He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. 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! I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
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Luke 15:16-18 sits inside this longer paragraph.
He said, “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them. 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. When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. 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! I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.” ’
Parallel Translations
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He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
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!
I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
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And he wold fayne have filled his bely with the coddes that the swyne ate: and noo man gave him.
Then he came to him selfe and sayde: how many hyred servauntes at my fathers have breed ynough and I dye for honger.
I will aryse and goo to my father and will saye vnto him: father I have synned agaynst heven and before the
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And hee would faine haue filled his bellie with the huskes, that the swine ate: but no man gaue them him.
Then he came to him selfe, and said, Howe many hired seruaunts at my fathers haue bread ynough, and I die for hunger?
I wil rise and goe to my father, and say vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heaue, and before thee,
Cross-references (58)
- Ezekiel 18:28 (v17) Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
- Ephesians 2:4-5 (v17) But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive…
- Lamentations 3:40 (v18) Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
- 1 John 1:8-10 (v18) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to…
- Luke 15:21 (v18) 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.’
Show all 58 cross-references
- Luke 15:18-19 (v17) I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be…
- Ephesians 5:14 (v17) Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Acts 16:29-30 (v17) He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
- Psalms 51:3-5 (v18) For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me. Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your…
- Jeremiah 50:4-5 (v18) “In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on…
- Luke 18:13 (v18) But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a…
- Matthew 6:14 (v18) “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- Acts 26:11-19 (v17) Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even…
- Psalms 32:3-5 (v18) When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was…
- Jeremiah 31:19 (v17) Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I…
- Hosea 2:6-7 (v18) Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way. She will follow…
- Luke 8:35 (v17) People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet,…
- Acts 2:37 (v17) Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
- Psalms 25:11 (v18) For your name’s sake, Yahweh, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
- Psalms 73:20 (v17) As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
- Jeremiah 3:19 (v18) “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’…
- Lamentations 1:7 (v17) Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old; when her…
- Titus 3:4-6 (v17) But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but…
- James 1:16-18 (v17) Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with…
- 2 Chronicles 33:12-13 (v18) When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was…
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 (v18) His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set…
- Job 33:27-28 (v18) He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me. He has redeemed my soul from…
- Proverbs 23:13 (v18) Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
- Ecclesiastes 9:3 (v17) This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil,…
- Isaiah 63:16 (v18) For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from…
- Jeremiah 31:20 (v18) Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. therefore my heart…
- Matthew 3:6 (v18) They were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
- Matthew 6:9 (v18) Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
- Romans 6:19-21 (v16) I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to…
- Leviticus 26:40-41 (v18) “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that…
- 1 Kings 8:47-48 (v18) yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who…
- 1 Kings 20:30-31 (v18) But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into the…
- 2 Kings 7:3-4 (v18) Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? If we say, ‘We…
- Job 36:8-10 (v18) If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions, then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they…
- Psalms 116:3-7 (v18) The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on Yahweh’s name: “Yahweh,…
- Jeremiah 31:6-9 (v18) For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’ ” For Yahweh says,…
- Hosea 12:1 (v16) Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil…
- Hosea 14:1-3 (v18) Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive…
- Jonah 3:9 (v18) Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
- Matthew 7:11 (v18) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to…
- Luke 16:23 (v17) In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
- Psalms 73:22 (v16) I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.
- Psalms 142:4 (v16) Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
- Isaiah 44:20 (v16) He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can’t deliver his soul, nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”
- Isaiah 55:2 (v16) Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that…
- Isaiah 57:3 (v16) “But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
- Lamentations 3:18-22 (v18) I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from Yahweh.” Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the…
- Lamentations 3:29 (v18) Let him put his mouth in the dust, if it is so that there may be hope.
- Lamentations 4:5 (v16) Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets. Those who were brought up in purple embrace dunghills.
- Daniel 4:26 (v18) Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom shall be sure to you, after that you will have known that…
- Jonah 2:2-8 (v16) He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. For you threw…
- Jonah 2:4 (v18) I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
- Luke 11:2 (v18) He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17–18 The beginning of repentance is the acknowledging of the…
The beginning of repentance is the acknowledging of the mercy of God, which stirreth us to hope well.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16 And he would fain have filled his belly…
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Ver. 16. And he would fain have filled his belly] The stomach of man is a monster (saith one), which, being contained in so little a bulk as his body, is able to consume and devour all things.
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And no man gave him] A swinish life he had led, and now would have been glad of swine’s meat.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Every sinner is beside himself; his reason lackeys to…
Every sinner is beside himself; his reason lackeys to his lust and passion, he is governed by appetite, and that rageth in him, while his understanding is blind, and cannot discern between good and evil; and when he hath in any measure discerned any thing, his will is stubborn, and chooseth the evil. Conversion is but the return of a soul to itself. The first thoughts of which conversion arise from a soul’s consideration, what a poor miserable creature it is, ready to perish for ever, while never a poor soul belonging to God, no, not the meanest servant in his family, wanteth any good thing that is necessary for him. These things increase in a soul thoughts of returning to his heavenly Father, through the operation of the Holy Spirit of God; for of ourselves we are not sufficient so much as to think one good thought.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And he would fain have filled his belly with…
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks,.... the fruit of the "Charub" tree, as the Syriac version interprets it; and which the Jews (y) say is , "the food of beasts": though, according to what is elsewhere said of it, it should be the food of men also. It is said (z) of R. Simeon ben Jochai, and his son, that they hid themselves in a cave for fear of the king, and a miracle was wrought for them, , a "Charub" tree was created for them, and a fountain of water; the one, as the gloss observes, was to eat the fruit of, and the other to drink of: but be they what they will, by them are meant, not worldly riches and honours, and carnal lusts and pleasures; though these are the principal things of the far country, of this world, or an unregenerate estate; and are greatly desired by carnal minds, and are but swine's meat, very mean food, yea, pernicious, empty, unsatisfying, and perishing; but these were the things this man had been desirous of, and lived upon before, and had ran through them, and had spent all his substance in the pursuit and enjoyment of them; and now he felt the gripes of a natural conscience for them, and found himself in want of something else: wherefore by these "husks" are meant works of righteousness done by men; which are like husks, external things, done only before men; empty things that have nothing within them; mere trash, and not food; and which can give no satisfaction; mere sordid food, fit only to be cast to dogs or swine; of an ill savour, hard to eat, and difficult digestion, and which affords no real nourishment; these this man greatly desired to fill his belly with: he found himself empty, and in want; as yet he had no thought of, at least not any desire after the bread in his father's house; but would fain have satisfied himself with his own doings, and have quieted his mind and conscience with a few external performances, a negative holiness, a legal repentance, and outward reformation: he laboured hard to make his own righteousness do; which was but striving to fill his belly with the east wind; and is what can never satisfy, because it is not answerable to the law and justice of God; and was no other than
that the swine did eat, self-righteous persons, like himself; for such an one was now the publican and sinner become, though he did not continue so. Christ's lambs and sheep do not eat such food, nor will, nor can they, only swinish, selfish persons; this is suitable to their nature, they eat it, and live upon it; which shows them to be unrenewed, and that their taste is not changed.
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And no man gave unto him: not the husks, though this is the sense of the Arabic version, which renders it, "neither did he obtain them"; and so it seems to be ours and others: but these were at hand, which he might have taken himself, and did; nor is it reasonable to think he should wait to have them given him by another; or that he should be restrained from them; but it is to be understood of bread, or proper food, and that no man gave that unto him: and the words, as Calvin observes, may be read causally, "for no man gave to him"; and so are a reason why he craved husks, because no man gave him any bread: the citizen, or legal preacher, to whom he joined himself, gave him none; nor the swine, the self-righteous persons, to whom he was sent, and with whom he conversed, gave him none; he had nothing under the ministry, nor in conversation, that was proper food to him; there were nothing but these husks that presented, and he tried to satisfy himself with them; and indeed none but Christ can give the true bread, the bread of life, to those that are hungry, and in want.
(y) T. Hieros. Maascrot, fol. 50. 2. (z) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 33. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–18 He would fain have filled his belly with the…
He would fain have filled his belly with the husks - He would fain have satisfied himself with worldly comforts. Vain, fruitless endeavour!
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Verse 16. With the husks] κερατιων. Bochart, I think,…
Verse 16. With the husks] κερατιων. Bochart, I think, has proved that κερατια does not mean husks: to signify which the Greek botanical writers use the word λοβοι; several examples of which he gives from Theophrastus. He shows, also, that the original word means the fruit of the ceratonia or charub tree, which grows plentifully in Syria. This kind of pulse, Columella observes, was made use of to feed swine. See BOCHART, Hieroz. lib. ii. cap. lvi. col. 707-10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v17 Luk 15:17-18. And when he came to himself —…
Luk 15:17-18. And when he came to himself — When the infamy and distress of his present condition began to lead him into serious consideration; and he so far recovered the use of his reason, which had before been dethroned and extinguished by the mad intoxication of sensual pleasure; when the great distress he was in brought him at length to think and reflect on his unhappy condition, and to retrace the steps that had brought him into it; he said — Namely, in his heart; How many hired servants of my father’s — The meanest in his family, the very day- labourers; have bread enough and to spare — Have more meat than they can use. Even the hired servants in God’s house are well provided for; the meanest that will but hire themselves into his family to do his work, and depend upon his reward, shall have all things and abound: the consideration of which should encourage sinners, that have gone astray from God, to think of returning to him: and I perish with hunger — I, his child, who have known so many better days, am even ready to die with want, not being thought worth my food by this unkind master, to whom I have hired myself. Observe, reader, 1st, All who have wandered from God, and endeavour to satisfy themselves with earthly things, whether riches, honours, or pleasures, with worldly pursuits and carnal gratifications, living without God in the world, may really be said to be beside themselves, for they act like persons deprived of their reason. Observe, 2d, Sinners will not come to Christ, and enter into his service, till they are brought to see themselves just ready to perish in the service of sin. And though we be thus driven to Christ, he will not therefore reject us, nor think himself dishonoured by our being forced to him, but rather honoured by his being applied to in a desperate case. I will arise and go to my father — Whatever be the consequence, I am resolved that I will no longer remain in this miserable condition, but will immediately set out on my way home, if all my little remaining strength can but bring me to the end of such a journey. And I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned, &c. — That I may be received again, I am resolved to go in all humility, and confess my crimes to my father, acknowledging that I am utterly unworthy to be owned as a son, and will pray to be taken into his house, only as a hired servant, and will be contented for the future to labour and fare as the servants do, so I may but live in his sight. In saying, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, he meant, that God was injured in the person of his earthly father. And certainly nature itself teaches this, that whoever is insolent or disrespectful to his parents, rebels against God; who, by making them the instruments of communicating life to their children, has imparted to them some of his own paternal honour. In saying, I am no more worthy to be called thy son, he shows, that the idea of his undutiful behaviour was strongly impressed on his mind, whereby he was sensible that he had no title to be treated at home as a son. At the same time he knew that it never would be well with him till he was in his father’s family again; so with joy he entertained the thought of occupying the meanest station in it. Thus, while the liberality of the great Parent of men makes them wantonly run away from his family, the miseries which they involve themselves in, often constrain them to return. By the natural consequences of sin, God sometimes makes sinners to feel, that there is no felicity to be found anywhere but in himself.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv16–18 He would fain - He would gladly. He desired…
He would fain - He would gladly. He desired to do it.
The husks - The word “husks” with us denotes the outward covering of grain. In this there is little nourishment, and it is evident that this is not intended here; but the word used here denotes not only “husks,” but also leguminous plants, as beans, etc. It is also used to denote the fruit of a tree called the “carob or kharub-tree,” which is common in Ionia, Syria, and Rhodes. The tree is more bushy and thick set than the apple tree, and the leaves are larger and of a much darker green. The following is Dr. Thomson’s description of the fruit of this tree (“The Land and the Book,” vol. i. p. 22): “The ‘husks’ - a mistranslation - are fleshy pods, somewhat like those of the locust-tree, from six to ten inches long and one broad, laid inside with a gelatinous substance, not wholly unpleasant to the taste when thoroughly ripe. I have seen large orchards of this kharub in Cyprus, where it is still the food which the swine do eat. The kharub is often called John’s Bread, and also Locust-tree, from a mistaken idea about the food of the Baptist in the wilderness.” The cut will give an idea of these “pods,” or “husks,” as they are called in our translation.
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No man gave unto him - Some have understood this as meaning “no one gave him anything - any bread or provisions;” but the connection requires us to understand it of the “husks.” He did not go a begging - his master was bound to provide for his wants; but the provision which he made for him was so poor that he would have preferred the food of the swine. He desired a portion of “their food,” but that was not given him. A certain quantity was measured out for “them,” and “he” was not at liberty to eat it himself. Nothing could more strikingly show the evil of his condition, or the deep degradation, and pollution, and wretchedness of sin.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Husks. This expresses the extreme misery of his condition.…
Husks. This expresses the extreme misery of his condition. There is no need of seeking any other mystery in this word. Horace, by a kind of hyperbole, (B. ii, Ep. 1.) represents the miser as living upon husks to be able to save more. Vivit siliquis et pane secundo.
--- And no man gave unto him; i.e. gave him bread, mentioned before; for as for the husks, he could take what he pleased. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16–18 would fain have filled--rather, "was fain to fill," ate…
would fain have filled--rather, "was fain to fill," ate greedily of the only food he could get.
the husks--"the hulls of a leguminous plant which in the East is the food of cattle and swine, and often the nourishment of the poorest in times of distress" [STIER].
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no man gave . . . him--not this food, for that he had, but anything better (Jer 30:14). This was his lowest depth--perishing unpitied, alone in the world, and ready to disappear from it unmissed! But this is just the blessed turning-point; midnight before dawn of day (Ch2 12:8; Ch2 33:11-13; Jer 2:19).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. Filled his belly—For it is only his animal…
16. Filled his belly—For it is only his animal nature that man in his lost depravity is able to think of feeding or sustaining.
Husks—Rather pods. These were not, as the American reader is apt to imagine, the husks of maize, that is, of Indian corn. They are the fruit of the carob tree, and are from their shape called in the Greek little horns. From the popular notion that they were the food of John the Baptist, they are called St. John’s bread. Dr. Thomson describes them as “fleshy pods somewhat like those of the honey locust tree, from six to ten inches long and one broad, lined inside with a gelatinous substance, not wholly unpleasant to the taste when thoroughly ripe. I have seen large orchards of this Kharub in Cyprus, where it is still the food which the swine do eat. In Syria, where we have no swine, or next to none, the pods are ground up and a species of molasses is made, which is much used in making certain kinds of sweetmeats. In Cyprus, Asia Minor, and the Grecian islands, you will see full grown trees bending under half a ton of green pods.”
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The carob fruit is more properly a human food than husks. During famines, such as the prodigal suffered, in countries where the tree grows, it is a sort of support for the people. Unripe, it is slightly astringent to the taste; ripened on the tree, it has a disagreeable odor; but dried on hurdles, it becomes an eatable but not very agreeable article. It is generally abandoned by men to swine and cattle.
No man gave—The question is asked by commentators, why did he not take and eat a share of the pods; inasmuch as he was feeding the swine with them? Some have answered, that he only drove the swine into the fields to feed on grass and herbage, while they were fed on pods at home under the master’s eye. But even then it may be replied that, being on hire, he would be fed at least as well as the swine he tended. To obviate all these difficulties other commentators have supplied anything after gave, and this would make the last clause signify that no man bestowed upon him any relief. But, first, it seems most natural to supply husks as the proper grammatical object of gave; and second, this interpretation still imputes to our Lord the very forced supposition, that the man should not be fed as well as the swine he was hired to herd.
We suggest that the vain desire for the unobtainable pods (including all of Luk_15:16) was a later stage of his history, and after he had been turned out from his swineherdship. It was bad enough to be a swineherd; but while he was a swineherd he could, at any rate, feed with the swine on carobs. It was worse to lose his place, and hunger for the pods he once dispensed to, and shared with, the lowest of animals. Even to feed swine is better than to be vainly ravenous for swine’s fare.
And such are the steps by which vice descends into the depths of degradation and misery. In his father’s house, the prodigal’s heart, soul, and spirit were fed with their high nourishment; with his harlots he descended to the sensual gratification of palate and lust; with the citizen he sunk to sustaining his animal nature with bestial husks; with himself, finally, he arrived at complete starvation. Happily, when the bottom was reached the ascent commenced. Such is not always the case; for beneath this lowest deep there is a lower deep, which has no bottom and admits no ascent.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. he would fain] Literally, “he was longing.”
16. he would fain] Literally, “he was longing.”
filled his belly with] The plain expression—purposely adopted to add the last touch to the youth’s degradation—gave offence to some copyists, who substituted for it the verb ‘to be fed.’ The reading adopted in our text is, however, certainly the true one, and perhaps implies that from such food nothing could be hoped for but to allay the pangs of famine. He only hopes to ‘fill his belly,’ not to sate his hunger. Even the world’s utmost gorgeousness and most unchecked sensuality could not avail to raise the soul of men or of nations out of utter misery.
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the husks that the swine did eat] Literally, “the carob-pods of which the swine were eating.” The word rendered ‘husks’ means ‘little horns,’ i.e. the long, coarse, sweetish, bean-shaped pods of the carob tree (ceratonia siliqua, St John’s bread tree), which were only used by the poorest of the population. Some (incorrectly) give the same meaning to the ἀκρίδες (‘locusts’) which formed the food of St John the Baptist.
and no man gave unto him] No one ‘was giving,’ or ‘chose to give’ him either the husks or anything else. Satan has no desire for, and no interest in, even the smallest alleviation of the anguish and degradation of his victims. Even the vile earthly gifts, and base sensual pleasures, are withheld or become impossible. “Who follozvs pleasure, pleasure slays.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–18 (16) He would fain have filled his belly.—It is…
(16) He would fain have filled his belly.—It is singular that very many of the best MSS. give the simpler reading, “desired to be filled or satisfied.” It is open to suppose either that they shrank from the reading in the text as too coarse, or that the later MSS. introduced “filled his belly” as more vivid and colloquial; or, as seems probable, that there may have been a variation of phrase even in the original autograph MSS. of St. Luke.
The husks that the swine did eat.—The word is generic, but it is commonly identified with the long bean-like pods of the carob-tree, or Ceratonia siliqua, or St. John’s bread, in which some have seen the “locusts” of Mat_3:4. They contain a good deal of saccharine matter, and are commonly used as food for swine in Syria and Egypt. Spiritually, they answer to the sensual pleasures in which men who are as the swine, identified with brute appetites, find adequate sustenance. The soul that was born to a higher inheritance cannot so satisfy itself. It seeks to be “like a beast with lower pleasures,” but it is part of the Father’s discipline that that baser satisfaction is beyond its reach.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And he would fain have filled his belly with…
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. So low was this poor lost man reduced, that in his bitter hunger he even came to long for the coarse but nutritious bean with which the herd was fed. These swine were of some value when fattened for the market; but he, the swineherd, was valueless he might starve. The husks in question were the long bean-shaped pods of the carob tree (Caratonia siliqua), commonly used for fattening swine in Syria and Egypt. They contain a proportion of sugar. The very poorest of the population occasionally use them as food.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v18 Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
sinned
Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v17 came to himself
came to himself
This idiom means he realized what the truth was, that he had made a terrible mistake. AT: "clearly understood his situation" (See: Idiom)
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How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough food
This is part of an exclamation, and not a question. AT: "All my father's hired servants have more than enough food to eat"
dying from hunger
This is probably not an exaggeration. The young man may really have been starving.
I have sinned against heaven
Jewish people sometimes avoided saying the word "God" and used the word "heaven" instead. AT: "I have sinned against God" (See: Metonymy)
I am no longer worthy to be called your son
"I am not worthy to be called your son." This can be stated in active form. AT: "I am not worthy for you to call me son" (See: Active or Passive)
make me as one of your hired servants
"hire me as an employee" or "hire me and I will become one of your servants." This is a request, not a command. It may be helpful to add "please" as the UDB does.
translationWords
servant
sin
heaven
worthy
son
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.