And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. ’ So he divided to them his livelihood.
Parallel translations
- WEB The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them.
- KJV And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
- BSB The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
- NASB The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that is coming to me.’ And so he divided his wealth between them.
- NLT The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The younger son demands his inheritance early, a grave insult amounting to wishing his father dead. The father grants it.
Overview
To request one's inheritance while the father lived was a shocking rejection of relationship for the sake of possessions. Yet the father, picturing God, gives freedom even when it will be abused. This sets the stage for the son's ruin and the father's astonishing grace upon his return.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Deut 21:16–17then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;
- Mark 12:44for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”
- Ps 17:14from men by your hand, Yahweh, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.
- Luke 15:30But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
- Ps 16:5–6Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 15:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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