15:29a

But he answered his father: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as answered here means “responded to.” The older son responded to his father’s pleading by telling him why he would not go in to the party. He answered in an angry and disrespectful way. Another way to translate this is:

he retorted to his father (New Jerusalem Bible)

15:29b

Look: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Look calls attention to something important. Here the older son used it to emphasize something in an angry way. Some versions do not translate this word. Other ways to translate it are:

You listen to me!
-or-
Just remember this!

See the note at 11:31d, where this word also occurs and the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “now.”

all these years: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all these years is literally “so-many years.” It emphasizes the large number of years that had gone by.

I have served you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I have served you means “I have been working like a slave for you.” It shows that the older son felt bitter and angry toward his father.

15:29c

never disobeyed a commandment of yours: In some languages it may be more natural to translate this phrase in a positive way. For example:

have always obeyed your commands (New Century Version)

15:29d

Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends: This is a complaint. The older son was implying that his father had treated him badly in comparison with the younger son. The father had honored the younger son by killing a fat calf, but he had not offered the older son anything for a feast. The father had not given the older son even a goat, which was not as expensive.

Yet you never gave me: In Greek this phrase is literally “and to-me never did-you-give.” The word order emphasizes the older son’s selfish focus on himself. In some languages it may be possible to indicate this emphasis by placing a phrase such as “As for me” at the beginning of the sentence.

In some languages it may also be possible to express the complaining tone of the older son’s words by changing this statement to a rhetorical question. For example:

What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! (Good News Translation)

even a young goat: A young goat was less valuable than a fattened calf. It did not have as much meat as a calf. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word even in order to make this clear.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.