Bible Strands
Luke 15:16
He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The destitute prodigal son, having hired himself to a foreign citizen to feed pigs, exists in a state of total abandonment after his resources are spent.
The words — ἐπεθύμει (epethumei) marks a persistent, intense craving, while χορτασθῆναι (chortasthēnai) specifies the desire to be fully satisfied or fed.
The thread — Hosea 12:1 states that Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long. Psalms 73:22 records the psalmist declaring he was senseless and ignorant, acting like a brute beast before God.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of absolute dependence on mercy when self-provision fails completely.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Cross-references
- Romans 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
- Hosea 12:1 Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- Psalms 73:22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
- Psalms 142:4 Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.
- Isaiah 44:20 He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
- Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
- Isaiah 57:3 “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
- Lamentations 4:5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets; those brought up in crimson huddle in ash heaps.
- Jonah 2:2 saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.