Luke 15 · Verse 18

Luke 15:18

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luke 15:18, King James Version

Luke 15:18 in other translations

BSBI will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
WEBI will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
ASVI will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight:
YLThaving risen, I will go on unto my father, and will say to him, Father, I did sin--to the heaven, and before thee,
DARBYI will rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee;
BBEI will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes:
WebsterI will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

What does Luke 15:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. I will arise and go to my FATHER--The change has come at last, and what a change!--couched in terms of such exquisite simplicity and power as if expressly framed for all heart-broken penitents. Father, &c.--Mark the term. Though "no more worthy to be called his son," the prodigal sinner is taught to claim the defiled, but still existing relationship, asking not to be made a servant, but remaining a son to be made "as a servant," willing to take the lowest place and do the meanest work. Ah! and is it come to this? Once it was, "Any place rather than home." Now, "Oh, that home! Could I but dare to hope that the door of it would not be closed against me, how gladly would I take any place and do any worK, happy only to be there at all." Well, that is conversion--nothing absolutely new, yet all new; old familiar things seen in a new light and for the first time as realities of overwhelming magnitude and power. How this is brought about the parable says not. (We have that abundantly elsewhere, Php 2:13, &c.). Its one object is to paint the welcome home of the greatest sinners, when (no matter for the present how) they "arise and go to their Father."

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

Barnes' Notes
Verse 18. I will arise. This is a common expression among the Hebrews to denote entering on a piece of business. It does not imply that he was sitting, but that he meant immediately to return. This should be the feeling of every sinner who is conscious of his guilt and danger.

To my father. To his father, although he had offended him, and treated him unkindly, and had provoked him, and dishonoured him by his course of conduct. So the sinner. He has nowhere else to go but to God. He has offended him, but he may trust in his kindness. If God does not save him he cannot be saved. There is no other being that has an arm strong enough to deliver from sin; and though it is painful for a man to go to one whom he has offended--though he cannot go but with shame and confusion of face--yet, unless the sinner is willing to go to God and confess his faults, he can never be saved.

I have sinned. I have been wicked, dissipated, ungrateful, and rebellious.

Against heaven. The word heaven here, as it is often elsewhere, is put for God. I have sinned against God. See Mt 21:25. It is also to be observed that one evidence of the genuineness of repentance is the feeling that our sins have been committed chiefly against God. Commonly we think most of our offences as committed against man; but when the sinner sees the true character of his sins, he sees that they have been aimed chiefly against God, and that the sins against man are of little consequence compared with those against God. So David, even after committing the crimes of adultery and murder--after having inflicted the deepest injury on man--yet felt that the sin as committed against God shut every other consideration out of view: Against thee, thee ONLY, have I sinned, &c., Ps 51:4.

Before thee. This means the same as against thee. The offences had been committed mainly against God, but they were to be regarded, also, as sins against his father, in wasting property which he had given him, in neglecting his counsels, and in plunging himself into ruin. He felt that he had disgraced such a father. A sinner will be sensible of his sins against his relatives and friends as well as against God. A true penitent will be as ready to acknowledge his offences against his fellow-men as those against his Maker.

(l) "I will arise" Ps 39:5

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 Against heaven - Εις τον ουρανον; that is, against God. The Jews often make use of this periphrasis in order to avoid mentioning the name of God, which they have ever treated with the utmost reverence. But some contend that it should be translated, even unto heaven; a Hebraism for, I have sinned exceedingly - beyond all description.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 15:17-24

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…

Read the full comment on Luke 15:17-24 →

Luke 15:18 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.

ἀναστὰςanastasHaving risen upG450
πορεύσομαιporeusomaiI will goG4198
πρὸςprostoG4314
τὸνtontheG3588
πατέραpaterafatherG3962
μουmouof mineG3165
καὶkaiandG2532
ἐρῶerōI will sayG4483
αὐτῷ·autōto him;G846
πάτερ,paterFather,G3962
ἥμαρτονhēmartonI have sinnedG264
εἰςeisagainstG1519
τὸνton<the>G3588
οὐρανὸνouranonheavenG3772
καὶkaiandG2532
ἐνώπιόνenōpionbeforeG1799
σου·souyou;G4771

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

Cross references for Luke 15:18

  • Lamentations 3:40

    Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

  • 1 John 1:8-10

    If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

  • Luke 15:21

    And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

  • Luke 18:13

    And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

  • Psalms 51:3-5

    For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

  • Jeremiah 50:4-5

    In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

  • Matthew 6:14

    For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

  • Psalms 32:3-5

    When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

  • Hosea 2:6-7

    Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

  • Psalms 25:11

    For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

  • Jeremiah 3:19

    But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

  • Matthew 6:9

    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
will arise.
1Ki 20:30,31; 2Ki 7:3,4; 2Ch 33:12,13,19; Ps 32:5; 116:3-7
Jer 31:6-9; 50:4,5; La 3:18-22,29,40; Ho 2:6,7; 14:1-3; Jon 2:4; 3:9
Father.
11:2; Isa 63:16; Jer 3:19; 31:20; Mt 6:9,14; 7:11
I have.
18:13; Le 26:40,41; 1Ki 8:47,48; Job 33:27,28; 36:8-10; Ps 25:11
Ps 32:3-5; 51:3-5; Pr 23:13; Mt 3:6; 1Jo 1:8-10
against.
21; Da 4:26

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

Context

  • Luke 15:17

    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!

  • Luke 15:18

    I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

  • Luke 15:19

    And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

Read all of Luke 15

Luke 15:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Me levantaré, é iré á mi padre, y le diré: Padre, he pecado contra el cielo, y contra ti;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Je me lèverai et je m’en irai vers mon père, et je lui dirai: Père, j’ai péché contre le ciel et devant toi;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ich will mich aufmachen und zu meinem Vater gehen, und will zu ihm sagen: Vater, ich habe gesündigt gegen den Himmel und vor dir,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		surgam, et ibo ad patrem meum, et dicam ei: Pater, peccavi in cælum, et coram te: