Luke 15:19

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants."'

World English Bible · Public Domain

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μισθίων

místhios

G3407

“hired”

Adjective, Genitive, Plural, Masculine

Appears 2× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Luke 15:17

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G3408

TDNT: 15:35,6

1. employed for hire, hired

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

13: words
12: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is μισθίων hired G3407 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

μισθίων hired G3407 occurs in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Luke 15:17

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

σου you G4771 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 15:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Job 42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
Psalms 84:10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
James 4:8–10 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
Genesis 32:10 I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.
Joshua 9:24–25 They answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told your servants, how that Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were sore afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
Luke 5:8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord."
Luke 7:6–7 Jesus went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof.

1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.
Matthew 15:26–27 But he answered, "It is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
1 Timothy 1:13–16 although I was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 15:19 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 15:19. Ποίησόν με) Use me as.—ἓνα) any one you please [even in the lowest position].—μισθίων, of thy hired servants) who are taken even from among strangers and aliens.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And am no more worthy to be called thy son,.... As all the Jews were; not only by creation, and providential care, as all men are; but by national adoption: and however worthy this man might think himself to be called a Son of God before, and value himself upon it; he now sees, and was ready to own his unworthiness to be called so in any sense; and much more to be called and accounted a Son of God by special adoption;

make me as one of thy hired servants; this is said not from a servile spirit, but to express the mean thoughts he had of himself, and the great desire he had to be fed from his father's table, in the meanest way; and what an happiness and honour it would be to him, could he be the meanest in his family, a doorkeeper in his house; which was more eligible to him, than to dwell in the tents of sin, or continue in this hungry and starving condition.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

Ver. 19. I am not worthy] So Austin, Domino, non sum dignus quem tu diligas. So another, Non sum dignus, Domino, sod sum indigens. Sense of misery must precede sense of mercy. Let God but hear such words as these fall from his Ephraims, and he will soon melt over them, Jer 31:19-20 Hos 11:8. Henry the son of our Henry II, crowned by his father, and rebelling against him, died before his father at Martel in Normandy, where his father lay at siege. His father refusing to visit him (as fearing his own life), but sending his ring in sign of forgiveness, the dying prince most humbly with floods of tears kissing the same, made a most sorrowful confession of his sins: and feeling death approach, would needs be drawn (as an unworthy sinner) out of his own bed, and laid upon another strewed with ashes, where he died; which being related, the old king fell upon the earth, and weeping bitterly (like another David for his Absalom) mourned very sore. (Speed, 522.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

No more worthy ... - “Such has been my conduct that I have been a disgrace to my father. I am not fit to be honored by being called the son of a man so kind and virtuous.”

Make me as one ... - “Treat me as a servant. Let me come again into your family, but I do not ask to be treated as a son. I am willing to come in if you will give me only the support that you give to a servant.” This evinced,

Deep humility - such as a sinner should have. Love for his father’s house - such as all penitents should have toward God’s dwelling-place in heaven. Confidence in his father that he would treat him kindly, even if he treated him as a servant. Such confidence all returning penitents feel in God. They are assured that God will treat them kindly that whatever he gives them will be more than they deserve, and they are, therefore, willing to be in his hands. Yet, He had no adequate sense of his father’s kindness. He did not fully appreciate his character. He was far more kind than he had dared to hope he would be; just as all sinners undervalue the character of God, and find him always more kind than they had supposed. No sinner comes to God with a just and adequate view of his character, but “always” finds him more merciful than he had dared to hope.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

International Critical Commentary

19. ὡς ἕνα τῶν μισθίων σου. This will be promotion from his present position. He asks it as a favour.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 13 words (12 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is místhios (“hired”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word místhios carries the sense “hired.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Luke 15:17, which shares the word «hired», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “you” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Compare how Bengel's Gnomon and John Gill's Exposition read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 3 words in this verse.
“you” occurs 2× in this single verse.
12 distinct Greek lemmas span 13 words in this verse.