Luke 15:17

Luke 15:17 in other versions

• King James Version (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!
• New International Version (NIV)“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
• English Standard Version (ESV)"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!
• New King James Version (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!

Context of Luke 15:17

15He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. “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! 18I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

Luke 15:17 word by word

εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν ἔφη· πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύονται ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andδέde · thenG1161
• when he cameἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• himselfἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• he saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• How manyπόσοςposos · how much/many?G4214
• hired servantsμίσθιοςmisthios · hired workerG3407
• of myἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• father’sὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• father’sπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• have breadἄρτοςartos · breadG740
• enough and to spareπερισσεύωperisseuō · to exceedG4052
• perishἀπολλύωapollumi · to destroyG622
• with hungerλιμόςlimos · hungerG3042

Cross-references for Luke 15:17

• Luke 8:35People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.
• Luke 16:23and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
• Psalms 73:20When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.
• Ecclesiastes 9:3It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.
• Jeremiah 31:19I turned away from God, but then I was sorry. I kicked myself for my stupidity! I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.’
• Ezekiel 18:28They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die.
• Acts 2:37Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
• Acts 16:29The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
• Acts 16:30Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
• Acts 26:11Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
• Ephesians 2:4But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
• Ephesians 5:14for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
• James 1:16So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
• Luke 15:18I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,
• Lamentations 1:7In the midst of her sadness and wandering, Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor. But now she has fallen to her enemy, and there is no one to help her. Her enemy struck her down and laughed as she fell.

Commentaries on Luke 15:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17When he came to himself - A state of sin is represented in the sacred writings as a course of folly and madness; and repentance is represented as a restoration to sound sense. See this fully explained on Matthew 3:2; (note). I perish with hunger! - Or, I perish Here. ̔, here, is added by BDL, Syriac, all the Arabic and Persic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Gothic, Saxon, Vulgate, all the Itala, and several of the fathers.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17He came to himself - This is a very expressive phrase. It is commonly applied to one who has been “deranged,” and when he recovers we say he has “come to himself.” In this place it denotes that the folly of the young man was a kind of derangement - that he was insane. So it is of every sinner. Madness is in their hearts Ecclesiastes 9:3; they are estranged from God, and led, by the influence of evil passions, contrary to their better judgment and the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-24Verses 17-24 Having viewed the prodigal in his abject state of misery, we are next to consider his recovery from it. This begins by his coming to himself. That is a turning point in the sinner's conversion. The Lord opens his eyes, and convinces him of sin; then he views himself and every object, in a different light from what he did before. Thus the convinced sinner perceives that the meanest servant of God is happier than he is. To look unto God as a…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11-32Like the previous two parables (15:3–7, 8–10), the parable of the lost son demonstrates God’s love for the lost and the joy God experiences when they return. It also reflects the ministry of Jesus. The father represents God, the younger son represents the tax collectors and sinners Jesus welcomed, and the older son represents the religious leaders.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. came to himself--Before, he had been "beside himself" (Ec 9:3), in what sense will presently appear. How many hired, &c.--What a testimony to the nature of the home he had left! But did he not know all this ere he departed and every day of his voluntary exile? He did, and he did not. His heart being wholly estranged from home and steeped in selfish gratification, his father's house never came within the range of his vision, or but as another name for…Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 15:17

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Employee
• God Continued...
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Joy
• Penitent
• Prodigal Son
• Readings, Select
• Repentance
• Salvation
• Servant
• Sin
• Young Men

In the dictionaries

• Alive
• Compassion
• Devour
• Divide
• Fain
• Heaven
• Living
• Meet
• Mighty
• Seek

Commentaries on Luke 15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings