Luke 15:4 (DRB)

Passage

What man of you that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after that which was lost, until he find it?

Nearby Context

Luke 15:2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.

Luke 15:3 And he spoke to them this parable, saying:

Luke 15:4 What man of you that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after that which was lost, until he find it?

Luke 15:5 And when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing?

Luke 15:6 And coming home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "hath", "hundred", "shall", "lose", "doth", "leave", and "ninety-nine". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "hath", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And he spoke to them this parable..." into verse 5's "And when he hath found it lay...", so "sheep" and "hath" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sheep" and "hath" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.