collapse all  

Text -- Luke 15:15 (NET)

Strongs On/Off
Context
15:15 So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
Parallel   Cross Reference (TSK)   ITL  
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Robertson , Vincent , Wesley , JFB , Clarke , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , Maclaren , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Barclay , Constable , College , McGarvey , Lapide

collapse all
Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: Luk 15:15 - -- Joined himself ( ekollēthē ). First aorist passive of kollaō , an old verb to glue together, to cleave to. In the N.T. only the passive occurs....

Joined himself ( ekollēthē ).

First aorist passive of kollaō , an old verb to glue together, to cleave to. In the N.T. only the passive occurs. He was glued to, was joined to. It is not necessary to take this passive in the middle reflexive sense.

Robertson: Luk 15:15 - -- The citizens ( tōn politōn ). Curiously enough this common word citizen (politēs from polis , city) is found in the N.T. only in Luke’ s...

The citizens ( tōn politōn ).

Curiously enough this common word citizen (politēs from polis , city) is found in the N.T. only in Luke’ s writings (Luk 15:15; Luk 19:14; Act 21:39) except in Heb 8:11 where it is quoted from Jer 31:34.

Robertson: Luk 15:15 - -- To feed swine ( boskein choirous ). A most degrading occupation for anyone and for a Jew an unspeakable degradation.

To feed swine ( boskein choirous ).

A most degrading occupation for anyone and for a Jew an unspeakable degradation.

Vincent: Luk 15:15 - -- Joined himself ( ἐκολλήθη ) The verb means to glue or cement. Very expressive here, implying that he forced himself upon the ci...

Joined himself ( ἐκολλήθη )

The verb means to glue or cement. Very expressive here, implying that he forced himself upon the citizen, who was unwilling to engage him, and who took him into service only upon persistent entreaty. " The unhappy wretch is a sort of appendage to a strange personality" (Godet). Compare Act 9:26. Wyc., cleaved. See, also, on Act 5:13.

Vincent: Luk 15:15 - -- To feed swine As he had received him reluctantly, so he gave him the meanest possible employment. An ignominious occupation, especially in Jewish...

To feed swine

As he had received him reluctantly, so he gave him the meanest possible employment. An ignominious occupation, especially in Jewish eyes. The keeping of swine was prohibited to Israelites under a curse.

Wesley: Luk 15:15 - -- Either the devil or one of his children, the genuine citizens of that country which is far from God.

Either the devil or one of his children, the genuine citizens of that country which is far from God.

Wesley: Luk 15:15 - -- He employed him in the base drudgery of sin.

He employed him in the base drudgery of sin.

JFB: Luk 15:15 - -- His pride not yet humbled, unable to brook the shame of a return.

His pride not yet humbled, unable to brook the shame of a return.

JFB: Luk 15:15 - -- Glad to keep life anyhow, behold the son sank into a swineherd--among the Jews, on account of the prohibition of swine's flesh, emphatically vile! "He...

Glad to keep life anyhow, behold the son sank into a swineherd--among the Jews, on account of the prohibition of swine's flesh, emphatically vile! "He who begins by using the world as a servant, to minister to his pleasure, ends by reversing the relationship" [TRENCH].

Clarke: Luk 15:15 - -- To feed swine - The basest and vilest of all employments; and, to a Jew, peculiarly degrading. Shame, contempt, and distress are wedded to sin, and ...

To feed swine - The basest and vilest of all employments; and, to a Jew, peculiarly degrading. Shame, contempt, and distress are wedded to sin, and can never be divorced. No character could be meaner in the sight of a Jew than that of a swineherd: and Herodotus informs us, that in Egypt they were not permitted to mingle with civil society, nor to appear in the worship of the gods, nor would the very dregs of the people have any matrimonial connections with them. Herod. lib. ii. cap. 47.

TSK: Luk 15:15 - -- he went : Luk 15:13; Exo 10:3; 2Ch 28:22; Isa 1:5, Isa 1:9, Isa 1:10-13, Isa 57:17; Jer 5:3, Jer 8:4-6; Jer 31:18, Jer 31:19; 2Ti 2:25, 2Ti 2:26; Rev ...

collapse all
Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Luk 15:15 - -- Joined himself - Entered the service of that citizen. Hired himself out to him. It would seem that he engaged to do any kind of work, even of t...

Joined himself - Entered the service of that citizen. Hired himself out to him. It would seem that he engaged to do any kind of work, even of the lowest kind.

A citizen - One of the inhabitants of one of the cities or towns of that region, probably a man of property.

Into the fields - Out of the city where the owner lived.

To feed swine - This was a very low employment, and particularly so to a "Jew."It was forbidden to the Jews to eat swine, and of course it was unlawful to keep them. To be compelled, therefore, to engage in such an employment was the deepest conceivable degradation. The "object"of this image, as used by the Saviour in the parable, is to show the loathsome employments and the deep degradation to which sin leads people, and no circumstance could possibly illustrate it in a more striking manner than he has done here. Sin and its results everywhere have the same relation to that which is noble and great, which the feeding of swine had, in the estimation of a Jew, to an honorable and dignified employment.

Poole: Luk 15:11-16 - -- Ver. 11-16. The scope of this excellent parable is apparently to magnify the grace of God, who is willing to receive and to treat kindly the greatest...

Ver. 11-16. The scope of this excellent parable is apparently to magnify the grace of God, who is willing to receive and to treat kindly the greatest transgressors, seriously repenting, and turning unto God; but in it we are also,

1. Instructed in the original state of man, like that of a child in his father’ s house, happy and wanting nothing.

2. The most miserable estate of fallen men, such especially as run to great excess of riot.

3. The true way of a sinner’ s returning to God.

4. The readiness of our gracious Father to receive, and his wonderful kindness in the receiving and embracing, repenting and returning sinners.

5. The envy that is sometimes found in good souls to others receiving (as they think) more favour from God than they do.

6. The gentleness and meekness of God in dealing with us, notwithstanding our infirmities and misbecoming passions.

God is again here represented under the notion of a man who had two sons: some that are his children by regeneration as well as creation; he having given them that believe a right to be called the sons of God , Joh 1:12 . Others that are his sons by creation only. The latter are here represented under the notion of a younger son. This younger son is represented as dissatisfied with living in his father’ s house, desiring his portion, &c. All men and women by nature were equally the sons of God, being all in Adam, who was so. All men swerved from him; in Adam all sinned, all died. But some again by grace are returned to their Father’ s house. Others challenge a relation to God, as his creatures, but are not of their Father’ s house, but desire only a portion of the good things of this life. Some desire honours, some riches, all of them life and health, &c. God, like a liberal father, gives some of these good things to one, others to another; to some more than one kind of them: whatever they have of this nature is from him who maketh his sun to shine and his rain to fall upon the just and unjust. Wicked men, when they are thus furnished by God, quickly take their

journey into a far country are more alienated and estranged from God by lewd and wicked practices than they were by nature; waste their substance, the health of their bodies, their time of life, their estates, their great and honourable capacities, by giving up themselves to lewd and riotous kinds of life, to the high dishonour of Almighty God. It pleaseth God by his providence sometimes to bring these men into straits; when they are so brought, they will take any base, sordid course to relieve themselves, rather than they will think of returning to their heavenly Father; of themselves they will rather choose to serve swine. But if they be such as belong to God’ s election of grace, the providence of God will not leave them. Though there be little food for a soul in the husks of sensible satisfactions, yet they shall not have a bellyful of them. God will bring them off from satisfaction in any thing, and make every condition uneasy to them.

Gill: Luk 15:15 - -- And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country,.... Not to any one of the saints, for they are not citizens of the far country, but of th...

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country,.... Not to any one of the saints, for they are not citizens of the far country, but of the church of God below, and of heaven above; besides, carnal men do not like the company of such citizens: nor is the devil intended, for though he dwells in this country, he is more than a citizen, than an inhabitant; he is king and governor, the prince of the world, and the god of it; nor is it feasible, that a man under conviction, and beginning to be sensible of his want, should go and join himself to the devil: but an unregenerate, "pharisaical", legal preacher, is designed; a man may be a preacher, and yet in the far country of sin and unregeneracy; there may be large gifts, where there is no grace; and a man may have a form of religion and godliness, and know nothing of the power of it; and a great stir and bluster may be made about good works, as were by the Pharisees, when few or none are done: now it is common for persons under legal convictions, to seek after such a preacher, and such a ministry, and to such an one this man "went"; he went not out of the land of sin, nor to his father's house, but to one in the same country, where the famine was, and he was starving: "he went"; it was his own choice, he took his own way; he went and told him his case, how he had spent all he had, and in what manner, and what condition he now was in; and he asked his advice and assistance: and he "joined himself" to him; he sat under his ministry, and became a member with him, and stuck close to him, as the word signifies; and was a stickler for him, and his principles:

and he sent him into his field to feed swine; he did not give him the least bit of bread to satisfy his hunger; nor did he say one word to him of Christ, the bread of life; nor did he advise him to go to his father's house, where there was bread enough, and to spare: but he "sent him, into his fields"; to work, to cleanse his heart, to reform his life, to fulfil the law, to perform the conditions of the covenant, to make his peace with God, and get an interest in his love and favour; and go through a round of duties continually, and all would be well: he sent him to "feed swine" there; to converse with self-righteous persons, who may be compared to swine, because of their selfishness; doing all they do for themselves, and not for God and his glory; because they prefer dung before pearls, their own righteousness before Christ, the pearl of great price; and live upon the husks of their own duties and never look upwards to heaven, as this creature does not, but always downwards on the earth; and though they were outwardly reformed, yet inwardly filthy, and often return to wallowing in the mire again: he sent him there also to gratify the selfish principles of nature; to please himself with his wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and other excellencies he fancied he had attained unto. In short, the expression shows the base employment of a self-justitiary amidst all his pretensions to religion and virtue: for feeding of swine was very disagreeable to the Jews, and with them scandalous; to whom the eating of swine's flesh was forbidden by the law of God, and the breeding of swine by their traditions; and this is said to be done in a country, out of Judea.

expand all
Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 15:15 To a Jew, being sent to the field to feed pigs would be an insult, since pigs were considered unclean animals (Lev 11:7).

expand all
Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Luk 15:1-32 - --1 The parable of the lost sheep;8 of the piece of silver;11 of the prodigal son.

Maclaren: Luk 15:11-24 - --The Prodigal And His Father And He said, A certain man had two sons: 12. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of g...

MHCC: Luk 15:11-16 - --The parable of the prodigal son shows the nature of repentance, and the Lord's readiness to welcome and bless all who return to him. It fully sets for...

Matthew Henry: Luk 15:11-32 - -- We have here the parable of the prodigal son, the scope of which is the same with those before, to show how pleasing to God the conversion of sinner...

Barclay: Luk 15:11-32 - --Not without reason this has been called the greatest short story in the world. Under Jewish law a father was not free to leave his property as he lik...

Barclay: Luk 15:11-32 - --We must finally note that these three parables are not simply three ways of stating the same thing. There is a difference. The sheep went lost throu...

Constable: Luk 9:51--19:28 - --V. Jesus' ministry on the way to Jerusalem 9:51--19:27 This large section of the Book of Luke has no counterpart...

Constable: Luk 15:1-32 - --F. God's attitude toward sinners ch. 15 The present section is a development of the theme of Jesus calli...

Constable: Luk 15:11-32 - --4. The parable of the lost son 15:11-32 This third parable in the series again repeats the point...

Constable: Luk 15:11-24 - --The younger son 15:11-24 15:11-12 The man in the story had two sons, a younger and an older one (v. 25). Therefore the younger son's inheritance would...

College: Luk 15:1-32 - --LUKE 15 6. The Parable of the Lost Sheep (15:1-7) 1 Now the tax collectors and " sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees...

McGarvey: Luk 15:11-32 - -- XCII. SECOND GREAT GROUP OF PARABLES. (Probably in Peræa.) Subdivision D. PARABLE OF THE LOST SON. cLUKE XV. 11-32.    c11 And he sa...

Lapide: Luk 15:1-32 - --CHAPTER 15 Ver. 1.— Then drew near under Him all the publicans and sinners. πάντες, all, that is, many came together to hear Christ, attracte...

expand all
Introduction / Outline

Robertson: Luke (Book Introduction) THE GOSPEL OF LUKE By Way of Introduction There is not room here for a full discussion of all the interesting problems raised by Luke as the autho...

JFB: Luke (Book Introduction) THE writer of this Gospel is universally allowed to have been Lucas (an abbreviated form of Lucanus, as Silas of Silvanus), though he is not expressly...

JFB: Luke (Outline) ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FORERUNNER. (Luke 1:5-25) ANNUNCIATION OF CHRIST. (Luk 1:26-38) VISIT OF MARY TO ELISABETH. (Luke 1:39-56) BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION...

TSK: Luke (Book Introduction) Luke, to whom this Gospel has been uniformly attributed from the earliest ages of the Christian church, is generally allowed to have been " the belove...

TSK: Luke 15 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Luk 15:1, The parable of the lost sheep; Luk 15:8, of the piece of silver; Luk 15:11, of the prodigal son.

Poole: Luke 15 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 15

MHCC: Luke (Book Introduction) This evangelist is generally supposed to have been a physician, and a companion of the apostle Paul. The style of his writings, and his acquaintance w...

MHCC: Luke 15 (Chapter Introduction) (Luk 15:1-10) Parables of the lost sheep, and the piece of silver. (Luk 15:11-16) The prodigal son, his wickedness and distress. (Luk 15:17-24) His ...

Matthew Henry: Luke (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Gospel According to St. Luke We are now entering into the labours of another evangelist; his name ...

Matthew Henry: Luke 15 (Chapter Introduction) Evil manners, we say, beget good laws; so, in this chapter, the murmuring of the scribes and Pharisees at the grace of Christ, and the favour he sh...

Barclay: Luke (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT LUKE A Lovely Book And Its Author The gospel according to St. Luke has been called the loveliest book ...

Barclay: Luke 15 (Chapter Introduction) The Shepherd's Joy (Luk_15:1-7) The Coin A Woman Lost And Found (Luk_15:8-10) The Story Of The Loving Father (Luk_15:11-32)

Constable: Luke (Book Introduction) Introduction Writer Several factors indicate that the writer of this Gospel was the sa...

Constable: Luke (Outline) Outline I. Introduction 1:1-4 II. The birth and childhood of Jesus 1:5-2:52 ...

Constable: Luke Luke Bibliography Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament. New ed. 4 vols. London: Rivingtons, 1880. ...

Haydock: Luke (Book Introduction) THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. INTRODUCTION St. Luke was a physician, a native of Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, a...

Gill: Luke (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO LUKE The writer of this Gospel, Luke, has been, by some, thought, as Origen a relates, to be the same with Lucius, mentioned in Ro...

College: Luke (Book Introduction) FOREWORD "Many have undertaken" to write commentaries on the Gospel of Luke, and a large number of these are very good. "It seemed good also to me" t...

College: Luke (Outline) OUTLINE There is general agreement among serious students of Luke's Gospel regarding its structure. I. Prologue Luke 1:1-4 II. Infancy Narrative...

Lapide: Luke (Book Introduction) S. LUKE'S GOSPEL Third Edition JOHN HODGES, AGAR STREET, CHARING CROSS, LONDON. 1892. INTRODUCTION. ——o—— THE Holy Gospel of Jesus Ch...

Advanced Commentary (Dictionaries, Hymns, Arts, Sermon Illustration, Question and Answers, etc)


TIP #16: Chapter View to explore chapters; Verse View for analyzing verses; Passage View for displaying list of verses. [ALL]
created in 0.44 seconds
powered by
bible.org - YLSA