Luke 15:3-4

15:3 So ¹  Jesus ²  told them ³  this parable: ⁴  15:4 “Which one ⁵  of you, if he has a hundred ⁶  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ⁷  and go look for ⁸  the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁹ 

[15:3]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ telling of the parable is in response to the complaints of the Pharisees and experts in the law.

[15:3]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:3]  ³ sn Them means at the minimum the parable is for the leadership, but probably also for those people Jesus accepted, but the leaders regarded as outcasts.

[15:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[15:4]  ⁶ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

[15:4]  ⁷ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

[15:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

[15:4]  ⁹ sn Until he finds it. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.