iv A son iv it h a Servant's feelings. 41 



The unfilial feeling of the elder son shows itself 

 in a half -unconscious way which is very remark- 

 able, "Lo, these many years do I serve thee as a 

 bondservant (SovAevw), 1 and thou never gavest me 

 (so much as) a kid, that I might make merry with 

 my friends ; " though the father's reply, " Son, thou 

 art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine," 

 shows that he was at liberty to invite whomsoever 

 he pleased to his father's table. We may imagine 

 his father answering in modern language, "You 

 serve me these many years ! No doubt you are 

 my heir, and in serving me you serve yourself. You 

 never transgressed a commandment of mine ! No 

 doubt and are my commandments grievous 1 I 

 never gave you a kid whereon to feast with your 

 friends ! You have always been at liberty to invite 

 them to my table ; and if they do not like to dine 

 with me, they are no fit companions for my son." 

 But he gave the gentle and gracious answer, " Son, 

 thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine," 

 which, if the son had ears to hear, was a keener 

 rebuke. 



In the wish of the elder son that he could 

 sometimes feast with his own friends, apart from 

 his father, was contained the germ of that desire 

 to escape the wholesome restraints of home, which, 

 in its full development, had brought his brother 

 first to riotous and wasteful living, and afterwards 

 to the service of the stranger and the herding 

 1 The remark as to the force of dovXevw is made by Stier. 



