Luke 15:8-9

15:8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? 15:9 Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’


sn This silver coin is a drachma, equal to a denarius, that is, a day’s pay for the average laborer.

tn Grk “What woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses.” The initial participle ἔχουσα (ecousa) has been translated as a finite verb parallel to ἀπολέσῃ (apolesh) in the conditional clause to improve the English style.

tn Grk “one coin.”

tn Grk “and sweep,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

sn Rejoice. Besides the theme of pursuing the lost, the other theme of the parable is the joy of finding them.

tn Grk “drachma.”