Discovery BoxLuke 15:4-6 
Context15:4 “Which one 1 of you, if he has a hundred 2 sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture 3 and go look for 4 the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 15:5 Then 6 when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning 7 home, he calls together 8 his 9 friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’
1 tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.
2 sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.
3 tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.
4 tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.
5 sn Until he finds it. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
7 tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
8 sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).
9 tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.
