15:32a

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But introduces the conclusion and climax of the parable. In this verse the father declared that it was necessary to celebrate the fact that his other son had come home.

This verse is in contrast to the fact that the son was refusing to celebrate. His attitude was like the Pharisees’ complaint that Jesus ate with sinners (15:2). In this verse Jesus gave the concluding statement of his answer to the Pharisees.

Some English versions have “but” here. In some languages this may be confusing because the contrast is not mainly with the preceding verse (15:31). Some English versions do not have a conjunction here. You should translate in a way that is appropriate to introduce the father’s statement and also to conclude the parable.

it was fitting to celebrate and be glad: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as it was fitting to celebrate and be glad is more literally “it was necessary/fitting to celebrate and be glad.” The Greek text does not specify who needed to celebrate. Another way to translate this clause is:

It would have been wrong not to celebrate and be happy

In many languages it will be necessary to supply a pronoun such as “we.” If you need to further specify “we(excl)” or “we(incl),” here are some factors that you may need to consider in deciding which form you need to use in your language:

(a) The father wanted the older son to join in the celebration. The context implies that all of them should celebrate, including the older son.

(b) The older son was not present when the celebration started.

(c) The father’s statement “it was necessary to celebrate…” explains why they were already celebrating. It also implies that the older son should not be refusing to celebrate.

15:32b–c

because this brother of yours: Notice that the phrase this brother of yours is similar to the phrase “this son of yours” which the older son had used with contempt in 15:30a. The father may have used this similar phrase as an implied rebuke to his older son. He may also have used it to remind his son of his family relationship with his brother.

was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found: These figurative expressions are repeated exactly from 15:24a and 15:24b. See the notes there.

© 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.