But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!
Parallel translations
- KJV And 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!
- BSB Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!
- NKJV “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
- NASB But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I am dying here from hunger!
- NLT “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!
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
'He came to himself'; the son reasons that even his father's hired servants fare better than he does. Awakening begins.
Overview
This phrase marks the dawn of repentance, a return to sanity after the madness of sin. He remembers the father's generosity and his own desperate state. True repentance involves both honest self-assessment and remembering the goodness of the Father to whom we may return through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ezek 18:28Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
- Eph 2:4–5But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
- Luke 15:18–19I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
- Eph 5:14Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Acts 16:29–30He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,
- Titus 3:4–6But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
- Acts 26:11–19Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
- Acts 2:37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
- Luke 8:35People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
- Jer 31:19Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
- Ps 73:20As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
- Jas 1:16–18Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
- Lam 1:7Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old: when her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and no one helped her, The adversaries saw her, they mocked at her desolations.
- Eccl 9:3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
- Luke 16:23In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 15:17 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.