Lukas 15:30

15:30 But when this son of yours ¹  came back, who has devoured ²  your assets with prostitutes, ³  you killed the fattened calf ⁴  for him!’

Lukas 17:37

17:37 Then ⁵  the disciples ⁶  said ⁷  to him, “Where, ⁸  Lord?” He replied to them, “Where the dead body ⁹  is, there the vultures ¹⁰  will gather.” ¹¹ 

[15:30]  ¹ sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).

[15:30]  ² sn This is another graphic description. The younger son’s consumption had been like a glutton. He had both figuratively and literally devoured the assets which were given to him.

[15:30]  ³ sn The charge concerning the prostitutes is unproven, but essentially the older brother accuses the father of committing an injustice by rewarding his younger son’s unrighteous behavior.

[15:30]  ⁴ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.

[17:37]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:37]  ⁶ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the disciples, v. 22) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:37]  ⁷ tn Grk “answering, they said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:37]  ⁸ sn The question “Where, Lord?” means, “Where will the judgment take place?”

[17:37]  ⁹ tn Or “corpse.”

[17:37]  ¹⁰ tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures, because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

[17:37]  sn Jesus’ answer is that when the judgment comes, the scenes of death will be obvious and so will the location of the judgment.

[17:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.