Luke 15:2 (YLT)

Passage

and the Pharisees and the scribes were murmuring, saying--This one doth receive sinners, and doth eat with them.'

Nearby Context

Luke 15:1 And all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming nigh to him, to hear him,

Luke 15:2 and the Pharisees and the scribes were murmuring, saying--This one doth receive sinners, and doth eat with them.'

Luke 15:3 And he spake unto them this simile, saying,

Luke 15:4 `What man of you having a hundred sheep, and having lost one out of them, doth not leave behind the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go on after the lost one, till he may find it?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pharisees", "scribes", "murmuring", "saying--this", "doth", "receive", and "sinners". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pharisees" and "scribes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And all the tax-gatherers and the sinners..." into verse 3's "And he spake unto them this simile...", so "pharisees" and "scribes" 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 "pharisees" and "scribes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.