Luke 15:29-30

15:29 but he answered ¹  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ²  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ³  you never gave me even a goat ⁴  so that I could celebrate with my friends! 15:30 But when this son of yours ⁵  came back, who has devoured ⁶  your assets with prostitutes, ⁷  you killed the fattened calf ⁸  for him!’

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¹ tn Grk “but answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “but he answered.”

² tn Or simply, “have served,” but in the emotional context of the older son’s outburst the translation given is closer to the point.

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to bring out the contrast indicated by the context.

⁴ sn You never gave me even a goat. The older son’s complaint was that the generous treatment of the younger son was not fair: “I can’t get even a little celebration with a basic food staple like a goat!”

⁵ sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).

⁶ sn This is another graphic description. The younger son’s consumption had been like a glutton. He had both figuratively and literally devoured the assets which were given to him.

⁷ sn The charge concerning the prostitutes is unproven, but essentially the older brother accuses the father of committing an injustice by rewarding his younger son’s unrighteous behavior.

⁸ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.