Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 15:2 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 2. 2And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 15:2 states the table-fellowship complaint that all three lost-and-found parables answer.
Read It With
- Luke 15:1–15:7
Read Luke 15:2 with 15:1–15:7. In isolation, this contribution—states the table-fellowship complaint that all three lost-and-found parables answer—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Tax collectors and sinners draw near, critics object to Jesus' welcome, and a shepherd leaves ninety-nine in a wilderness to seek one sheep and celebrate its recovery, picturing joy over repentance.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Luke 15:2 states the table-fellowship complaint that all three lost-and-found parables answer. This precise contribution belongs inside “A Shepherd Seeks One Lost Sheep” because Tax collectors and sinners draw near, critics object to Jesus' welcome, and a shepherd leaves ninety-nine in a wilderness to seek one sheep and celebrate its recovery, picturing joy over repentance.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 15:1–15:7.
- Tax collectors and sinners draw near, critics object to Jesus' welcome, and a shepherd leaves ninety-nine in a wilderness to seek one sheep and celebrate its recovery, picturing joy over repentance.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The parable answers a table-fellowship complaint and uses risky shepherd imagery; it is not a literal safeguarding plan or proof that the ninety-nine have no needs.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—states the table-fellowship complaint that all three lost-and-found parables answer—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The parable does not authorize neglect of a group, invasive pursuit, labeling people as animals, or treating Pharisees and scribes as anti-mercy Jews.
What Remains True
Luke 15:2 states the table-fellowship complaint that all three lost-and-found parables answer. Read inside Luke 15:1–15:7, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Tax collectors and sinners draw near, critics object to Jesus' welcome, and a shepherd leaves ninety-nine in a wilderness to seek one sheep and celebrate its recovery, picturing joy over repentance. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
How It Can Shape Life
- Luke 15:2 states the table-fellowship complaint that all three lost-and-found parables answer. Its faithful response is proportionate to that role: Seek a person who is estranged with patient, proportionate care and celebrate safe restoration; do not compare people to animals to justify surveillance or forced return.
Teach It Back
Explain Luke 15:2's specific contribution to Luke 15:1–15:7: states the table-fellowship complaint that all three lost-and-found parables answer. Include the preceding and following movement, one source-controlled uncertainty, one affected person or group, and what the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Luke 15:1–15:7 — A Shepherd Seeks One Lost SheepSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 15:1–15:7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 15:1–15:7
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 15:1–15:7
Open source ↗