What Does Luke 15:5 Mean?
And when he has found it, he sets it upon his shoulders, rejoicing.
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 when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.THE KEY
The shepherd’s finding becomes a carrying: the lost sheep rests on his shoulders while he rejoices.
THE MEANING
When you are found, the shepherd places you on his shoulders; your return is carried by the one who found you. Joy accompanies this carrying, before the verse says anything about arriving home.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that the lost must regain their strength before they can be received: the shepherd carries the sheep while rejoicing.
THE ROOT
ἐπιτίθησιν
epitithēsin
GROWS FROM
τίθημι
tithēmi
put, set, place
“sets” in this verse is epitithēsin. The verb joins ἐπί, “upon,” with τίθημι, “put” or “place.” The shepherd places the sheep on his shoulders, so the journey back is borne by the one who found it.
ALSO GROWS
tithēmi: put, set, place
τίθημι
This is the core action in the compound: the shepherd places the sheep on his shoulders.
prostithēmi: add, put to
προστίθημι
The same root can describe putting something to something else; here it describes putting the sheep upon the shepherd.
εὑρών
heurōn
GROWS FROM
εὑρίσκω
heuriskō
find, discover
Finding is the turning point: the sheep is not described as returning on its own, but as the one the shepherd finds and then carries. In the next verse, the same verb becomes “I have found,” linking discovery to the shepherd’s joy.
ALSO GROWS
heurēma: a finding, what is discovered
εὕρημα
This branch names what has been found; the sheep’s recovery is the result of the shepherd’s search.
heuretēs: discoverer, inventor
εὑρετής
The root can name the one who discovers; here, the work of finding belongs to the shepherd.
χαίρων
chairōn
GROWS FROM
χαίρω
chairō
rejoice, be glad
The word keeps rejoicing alongside the carrying: delight is already present while the sheep is on the shepherd’s shoulders. The related χαρά names joy, while χάρις carries the sense of favor or thanks, giving this recovery a tone of glad reception.
ALSO GROWS
chara: joy, gladness
χαρά
The related noun makes the rejoicing of the shepherd a visible expression of joy.
charis: favor, thanks
χάρις
This related word brings favor and thanks into the same word-family as rejoicing, fitting the shepherd’s glad reception of the sheep.
THE PATTERN
Restoration belongs to the finder: the lost one is gathered and carried by the shepherd, and joy accompanies the recovery.
He feeds his flock like a shepherd, gathers the lambs in his arm, carries them against his chest, and gently leads the ones who nurse.Even to old age I AM, and to gray hair I will bear you. I have made, and I will lift, I will bear, and I will slip you free.For the Son of Man has come to seek and to deliver that which had lost its way.THE THREAD
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, the one that had lost its way."“I have found” uses the same Greek verb as “when he hath found it” here. The finding leads directly into shared rejoicing: the shepherd carries the sheep, then names its recovery as a reason for joy.
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