The Parable of the Lost Coin

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’(A)

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Notas al pie

  1. Luke 15:8 Greek ten drachmas, each worth about a day’s wages

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins[a] and loses[b] one of them,[c] does not light a lamp, sweep[d] the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then[e] when she has found it, she calls together her[f] friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice[g] with me, for I have found the coin[h] that I had lost.’

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Notas al pie

  1. Luke 15:8 sn This silver coin is a drachma, equal to a denarius, that is, a day’s pay for the average laborer.
  2. Luke 15:8 tn Grk “What woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses.” The initial participle ἔχουσα (echousa) has been translated as a finite verb parallel to ἀπολέσῃ (apolesē) in the conditional clause to improve the English style.
  3. Luke 15:8 tn Grk “one coin.”
  4. Luke 15:8 tn Grk “and sweep,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
  5. Luke 15:9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  6. Luke 15:9 tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
  7. Luke 15:9 sn Rejoice. Besides the theme of pursuing the lost, the other theme of the parable is the joy of finding them.
  8. Luke 15:9 tn Grk “drachma.”