dayslöhner has my father, the bread the abundance have, and I spoil in_the hunger!)
ClVg In se autem reversus, dixit: Quanti mercenarii in domo patris mei abundant panibus, ego autem hic fame pereo ![fn]
(In himself however reversus, he/she_said: Quanti mercenaries in/into/on at_home of_the_father my/mine abundant bread, I however this/here hunger pereo ! )
15.17 Quanti mercenarii. Qui futuræ mercedis intuitu digna operari satagunt, quotidianis supernæ gratiæ reficiuntur alimentis. Sed fame perit, qui extra domum patris, id est sine fide vivens, vitam beatam in inani philosophia inquirit.
15.17 Quanti mercenaries. Who future mercedis intuitu worthy to_work satagunt, quotidianis above thanks reficiuntur alimentis. But hunger perit, who/which outside house/home of_the_father, that it_is without with_faith living, life blessed in/into/on inani philosophersa inquirit.
UGNT εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν ἔφη, πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύονται ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι?
(eis heauton de elthōn efaʸ, posoi misthioi tou patros mou perisseuontai artōn, egō de limōi hōde apollumai?)
SBL-GNT εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν ⸀ἔφη· Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου ⸀περισσεύονται ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ ⸂λιμῷ ὧδε⸃ ἀπόλλυμαι·
(eis heauton de elthōn ⸀efaʸ; Posoi misthioi tou patros mou ⸀perisseuontai artōn, egō de ⸂limōi hōde⸃ apollumai;)
RP-GNT Εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν εἶπεν, Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύουσιν ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ἀπόλλυμαι·
(Eis heauton de elthōn eipen, Posoi misthioi tou patros mou perisseuousin artōn, egō de limōi apollumai;)
TC-GNT Εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν [fn]εἶπε, Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου [fn]περισσεύουσιν ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ [fn]λιμῷ ἀπόλλυμαι·
(Eis heauton de elthōn eipe, Posoi misthioi tou patros mou perisseuousin artōn, egō de limōi apollumai; )
15:17 ειπε ¦ εφη CT
15:17 περισσευουσιν ¦ περισσευονται CT
15:17 λιμω ¦ λιμω ωδε NA SBL WH ¦ λειμω ωδε TH
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
15:1-32 Chapter 15 contains three related parables of things lost and found: a sheep (15:1-7), a coin (15:8-10), and a son (15:11-32). The loss of something loved causes deep sorrow, whereas finding it brings great joy. There is great rejoicing in heaven when lost sinners return to their heavenly Father.
In this parable Jesus told about a young man who left his father’s home and wasted the money that his father had given him. Then Jesus told how the young man returned to his father, and how his father welcomed him home. The young man had an older brother who was not happy at all when his father welcomed his younger brother. This story illustrates what God is like. He is ready to forgive anyone who truly turns from his sins and begins to obey him. It also warns people not to be like the older son, who did not want to forgive his brother.
Some other headings for this section are:
The Lost Son (GNT)
The Son Who Left Home (NCV)
A son who wasted his share of the inheritance
A father was happy when his son returned home
Before you decide on a heading for this section, think about a natural way in your language to describe a child who deliberately left home and foolishly wasted his money. In some languages a word such as “lost” can only be used to describe someone who doesn’t know where he is. If that is true in your language, you will want to use a more appropriate expression for this context.
Finally he came to his senses and said,
¶ “Finally/Then he began to think clearly/sensibly.
¶ “When the young man realized how foolish he had been,
Finally This verse is a turning point in the story. In Greek, the verse begins with a conjunction that some English versions translate here as “But.” It introduces the important things that happened after the young man came to his senses. The BSB represents it with the expression Finally. Other ways to introduce this verse are:
At last
Then
he came to his senses: The idiomatic Greek expression that the BSB translates as he came to his senses indicates that the younger son finally began to think clearly and sensibly about himself and his situation.Some scholars, including Marshall, Godet, and Stein, suggest that the expression “came to his senses” implies that the young man repented, but no English versions specify that he repented. Most scholars feel that the expression has a weaker, more general meaning here. If you have an idiom in your language that expresses this meaning, you may use it here. Other ways to translate this expression are:
he realized what he was doing (NCV)
he realized how foolish he had been (TRT)
‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food?
He said to himself, ‘All my father’s workmen/employees have more food than they need,
he thought, ‘Those who earn daily wages from my father all have plenty to eat,
and said: The Greek word that the BSB translates as and said can also refer to thoughts that are not spoken out loud. Other ways to translate the word here are:
he said to himself (NLT)
he thought (NCV)
‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food?: This clause is an explanation. It emphasizes that the many men whom his father paid to work for him had plenty of food to eat. It is not meant as a question, and it does not imply that some of his father’s workers did not have enough food. Other ways to translate this expression are:
All my father’s hired workers have more than they can eat (GNT)
My father’s workers have plenty to eat (CEV)
my father’s hired servants: The Greek expression that the BSB translates as my father’s hired servants refers here to the men whom his father hired to work on his farm. These men were probably paid each day. A different word is used to refer to the slaves in 15:22a.
If your language has an expression that refers specifically to people who work on a daily wage basis, you may use it here. Otherwise, a more general term is fine.
But here I am, starving to death!
and/but I, his son, am here, dying from hunger/starvation!
while here in this place/land I am starving!
But here I am, starving to death!: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But here introduces a surprising contrast to the previous statement. The younger son was comparing himself to his father’s workmen and thinking about how they had enough food, whereas he was extremely hungry. Other ways to express this contrast are:
while I’m starving to death here (GW)
but here I am dying from hunger (NET)
here: The Greek word that the BSB translates as here refers to the place where the young man was staying.Some Greek manuscripts omit “here.” The KJV follows these manuscripts. For more information see Swanson, p. 276, and Blight 2007, p. 149.
I am, starving to death!: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as starving to death means “dying from hunger.”
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
εἰς ἑαυτὸν & ἐλθὼν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἰς ἑαυτόν δέ ἐλθών ἔφη Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μού περισσεύονται ἄρτων ἐγώ δέ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι)
This idiom means that he became able to understand his situation clearly and realized that he had made a terrible mistake. Alternate translation: [realizing the situation he was in]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
ἔφη, πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύονται ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι
˱he˲_˓was˒_saying (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἰς ἑαυτόν δέ ἐλθών ἔφη Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μού περισσεύονται ἄρτων ἐγώ δέ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [he told himself that all of his father’s hired servants had more than enough loaves to eat, but he was perishing from hunger where he was]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / exclamations
πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύονται ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἰς ἑαυτόν δέ ἐλθών ἔφη Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μού περισσεύονται ἄρτων ἐγώ δέ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι)
This is an exclamation, not a question. Alternate translation: [All of my father’s hired servants have more than enough loaves to eat, but I am perishing from hunger here]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
ἄρτων
˱of˲_bread
The young man is using one kind of food, loaves, to mean food in general. Alternate translation: [food]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole
λιμῷ & ἀπόλλυμαι
˱with˲_famine & ˓am˒_perishing
This could mean: (1) it is a figurative overstatement for emphasis. Alternate translation: [have so little to eat] (2) the young man has literally been starving. Alternate translation: [am about to die of starvation]