Jacob And The Prodigal – How Jesus Retold Israels Story – Kenneth E Bailey

Some read “he got smart.” Others translate “he took an interest in himself.” Also to be found are “he thought to himself’ and “it then occurred to him.” None of these translators saw the prodigal in the far country as repenting. Other Christian translators of the text into Arabic use the phrase, “he returned to himself.” This translation has lasted for more than a thousand years in Eastern Christian Gospel texts, and for the last two hundred years has often appeared.

What does it imply? As seen in the previous two stories, repentance also means “return.” David affirmed that he cannot “return” (shub) on his own: God, the Good Shepherd, must come after him, and his return is to Cod. As noted, the same theology is set forth in the parable of the woman with her coin. But here, we are told that the prodigal returned to himself, not to his father.

Thus the cluster of texts examined offers three kinds of return. These are: For David (Ps 23) and Jesus (Lk 15:2-10): The return is to God For Jeremiah (Jer 23:1-H) and Ezekiel (Ezek 34:1-31): The return is to the land For the prodigal (in the far country): The return is to himself The prodigal is returning neither to God nor to the land. Instead, he returns only to himself In such a game plan the father is simply an instrument to be used by the prodigal to get what he wants, which is something to eat!

The obvious question arising from this thoughtful Arabic translation is: On the basis of the Greek text is this a legitimate translation? Literally Luke’s text reads, “He came [erchomai] to himself. ” The verb erchomai is used by Luke a number of times to mean “return.” One of these is in Acts 1:11 : “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come [erchomai] in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Clearly, in this text erchomai carries the meaning of “return.”

©2003 by Kenneth E. Bailey All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press. InterVarsity Press* is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA30, a student movement active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept., InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, W153707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at .

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. Cover design: Kathleen Lay Burrows Cover and interior images: The Meeting of Esau and Jacob: The Jewish Museum, NY/Art Resource, NY; Return of the Prodigal Son: Alinaii/Art Resource, NY ISBN 0-8308-2727-7 Printed in the United States of America ∞ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bailey, Kenneth E.

Jacob and the prodigal: how Jesus retold Israel’s story/ Kenneth E. Bailey, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8308-2727-7 (pbk.: alk. paper) I. Prodigal son (Parable) 2. Jacob (Biblical patriarch) 3 Bible. N.T. Luke XV, ! 1-32—Relation to Genesis. 4. Bible. O.T. Genesis XXVII, 1-XXXVI, 8—Relation to Luke. 5. Bible. Ν. T. Luke XV—Criticism, interpretation, etc.

I. Title. BT378.P8B25 2003 226.806—dc21 2003001545 Ρ 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 / Y 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 OceanofPDF.com To SARA JAN BAILEY in gratitude for her living faith her courage in adversity her compassion for all who suffer her tenderness toward every living creature and her deep love for her family and friends OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Figures Preface I. INTRODUCTION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CALL JESUS A THEOLOGIAN? 1 Jesus as a Metaphorical Theologian and the Rabbinic World 2 The Jesus Tradition and the Question of Authenticity 3 The Importance of Middle Eastern Culture for New Testament Interpretation 4 The Parable of the Prodigal Son and the”Travel Narrative” in Luke 5 The One and the Many in Parabolic Interpretation II.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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