Luke 15:11. A certain man had two sons:— Our Lord next delivered the parable of the lost or prodigal son, which of all his parables is perhaps the most delightful; not only as it enforces a doctrine full of inexpressible comfort, but because it abounds with the tender pardons, is finely painted with the most beautiful images, and is to the mind what a charming diversified landscape is to the eye. read more
Luke 15:12. And the younger of them, &c.— Our Lord with great propriety makes use of the youngest son as an example of a depraved mind, youth being naturally impotent in self-government, not only through natural depravity, but through want of experience; hurried away by the impetuosity of the passions; not only deaf, but even too often rude, to the interpositions of advice, and too frequently totally abandoned to the pleasures of sense. It had been usual, in commercial states, to assign... read more
12. the younger—as the more thoughtless. said, c.—weary of restraint, panting for independence, unable longer to abide the check of a father's eye. This is man impatient of divine control, desiring to be independent of God, seeking to be his own master that "sin of sins, in which all subsequent sins are included as in their germ, for they are but the unfolding of this one" [TRENCH]. he divided, c.—Thus "God, when His service no longer appears a perfect freedom, and man promises himself... read more
The man in the story had two sons, a younger one and an older one (Luke 15:25). Therefore the younger son’s inheritance would normally have been one-third of his father’s estate since the older son would have received a double portion (Deuteronomy 21:17). However, a disposition of the father’s estate before his death probably would have yielded this son about two-ninths of the total. [Note: J. D. M. Derrett, Law in the New Testament, p. 107.] Jesus did not explain the exact terms of the... read more
The younger son 15:11-24 read more
4. The parable of the lost son 15:11-32This third parable in the series again repeats the point of the former two that God gladly receives repentant sinners, but it stresses still other information. The joy of the father in the first part of the parable contrasts with the grumbling of the elder brother in the second part. The love of the father was equal for both his sons. Thus the parable teaches that God wants all people to experience salvation and to enter the kingdom."This parable is often... read more
15:12 of. (d-32) 'what they had to live on,' as 'substance,' 1 John 3:17 . read more
Parables of the Lost Sheep, of them Lost Coin, of the Prodigal Son1-7. Parable of the Lost Sheep. See on Matthew 18:12-13. The first of a series of three parables for the encouragement of penitents. It shows the love of our Saviour for the outcast, the despised, and the criminal classes generally. It rebukes the Pharisees, who professed to be shepherds, for their neglect of that part of the flock that most needed their help, and lastly it indicates that the Pharisees are in many respects worse... read more
(11) And he said, A certain man had two sons.—We enter here on one of the parables which are not only peculiar to St. Luke’s Gospel, but have something of a different character, as giving more than those we find in the other Gospels, the incidents of a story of common daily life. As with the Good Samaritan, it seems open to us to believe that it rested on a substratum of facts that had actually occurred. It is obvious that in the then social state of Palestine, brought into contact as the Jews... read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Luke 15:11
And he said, A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.Jewish law did not require the father to honor such a request, but in keeping with the analogy that God allows men to choose their ways without coercion, this father honored the request. As the younger son received one-third of the estate and the older brother two-thirds, after the custom of the times, the... read more