What Does Luke 15:15 Mean?
And he went and clung to a citizen of that land, and the citizen sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.THE KEY
The word rendered “joined” carries the image of glue: his bond connects him to the citizen and places him within that person’s reach and direction.
THE MEANING
Need turns his attachment to a local citizen into dependence: the citizen directs where he goes and what he does. The bond gives him a place in the fields, but it does not restore his freedom or relieve his deprivation.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that belonging to someone automatically means being cared for is undone here: attachment can provide access to survival while leaving another person in control of your labor.
THE ROOT
ἐκολλήθη
ekollēthē
GROWS FROM
κολλ-
koll-
The Greek stem κολλ- (koll-) carries the image of glue, adhesion, or close attachment.
“clung to” in this verse is ekollēthē. English “joined” can sound neutral, but this verb carries the image of adhesion: he sticks himself to someone, and that attachment becomes the channel through which he is sent. The same root can describe cleaving to a spouse or to what is good, so what receives the attachment matters.
ALSO GROWS
kollaō: To glue, fasten, attach, or join closely.
κολλάω
This is the verb behind “joined himself”; its image makes the bond feel like adhesion rather than a passing association.
proskollaō: To join closely or cleave to.
προσκολλάω
This related compound uses the same root for close attachment, showing how the bond can shape lasting belonging.
THE PATTERN
Attachment gives a relationship the power to shape where a person belongs and what they do.
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.Let love be without a mask. Recoil from what is evil; cling to what is good.Of the rest, no one dared to cling to them, but the people made them great.THE THREAD
Let love be without a mask. Recoil from what is evil; cling to what is good.The Greek verb translated “cleave” shares the root of “joined himself” here. The same act of attachment can bind a person to a citizen who directs his labor, or to what is good.
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