Luke 15:30 (YLT)

Passage

but when thy son--this one who did devour thy living with harlots--came, thou didst kill to him the fatted calf.

Nearby Context

Luke 15:28 `And he was angry, and would not go in, therefore his father, having come forth, was entreating him;

Luke 15:29 and he answering said to the father, Lo, so many years I do serve thee, and never thy command did I transgress, and to me thou didst never give a kid, that with my friends I might make merry;

Luke 15:30 but when thy son--this one who did devour thy living with harlots--came, thou didst kill to him the fatted calf.

Luke 15:31 `And he said to him, Child, thou art always with me, and all my things are thine;

Luke 15:32 but to be merry, and to be glad, it was needful, because this thy brother was dead, and did live again, he was lost, and was found.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "son--this", "devour", "living", "harlots--came", "thou", "didst", "kill", and "fatted". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "son--this" and "devour", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 29's "and he answering said to the father..." into verse 31's "And he said to him Child thou...", so "son--this" and "devour" 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 "son--this" and "devour" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.