God & Savior

Luke 15:7

In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:7
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Study notes

There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who do not need to repent.

Explanation

This ends the story of the lost sheep (15:3-7). Religious leaders complained that Jesus welcomed sinners (15:1-2). Jesus answers that heaven rejoices when even one lost person turns back to God.

Original language
  • χαρὰ (chara): joy
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · Strong's G5479 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Joy.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Luke 15:7, word 5

  • οὐρανῷ (ouranō): heaven
    Greek · Noun, dative, singular, masculine · Strong's G3772 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Heaven.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Luke 15:7, word 8

  • ἁμαρτωλῷ (hamartōlō): sinful
    Greek · Adjective, dative, singular, masculine · Strong's G0268 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Sinner.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Luke 15:7, word 12

  • μετανοοῦντι (metanoounti): to repent
    Greek · Verb, present, active, participle, dative, singular, masculine · Strong's G3340 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Repenting: turning back to God.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Luke 15:7, word 13

  • δικαίοις (dikaiois): just
    Greek · Adjective, dative, plural, masculine · Strong's G1342 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Righteous.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Luke 15:7, word 18

  • μετανοίας (metanoias): repentance
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, feminine · Strong's G3341 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Repentance.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Luke 15:7, word 23

Cross-references
  • Luke 15:10 · Surrounding passage

    Joy among the angels over one sinner who repents.

  • Luke 15:2 · Surrounding passage

    This man welcomes sinners.

  • Ezekiel 18:23 · Background

    God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

Λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὕτως χαρὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔσται ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι ἢ ἐπὶ ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα δικαίοις οἵτινες οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν μετανοίας.

  1. ΛέγωLegō“I say”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 1st person singular · from λέγω · “to speak” · Strong's G3004G
  2. ὑμῖνhumin“to you”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, dative, plural · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  3. ὅτιhoti“that”
    Conjunction · “that/since” · Strong's G3754G
  4. οὕτωςhoutōs“in the same way”
    Adverb · from οὕτω, οὕτως · “thus(-ly)” · Strong's G3779
  5. χαρὰchara“joy”
    Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · from χαρά · “joy” · Strong's G5479
  6. ἐνen“in”
    Preposition · “in/on/among” · Strong's G1722
  7. τῷtō“<the>”
    Article, dative, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  8. οὐρανῷouranō“heaven”
    Noun, dative, singular, masculine · from οὐρανός · “heaven” · Strong's G3772
  9. ἔσταιestai“there will be”
    Verb, future, middle (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  10. ἐπὶepi“over”
    Preposition · from ἐπί · “upon/to/against” · Strong's G1909
  11. ἑνὶheni“one”
    Adjective, dative, singular, masculine · from εἷς · “one” · Strong's G1520
  12. ἁμαρτωλῷhamartōlō“sinner”
    Adjective, dative, singular, masculine · from ἁμαρτωλός · “sinful” · Strong's G0268
  13. μετανοοῦντιmetanoounti“repenting”
    Verb, present, active, participle, dative, singular, masculine · from μετανοέω · “to repent” · Strong's G3340
  14. ἢē“rather than”
    Conjunction · from ἤ · “or/than” · Strong's G2228
  15. ἐπὶepi“over”
    Preposition · from ἐπί · “upon/to/against” · Strong's G1909
  16. ἐνενήκονταenenēkonta“ninety”
    Adjective, number · “ninety” · Strong's G1768
  17. ἐννέαennea“nine”
    Adjective, number · “nine” · Strong's G1767
  18. δικαίοιςdikaiois“righteous ones”
    Adjective, dative, plural, masculine · from δίκαιος · “just” · Strong's G1342
  19. οἵτινεςoitines“who”
    Relative pronoun, nominative, plural, masculine · from ὅστις · “who/which” · Strong's G3748
  20. οὐou“no”
    Particle, negative · “no” · Strong's G3756
  21. χρείανchreian“need”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from χρεία · “need” · Strong's G5532
  22. ἔχουσινechousin“have”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person plural · from ἔχω · “to have/be” · Strong's G2192
  23. μετανοίας.metanoias“of repentance.”
    Noun, genitive, singular, feminine · from μετάνοια · “repentance” · Strong's G3341
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)