The young man's actions do not lead to success he squanders his inheritance and he eventually becomes an indentured servant, with the degrading job of looking after pigs, and even envying them for the carob pods they eat. While a number of commentators see the request of the younger son for his share of the inheritance as "brash, even insolent" and "tantamount to wishing that the father was dead," Jewish legal scholar Bernard Jackson says "Jewish sources give no support to that the prodigal, in seeking the advance, wishes his father dead."
Jesus then confounds the listeners' expectations when the younger son is shown to be foolish. The opening, "A man had two sons" is a storyteller's trope and would immediately bring to mind Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob and Esau. He also has a speech for his father: Īnd he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.Įngraving of the Prodigal Son as a swineherd by Hans Sebald Beham, 1538 The older son, who was at work in the fields, hears the sound of celebration, and is told by a fellow servant about the return of his younger brother. The son starts his rehearsed speech, admitting his sins, and declaring himself unworthy of being his father's son, but in most versions of Luke, the son does not even finish, before his father accepts him back wholeheartedly without hesitation as the father calls for his servants to dress the son in the finest robe available, get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet, and to slaughter the " fatted calf" for a celebratory meal. This implies the father was hopefully watching for the son's return. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Īnd when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.Īnd he arose, and came to his father. At this time, he finally comes to his senses. He is forced to take work as a swineherd (which would have been abhorrent to Jesus' Jewish audience, who considered swine unclean animals) where he reaches the point of envying the food of the pigs he is tending to. However, it isn't long before he has exhausted all his money, and immediately thereafter, a famine strikes the land leaving him desperately poor. It's implied that he drinks, gambles, and sleeps with prostitutes, during this time. Upon receiving his portion of the inheritance, the younger son travels to a distant country, where he indulges in extravagant living. The father agrees and divides his estate between both sons.
The implication is the son could not wait for his father's death for his inheritance, he wanted it immediately. The parable begins with a man who had two sons, and the younger of them asks his father to give him his share of the estate. James Tissot – The Return of the Prodigal Son (Le retour de l'enfant prodigue) – Brooklyn Museum In the Eastern Orthodox Church it is read on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. In Revised Common Lectionary and Roman Rite Catholic Lectionary, this parable is read on the fourth Sunday of Lent (in Year C) in the latter it is also included in the long form of the Gospel on the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year C, along with the preceding two parables of the cycle. The Prodigal Son is the third and final parable of a cycle on redemption, following the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin. The father tells the older son: "you are ever with me, and all that I have is yours, but thy younger brother was lost and now he is found." Envious, the older son refuses to participate in the festivities.
To the son's surprise, he is not scorned by his father but is welcomed back with celebration and a welcoming party. As consequence, he now must return home empty-handed and intend to beg his father to accept him back as a servant. This son, however, is prodigal (i.e., wasteful and extravagant), thus squandering his fortune and eventually becoming destitute. The younger son asks for his portion of inheritance from his father, who grants his son's request. Jesus shares the parable with his disciples, the Pharisees and others.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father) is one of the parables of Jesus in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. The Return of the Prodigal Son (1773) by Pompeo Batoni
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