In this post I will talk about the Japanese language used in the Parable of the Prodigal son, called
To make it easy for a beginner to read this passage in Japanese, I add furigana to all the kanji. Even if you are brand new to Japanese, you could learn hiragana in a week or two from lots of different apps or internet resources and be able to sound out the passage in Japanese. Each verse is shown from the ESV translation in English and the 新改訳 in Japanese. I’ll try to explain any of the aspects of the Japanese language that may be tricky or interesting.
There is a lot to say about this famous parable, and every time you read it, you can discover something new. One way to see it, is as a depiction of the two ways people react to knowing that they fall short of God’s glory. One reaction, represented by the prodigal son, is rebellion. The son that won’t come into the house during the celebration of the prodigal son’s return represents someone reacting by striving to be worthy of God’s glory through legalism. Outside of being under grace instead of the law, as described in Romans 6:14, people’s lives are comprised of a combination of these patterns.
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