Luke 15 · Verse 12

Luke 15:12

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.

Luke 15:12, King James Version

Luke 15:12 in other translations

BSB	The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
WEB	The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ So he divided his livelihood between them.
ASV	and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
YLT	and the younger of them said to the father, Father, give me the portion of the substance falling to me, and he divided to them the living.
DARBY	and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give to me the share of the property that falls to me. And he divided to them what he was possessed of.
BBE	And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me that part of your property which will be mine. And he made division of his goods between them.
Webster	And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided to them his living.

What does Luke 15:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Lu 15:11-32. III. The Prodigal Son.

12. the younger--as the more thoughtless. said, &c.--weary of restraint, panting for independence, unable longer to abide the check of a father's eye. This is man impatient of divine control, desiring to be independent of God, seeking to be his own master; that "sin of sins, in which all subsequent sins are included as in their germ, for they are but the unfolding of this one" [Trench]. he divided, &c.--Thus "God, when His service no longer appears a perfect freedom, and man promises himself something far better elsewhere, allows him to make the trial; and he shall discover, if need be by saddest proof, that to depart from Him is not to throw off the yoke, but to exchange a light yoke for a heavy one, and one gracious Master for a thousand imperious tyrants and lords" [Trench].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 12. And the younger of them said. By this younger son we are to understand the publicans and sinners to be represented. By the elder, the Pharisees and scribes.

Give me the portion. The part.

Of goods. Of property.

That falleth to me. That is properly my share. There is no impropriety in supposing that he was of age; and, as he chose to leave his father's house, it was proper that his father should, if he chose, give him the part of the estate which would be his.

He divided unto them his living. His property, or means of living. The division of property among the Jews gave the elder son twice as much as the younger. In this case it seems the younger son received only money or movable property, and the elder chose to remain with his father and dwell on the paternal estate. The lands and fixed property remained in their possession. Among the ancient Romans and Syrophoenicians, it was customary, when a son came to the years of maturity, if he demanded his part of the inheritance, for the father to give it to him. This the son might claim by law. It is possible that such a custom may have prevailed among the Jews, and that our Saviour refers to some such demand made by the young man.

(g) "And he divided unto them" Mk 12:44

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 12 Give me the portion of goods - It may seem strange that such a demand should be made, and that the parent should have acceded to it, when he knew that it was to minister to his debauches that his profligate son made the demand here specified. But the matter will appear plain, when it is considered, that it has been an immemorial custom in the east for sons to demand and receive their portion of the inheritance during their father's lifetime; and the parent, however aware of the dissipated inclinations of the child, could not legally refuse to comply with the application. It appears indeed that the spirit of this law was to provide for the child in case of ill treatment by the father: yet the demand must first be acceded to, before the matter could be legally inquired into; and then, "if it was found that the father was irreproachable in his character, and had given no just cause for the son to separate from him, in that case, the civil magistrate fined the son in two hundred puns of cowries." See Code of Gentoo laws, pr. disc. p. 56; see also do. chap. 2: sec. 9, p. 81, 82; xxi. sec. 10, p. 301.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 15:11-16

The parable of the prodigal son shows the nature of repentance, and the Lord's readiness to welcome and bless all who return to him. It fully sets forth the riches of gospel grace; and it has been, and will be, while the world stands, of unspeakable use to poor sinners, to direct and to encourage them in repenting and returning to God. It is bad, and the beginning of worse, when men look upon God's gifts as debts…

Read the full comment on Luke 15:11-16 →

Luke 15:12 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

καὶkaiAndG2532

εἶπενeipensaidG2036

ὁhotheG3588

νεώτεροςneōterosyoungerG3501

αὐτῶνautōnof themG846

τῷtōto theG3588

πατρί·patrifather;G3962

πάτερ,paterFather,G3962

δόςdosdo giveG1325

μοιmoito meG3165

τὸtowhatG3588

ἐπιβάλλονepiballonis due [to me]G1911

μέροςmerosportionG3313

τῆςtēsof theG3588

οὐσίας.ousiasproperty.G3776

δὲdethenG1161

διεῖλενdieilenhe dividedG1244

αὐτοῖςautoisbetween themG846

τὸνtontheG3588

βίον.bionproperty.G979

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Luke 15:12

Deuteronomy 21:16-17
Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
Mark 12:44
For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
Psalms 17:14
From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
Luke 15:30
But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

give.
De 21:16,17; Ps 16:5,6; 17:14
And he.
Mr 12:44

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Luke 15:11
And he said, A certain man had two sons:
Luke 15:12
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.
Luke 15:13
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

Read all of Luke 15

Luke 15:12 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y el menor de ellos dijo á su padre: Padre, dame la parte de la hacienda que me pertenece: y les repartió la hacienda.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et le plus jeune d’entre eux dit à son père: Père, donne-moi la part du bien qui me revient. Et il leur partagea son bien.
German Elberfelder 1871	und der jüngere von ihnen sprach zu dem Vater: Vater, gib mir den Teil des Vermögens, der mir zufällt. Und er teilte ihnen die Habe.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	et dixit adolescentior ex illis patri: Pater, da mihi portionem substantiæ, quæ me contingit. Et divisit illis substantiam.