PRODIGALS ALL
  • Begin the Encounter
    • Meaning and Application >
      • Encountering the Text >
        • Text of Luke 15.1-3
        • Text of Luke 15.11-12
        • Text of Luke 15.13-19
        • Text of Luke 15.20-24
        • Text of Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Literary Context >
        • New Testament Context >
          • Luke 9-19
          • Luke 15
          • The Gospels >
            • Matthew 21.28-32
            • John 7.53-8.11
            • Luke 19.1-10
          • Epistles >
            • Romans
            • Philemon
        • Old Testament Context >
          • Jacob
          • Psalm 23
          • Jonah
      • Encountering the Cultural Context >
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.1-3 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.1-3
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.11-12 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.11-12
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.13-19 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.13-19
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.20-24 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.20-24
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.25-32 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Theological Meaning >
        • Keller Prodigal God
        • Nouwen Return
        • Theological Meaning >
          • God
          • Christ
        • Early Interpretations >
          • Clement of Alexandria
          • Tertullian
          • Ambrose
          • John Chrysostom
          • Cyril of Alexandria
        • Modern Interpretations >
          • Charles Spurgeon
          • Martin Luther King, Jr.
          • Jerry Falwell
          • Barbara Brown Taylor
        • Buddhist Prodigal
    • Artistic Impact >
      • The Prodigal Son in Painting >
        • Art, Exegesis, and Interpretation
        • Palma 1595
        • Rembrandt 1668
        • Tissot 1880
        • Slevogt 1899
        • Quist 1975
        • He Qi 1996
        • Riojas 2000s >
          • Riojas interpretation
        • Janknegt 2002 >
          • Janknegt interpretation
        • Rabodzeenko 2006
      • The Prodigal Son in Poetry >
        • Christina Rossetti >
          • Rossetti poems
          • Rossetti interpretations
        • Rainer Maria Rilke >
          • Rilke poem
          • Rilke interpretation
        • Kilian McDonnell >
          • McDonnell Poems
          • McDonnell interpretations
        • Leah Goldberg
        • James Weldon Johnson
        • John Newton
        • Edith Nesbit
      • The Prodigal Son in Fiction >
        • Marilynne Robinson
        • Alexander Pushkin >
          • The Stationmaster
        • Rainer Maria Rilke
      • The Prodigal Son in Music >
        • Britten (1968) >
          • Britten Libretto
        • Popular music >
          • Robert Wilkins
          • Rory Block
          • Rolling Stones
          • Josh White
          • Keith Green
      • The Prodigal Son in Film/Drama
      • The Prodigal Son in Dance >
        • Balanchine
  • Meet your Trail Guide
  • A Suggested Path

Cultural Insights ~ Luke 15.11-12 ~ Answers
Gleaned from Kenneth Bailey by Lee Magness

Cultural Insights into Luke 15.11-12
     1) What is the significance of the man having two sons?
          Insight ~ The opening sentence immediately establishes a socio-cultural hierarchy--father...older son...younger 

               son.   In that culture the oldest male child had a privileged status.

     2) What were the cultural implications of the younger son's request for his inheritance?
          Insight ~ Distribution of property took place at or near the father's death, so the request of the younger son is 
               tantamount to requesting/wishing for the father’s death.

     3) Did Palestinian inheritance laws ever allow for inheritance before the father's death?  
          Insight ~ It was possible.   Even then the son received the right of possession but not the right of 
               disposition.   The father remained in control of expenditures.

     4) How would the inheritance have been divided between the two sons?
          Insight ~ The elder son normally received two-thirds of the inheritance, the younger son one-third.

     5) What does the younger son's request reveal about him?    
          Insight ~ The younger son is...
               a) eager for his father to die.
               b) trapped in self-centered pride (notice all the I's and me's in his request).
               c) not breaking a law, but he is breaking a relationship.
               d) lacking in respect not only for his father but also his family, his village, and his culture.
               d) lacking in gratitude and trust.
        
     6) What do these verses reveal about the older son?
          Insight ~ The older son is...
               a) fully aware of the situation.
               b) unwilling to act as a mediator to prevent this disrespectful and ultimately destructive behavior.
               c) possibly part of the reason the younger son wants to leave home.

     7) What do these verses reveal about the father?
          Insights ~ The father...
               a) gives his son the freedom to reject him and his love.
               b) does not sever his relationship with the son, even though the son severs his relationship with the father.
               c) does not strike his son and disowned him, the typical reaction.

   “We know the younger son by what he asks, the father by what he does, and the older son by what he does not do.” 
          (Bailey, p. 47)


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.