The parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father; )"The Parable of the Lost Son." Holy Bible (New International Version). – via BibleGateway, Biblica, Inc. 2011 ."Parable of the Forgiving Father (15:11-32)." Holy Bible (IVP New Testament Commentaries). – via BibleGateway. 2016. is one of the parables of Jesus in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. In Luke 15, Jesus tells this story, along with those of a man with 100 sheep and a woman with ten coins, to a group of Pharisees and religious leaders who criticized him for welcoming and eating with tax collectors and others seen as sinners.
The Prodigal Son is the third and final parable of a cycle on redemption, following the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. In the Revised Common Lectionary and Roman Rite Catholic Lectionary, this parable is read on the fourth Sunday of Lent (in Year C); in the latter it is also included in the long form of the Gospel on the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year C, along with the preceding two parables of the cycle. In the Eastern Orthodox Church it is read on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son.
Narrative
The parable begins with a wealthy man who has two sons, the younger of whom asks for his share of the man's estate. The implication is that the son did not want to wait for his father's death to receive his inheritance but instead wanted it immediately. The father agrees and divides his estate between the two sons.
Upon receiving his portion of the inheritance, the younger son travels to a distant country, where he squanders his wealth through reckless living. He runs out of money just before a severe famine strikes the land, leaving him desperately poor and forced to take a low-paying job as a swineherd. He reaches the point of envying the food of the pigs he is feeding. At this time, he finally comes to his senses:
This implies that the father was watching hopefully for the son's return. The son starts his rehearsed speech, admitting his sins, and declaring himself unworthy of being his father's son but does not even finish before his father accepts him back without hesitation.Nicoll, William R., ed. 1897. Luke 15:21 in Expositor's Greek Testament. New York: George H. Doran Company. Retrieved 20 May 2020. – via Bible Hub. Some ancient authorities completed verse 21 in line with the Son's prepared statement. The father calls for his servants to dress the son in the finest robe and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and to slaughter the "fatted calf" for a celebratory meal.
The older son, who was at work in the fields, hears the sound of celebration and is told by a slave about the return of his younger brother. He is not impressed and becomes angry. He also has a speech for his father:
The parable stops with the father explaining that while the older son has always been present and that everything the father owns also belongs to the older son, because the younger son had returned, in a sense, from the dead, celebration was necessary:
Interpretation
The opening, "A man had two sons" is a storyteller's trope and would immediately bring to mind Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob and Esau. Jesus then confounds the listeners' expectations when the younger son is shown to be foolish.Levine, Amy-Jill. 25 August 2014. "What the Prodigal Son story doesn't mean." The Christian Century.
While a number of commentators see the request of the younger son for his share of the inheritance as "brash, even insolent"Hultgren, Arland J. 2002. The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary. MI: Eerdmans Publishing. . pp. 70–82. and "tantamount to wishing that the father was dead," Jewish legal scholar Bernard Jackson says "Jewish sources give no support to [the idea] that the prodigal, in seeking the advance, wishes his father dead."
The young man's actions do not lead to success; he squanders his inheritance and he eventually becomes an indentured servant, with the degrading job of looking after pigs, and even envying them for the carob pods they eat. This recalls Proverbs 29:3: "Whoever loves wisdom gives joy to his father, but whoever consorts with harlots squanders his wealth." (NRSV) – via Oremus
Proverbs 29:3 (NABRE) – via U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Upon his return, his father treats the young man with a generosity far more than he has a right to expect. He is given the best robe, a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. Jewish philosopher Philo observes:
The Pesikta Rabbati has a similar story:
The older son, in contrast, seems to think in terms of "law, merit, and reward," rather than "love and graciousness." He may represent the Pharisees who were criticizing Jesus.
Leviticus Rabbah 13:4 also contains a short saying that matches the character of the parable:
The last few verses of the parable summarize the tale in accordance with the Jewish teaching of the two ways of acting: the way of life (obedience) and the way of death (sin).Jewish Encyclopedia: Didache God, according to Judaism, rejoices over and grants more graces to repentant sinners than righteous souls who do not need repentance.Kohler, Kaufmann, and Max Schlesinger. 2011 . "Repentance (Hebr. "teshubah")" Jewish Encyclopedia
Following the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin, this is the last of three parables about loss and redemption that Jesus tells after the Pharisees and religious leaders accuse him of welcoming and eating with "sinners."Longenecker, Richard N. 2000. The Challenge of Jesus' Parables. MI: Eerdmans. . pp. 201–13. The father's joy described in the parable reflects divine love: the "boundless mercy of God,"Hahn, Scott, Curtis Mitch, and Dennis Walters. 2001. Gospel of Luke: The Ignatius Study Guide (2nd ed.). Ignatius Press. . p. 51. and "God's refusal to limit the measure of his grace."
Catholic Justus Knecht, like others, breaks the parable into three parts, noting that, "The father in the parable signifies God; the elder son, the just; and the younger son, the sinner." In the first part:
Roger Baxter in his Meditations describes the second part:
Orthodox In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the parable of the Prodigal Son is central to the Christian understanding emphasizing God's boundless love for humanity. Archpriest Victor Potapov encapsulates this as "a multitude of themes...difficult to enumerate", including the historical contrast between God's chosen people and the pagans, the nature of sin (one reason why the parable is read on the third Sunday before Great Lent, also including the subsequent fasting time to encourage spiritual discipline and refreshment), and the process and blessings of repentance. The Father's forgiving embrace represents God's joy in receiving sinners who return to Him with humility and remorse. It is as an allegory of the Church, with elements like baptism and the Eucharist symbolized through the Father's gifts to his son.
As Fr. Potapov cites, Saint Theophan the Recluse compares the sinner with a man sunk into a deep sleep, and in his turning to God he notes three psychological moments that correspond to the parable's events: 1. Awakening from the sleep of sin (); 2. The ripening of resolve to forsake sin and dedicate himself to pleasing God (); 3. Investing the sinner with divine power for this in the "Mysteries of Repentance and Communion".
Commemoration and use
Orthodox The Eastern Orthodox Church traditionally reads this story on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, which in their liturgical year is the Sunday before Meatfare Sunday and about two weeks before the beginning of Great Lent. One common hymn of the occasion reads:
Roman Catholic In his 1984 apostolic exhortation titled, in Latin, ('Reconciliation and Penance'), Pope John Paul II used this parable to explain the process of conversion and reconciliation. Emphasizing that God the Father is "rich in mercy" and always ready to forgive, he stated that reconciliation is a "gift on his part". He stated that for the Church her "mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of that God who is love."Catholic Church. 1998 . "Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: Reconciliation and Penance of John Paul II." Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. . pp. 234–39. Retrieved 20 May 2020. He also explored the issues raised by this parable in his second encyclical, ('Rich in Mercy'), issued in 1980.John Paul II. 1980. "Rich in Mercy" (encyclical). Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
In the arts Visual art
Of the roughly 30 parables in the canonical Gospels, the Parable of the Prodigal Son was one of four that were shown in medieval art—along with that of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, the Dives and Lazarus, and the Good Samaritan—almost to the exclusion of the others, though not mixed in with the narrative scenes of the Life of Christ.Mâle, Emile. 1973 . The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century (1st ed.), translated by D. Nussey. London: Collins. . p. 195. (The Laborers in the Vineyard also appears in Early Medieval works.)
Scenes of the prodigal son were a popular subject in Northern Renaissance art. Albrecht Dürer's 1496 engraving is a famous example. In the seventeenth-century, Rembrandt depicted several scenes from the parable, especially the final episode, which he etched, drew, or painted on several occasions during his career.Fleischer, Roland E., and Susan C. Scott. 1997. Rembrandt, Rubens, and the art of their time: recent perspectives. US: Penn State University Press. . pp. 64-65. At least one of Rembrandt's works—The Prodigal Son in the Tavern, is a portrait of himself as the son reveling with his wife.
The Prodigal Son is a sculpture in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by George Grey Barnard that depicts the loving reunion of the father and son from the "Parable of the Prodigal Son."Diana Strazdes, et al., American Painting and Sculpture to 1945 in the Carnegie Museum of Art, (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1992), pp. 55-58. Auguste Rodin also created a sculpture of the Prodigal Son.
Theater and film In the 15th and 16th centuries, the theme was such a sufficiently popular subject that the 'Prodigal Son play' can be seen as a subgenre of the English morality play. Examples include The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune, The Disobedient Child, and Acolastus.
Many adaptations added to the original Biblical material to lengthen the story. For example, The Prodigal (1955) film took considerable liberties, such as adding a temptress priestess of Astarte to the tale.Hammond, Paul. 2000. The shadow and its shadow: surrealist writings on the cinema (3rd ed.). San Francisco: City Lights Books. . p. 70.
Music A 1680 Filius prodigus, H.399 & H.399 a, oratorio by Marc-Antoine Charpentier An 1869 oratorio by Arthur Sullivan; An 1880 opera by Amilcare Ponchielli; A 1884 cantata by Claude Debussy; A 1929 ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to music by Sergei Prokofiev; A 1957 ballet by Hugo Alfvén;Don Michael Randel, The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, Harvard University Press, 1996, , pp. 13-14, and A 1968 opera by Benjamin Britten.
Popular music The parable is referenced in the last verse of the traditional Irish folk tune "The Wild Rover":
"Jump Around" by the Los Angeles rap group House of Pain (1992) includes a verse by member Everlast, who references the parable as well as the Bible itself:
Other references and semi-adaptations include "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard appears as the second track in his album Backlash (1967).
"Prodigal Son" by Reverend Robert Wilkins, which tells the story of the parable, is probably better known by the Rolling Stones cover version, which is featured on Beggars Banquet (1968). "Prodigal Man", written by Ted Nugent, was performed by The Amboy Dukes as the second track of their third album Migration (1969)