What Does Luke 15:12 Mean in the King James?
And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The father divides his βίος (bios), his livelihood and means of life, so the son’s portion remains bound to the life that provides it.
THE MEANING
The younger son asks for a share as if it can be separated from its source, and his father divides his livelihood between them. The verse holds the son’s claim and the father’s life-sustaining provision in one exchange. What passes between them is more than an abstract amount: the portion comes from a living source.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a share can be reduced to ownership and detached from the life and relationship it came through.
THE ROOT
βίος
bios
GROWS FROM
βιο-
bio-
Life, livelihood, or means of living.
The father’s “living” is βίος (bios), a word for life and also for one’s livelihood or means of living. The verse places the son’s inheritance inside the father’s life-sustaining provision, letting the English phrase carry more than property alone.
ALSO GROWS
bioō: To live or spend one’s life.
βιόω
This verb shares the βιο- stem and keeps livelihood connected to the act and course of living.
biōtikos: Pertaining to ordinary life or its concerns.
βιωτικός
This related word shows the stem can describe the practical conditions of living, not only life as an abstract idea.
μέρος
meros
GROWS FROM
μερ-
mer-
A part or share.
“portion” in this verse is meros. The son asks for a μέρος (meros), a share or part; the same word-family gives the verb μερίζω (merizō), to divide or distribute. The request turns the father’s goods into an allocation, while the verse keeps that part beside the father’s own livelihood.
ALSO GROWS
merizō: To divide, distribute, or share out.
μερίζω
The verb makes explicit the action implied by asking for a portion: something held together is divided into shares.
meris: A portion or allotted share.
μερίς
This noun appears in the related phrase “that good part” in Luke 10:42, showing how a share can describe more than material goods.
THE PATTERN
A portion of possessions cannot contain the life they are asked to represent.
The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.THE THREAD
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.The verb “divide” is διαμερίζω (diamerizō), in the same μερ- (mer-) word-family as the son’s μέρος (meros), “portion.” The shared root makes the demand to divide an inheritance echo the demand for a portion here.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us