Be merry - Literally, “eating, let us rejoice.” The word “merry” does not quite express the meaning of the Greek. “Merriment” denotes a light, playful, jovial mirth. The Greek denotes simply “joy - let us be happy, or joyful.” read more
Was dead - This is capable of two significations:“I supposed” that he was dead, but I know now that he is alive. He was “dead to virtue” - he was sunk in pleasure and vice. The word is not unfrequently thus used. See 1 Timothy 5:6; Matthew 8:22; Romans 6:13. Hence, to be restored to “virtue” is said to be restored again to life, Romans 6:13; Revelation 3:1; Ephesians 2:1. It is probable that this latter is the meaning here. See Luke 15:32.Was lost - Had wandered away from home, and we knew not... read more
Luke 15:24 . For this my son was dead Was considered by me as dead; and is alive again “It is by a very common and beautiful emblem, that vicious persons are represented as dead, both by sacred and profane authors; and the natural death of their children would be less grievous to pious parents than to see them abandoned to such a course as this young sinner took.” Doddridge. He was lost and is found We looked upon him as utterly lost, but lo! he is come back again, beyond all... read more
102. Lost sheep; lost coin; lost son (Luke 15:1-32)Jesus told these three short stories to answer the scribes and Pharisees, who had complained that he mixed with tax collectors and other low class people. The more respectable Jews considered such people unworthy of God’s blessings. They were angry that Jesus showed interest in them and that many of them responded to his message (Luke 15:1-2).The stories of the lost sheep and the lost coin show that God does more than welcome sinners; he... read more
kill it = sacrifice it. It was a sacrificial feast. read more
was . Not the past tense of the verb "die", but of the verb "to be". He had been as a dead man (Greek. nekros. App-189 ) to his father. is found = was; i.e. "when he came to himself" (Luke 15:17 ), which shows that that was the result of the father's seeking. began, &c. Contrast "began to be in want" (Luke 15:14 ). read more
Luke 15:23. Bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it;— And sacrifice it. Elsner. read more
Luke 15:24. This my son was dead, and is alive, &c.— It is by a very common and beautiful emblem, that vicious persons are represented as dead, both by sacred and prophane authors; (Compare 1 Timothy 5:6. Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 5:14.) and the natural death of their children would certainly be less grievous to pious parents, than to see them abandoned to such a course as this young sinner took. Nothing so powerfully calls home the mind as distress; (see Luke 15:17.) the tense fibre then... read more
23. the fatted calf—kept for festive occasions. read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 15:23-24
And bring hither the fatted calf . There was a custom in the large Palestinian farms that always a calf should be fattening ready for festal occasions. And let us eat … And they began to be merry . Who are intended by these plurals, us and they ? We must not forget that the parable-story under the mortal imagery is telling of heavenly as well as of earthly things. The sharers in their joy over the lost, the servants of the prodigal's father on earth, are doubtless the angels of whom we... read more