The expression "Prodigal Son" has biblical roots. There is such an instructive parable. Once in one very religious, rich family there was a youngest son who led a riotous lifestyle. He left the family and nothing was heard about him for many years. In general, he actually died for his loved ones. And after many years, this man returned to the family.
He threw himself at his father's feet and asked for forgiveness for his disorienting behavior. He didn't know what his parent's reaction would be. He accepted him, forgave him and arranged a magnificent feast on this occasion. And the son really realized his unworthy behavior and became a completely different person worthy of his family.
Now it is difficult for us to understand this situation. But, in those days, the father was the head of the family until the end of his days. All finances were in his hands. Everyone obeyed and respected their father; his word was law for all household members.
Since the parable is from the Bible, it has the following meaning: Every sinner who sincerely repents of his sins, rethinks his life, and changes it for the better will be forgiven by God.
The expression “the return of the prodigal son” is still relevant today and means the following:
- A person who, with his dissolute behavior, stands out significantly from his family.
- You can talk about an employee who is always late and skips work.
- A person who has realized his mistakes has changed his behavior or lifestyle in general for the better.
And the end." The phraseological unit is built on the collision of antonymous components: alpha and omega - the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet...
Such expressions exist in all languages of the world. For example, we say: “Learn everything from A to Z,” but in tsarist times they said, “From aza to Izhitsa.” Az is the first letter of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, Izhitsa is the last letter. The phraseological unit “from alpha to omega” means “everything is complete,” “from beginning to end.”
One day, King Eurystheus instructed Hercules to clear the manure from the farmyard of King Augeas. Augeas's father, the sun god Helios, gave his son huge herds: three hundred Bilonog bulls, two hundred red bulls and twelve bulls white as snow. And another bull, like the sun, illuminated everything around with beauty. No one had ever cleaned Augeas's farmyard, but the king ordered Hercules to clear it of manure in one day. Hercules agreed, and Augeas promised to give him a tenth of his herds for his work: the king did not believe that so much could be done in one day.
The expression is attributed to the ancient Roman writer and orator Cicero (106 - 43 BC). In an effort to popularize Greek culture in Rome, Cicero devoted significant space in his writings to the theory of oratory developed by the Greeks. He especially singled out the inhabitants of Attica, who were famous for their eloquence. “They were all... sprinkled with the salt of wit...” wrote Cicero.
Oh, how accurate it is, a military dictionary,
Without attic salt and spicy pepper.
(E. Malanyuk, Fifth Symphony)
Sergey Ivanovich.
“Gordian knot” - phraseological unit, which each of us has heard, but What does the phraseological unit “Gordian knot” mean? Not everyone will explain.
According to the legend cited by the ancient Greek historian Plutarch (1st-2nd centuries AD), the Phrygians, having listened to the advice of the oracle, elected as king the first person they met with the cart at the Temple of Zeus. It was a simple peasant Gordey.
In memory of his unexpected exaltation, Gordey placed this cart in the temple of Zeus, tying a yoke to it with a very intricate knot. Alexander the Great, learning about the oracle's prophecy
Drach. prodigal son in Los Angeles, just on the lawn,
A man fell down into the grass
And sees through the planet: horses are playing
And Roska plays in the shawl of their pupils.
A man has fallen and sees through the whole earth
Your grass and your path
One that I won’t separate at all
From that spore in heaven.
A man fell under alien palm trees
And he sees willows and bushes,
And a gray-haired mother with a gray-haired door,
Where two stars huddle on the rafters.
A man has fallen, and only he can get up,
And the cranes won’t let him down. 1. Which wanders, wanders, constantly changing its location. To become a prodigal knight...to move from home into the wide world - That’s what he immediately planned (Fr., XII, 1953, 114).
◊ Prodigal son, deputy - About a man, after long wanderings and a dissolute life, he returns to his family with repentance. * On Wednesday. [Zhanna:] Well, your dear Petya will very quickly return to you, like a prodigal son, without a penny and, perhaps, without a jacket (Cor., Why is it a laughing stock. Zare, 1958, 86).
2. transfer
It is joyful when you find a friend or disciple, but it is even more pleasant when a person who walked in darkness finds light and healing. Let's talk today about the meaning of the phraseological unit “prodigal son”.
Source
Let's turn to the Bible, the Gospel of Luke. The old man had two sons, one serious and positive, the other strange and frivolous. And so the second one decided to ask his father for part of the money that was rightfully due to him, and left home. Of course, he squandered his fortune. Then he worked as a swineherd and died of hunger. A frivolous young man, he would have been happy to eat from the pelvis of the animals he cared for, but he was not supposed to. And suddenly it dawned on the fugitive: “My father is rich, he has a lot of people in his service, and they are all well-fed and fed, I’ll obey, I’ll ask for a job.” No sooner said than done. The prodigal son (the meaning and origin of the phraseological unit are being discussed now) appeared to his father, made a speech, and he dressed him in the best clothes, slaughtered the fattest calf and threw a feast.
When the brother of the unlucky youth was returning home from the field, he heard sounds of fun and asked the servants what was happening. He was told that his escaped relative had returned, and his father was very happy. The hardworking son became angry and refused to enter the house. His father came out to him. The following dialogue took place between them:
You didn’t even give me a kid to slaughter so that I could feast with friends, and in honor of the prodigal son you organized a whole holiday, although I honestly worked for you at a time when he wasted his fortune.
Well, you were with me and next to me. Everything that is mine is yours. But your brother is as if he died and rose again, disappeared and was found.
After the last words, the eldest son apparently understood and comprehended everything. In any case, the parable ends there. We apologize for the overly modern language. One way or another, the meaning of the phraseological unit “prodigal son” still needs clarification.
Symbolization of the image
Nowadays, even if they run away from home, they often never return, and the biblical myth, or rather its hero, has become a household name. Christian morality places the repentant sinner higher than the consistent righteous person. It’s a paradox, but the one who walked in the dark and then came out into the light is more valuable than the one who stayed near the truth all the time. There can be no rational evidence for this; we are talking about religious dogmas. Probably, the sinner is valued higher by God because he was on the other side, but still chose good by a conscious volitional decision. This is the moral meaning and significance of the phraseological unit “prodigal son”.
In any case, a prodigal son is someone who first rejected something and then returned to his original beliefs. For example, a mathematician refused to engage in exact science and turned to subjective science - philology. He got tired of the latter three years later, and he returned to the movement of mathematics back and forth quite well within the meaning of the phraseological unit “prodigal son”.
And why did the father in the parable do this?
The parent’s action had not only a moral, but also a political or, if you like, practical meaning. His frivolous son, firstly, will never leave home again, and secondly, will be much more righteous than his brother. He was tempted and suffered. The prodigal son knows what the bottom of life is, what the abyss is, and his brother believes and does good out of habit. That’s why I was so happy about the return of the motto.
When people use the expression “return of the prodigal son,” the meaning of the phraseological unit implies not only repentance for previous behavior, but also some enrichment with new experience. Although, if we move away from philosophical realities, then the person uttering this phrase simply means the return of someone home, and under the house one can think of both a physical object and past attitudes and beliefs.
The prodigal son has returned and repents
Prodigal son - today they say this with irony about a person who left someone or something for a long time, but eventually returned.However, in the Christian religious tradition, the meaning of the parable of the prodigal son is much more serious. The author of the parable is Jesus himself. But the Evangelist Luke brought it to the people, who in life was a Greek or Syrian, a doctor, followed the Apostle Paul and became his closest assistant and follower. Whether Luke converted, that is, became a Jew, is unknown, but it is traditionally believed that Luke wrote his Gospel with Greek readers in mind primarily
11 He also said, “A certain man had two sons;
12 And the youngest of them said to his father: “Father! give me the next part of the estate." And the father divided the estate between them
13 And after a few days the younger son, having gathered everything, went to a far side and there squandered his substance, living dissolutely. 14 And when he had spent all his time, there came a great famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
15 And he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
16 And he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the swine ate, but no one gave him
17 And when he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread to spare, but I am dying of hunger?”
18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you
19 and is no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants"
20 He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him
21 The son said to him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
22 And the father said to his servants, “Bring him the best robe and dress him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.”
23 And bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun!
24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they started having fun.
25 And his eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing
26 And calling one of the servants, he asked, “What is this?”
27 He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father killed the fatted calf, because he received it healthy.”
28 He became angry and did not want to go in. His father came out and called him
29 But he answered his father: “Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your command, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends.”
30 And when this son of yours, who had wasted his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him.”
31 He said to him: “My son! you are always with me, and everything I have is yours
32 But in this we had to rejoice and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found.” Gospel of Luke (15:11-32)
Conclusions from the story of the prodigal son
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Every person is dear to God, like a son to a father.
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You need to be able to forgive, be kinder, more merciful, respect not only other people's virtues, but opinions, even erroneous ones. And although the father’s act is far from the abstract concept of justice (But the elder brother said in response to his father: “Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends, but when this son of yours, who squandered his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him"), sometimes you should give up on it for the sake of showing compassion for the one who needs it and cries for it
The original source of Jesus' parable of the prodigal son is the Judaic idea of repentance. The sages of the Talmud emphasized the importance of repentance for a person. Repentance was created by God, it reaches the throne of the Lord, prolongs a person’s life and brings deliverance from the torment of conscience. God encourages Israel to repent and not be ashamed of repentance, just as a son is not ashamed to return to his loving father.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove your evil deeds from before My eyes; cease to do evil;
learn to do good, seek truth, save the oppressed, defend the orphan, stand up for the widow.
Then come and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; if they are red as crimson, they will be white as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the blessings of the earth."(Books of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 1)
"Return of the Prodigal Son"
Rembrandt "Return of the Prodigal Son"
The phrase “prodigal son” is most often accompanied by the noun “return”“The Return of the Prodigal Son” is one of the most famous and mysterious paintings by the great Dutch artist Rembrandt. The exact date of creation of the painting is unknown. Art historians suggest the years 1666-1669. The figures depicted on the canvas are interpreted differently. There is no dispute only about the characters of the father and the prodigal son. Who the rest are - a woman, men, the elder brother of a returning sinner, a wanderer accompanying a younger one, Rembrandt himself, who portrayed himself, are they concrete or allegorical - is unknown
The use of the expression “prodigal son” in literature
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« In general, I settled down... Prodigal son, I’m returning home. Forty years ago I was brought here, and now some forty years have passed, and I’m here again!"(Andrey Bitov “Scattered Light”)
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« “He,” the prodigal son, tall, gloomy and mysteriously dangerous, bursts into the “cultured” life of a wealthy family like a gust of a whirlwind through a poorly closed window, after an unknown seven-year absence.”(L. D. Trotsky “About Leonid Andreev”)
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« But there is a Hasidic version of the parable, and there - listen, listen, this is terribly interesting: it tells that in foreign countries the prodigal son forgot his native language, so that, returning to his father’s house, he could not even ask the servants to call his father.”(Dina Rubina “Russian Canary”)
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« The quiet Uncle Sandro sat next to his father, like a prodigal son who had not fornicated, driven by circumstances into his home and forced to remain in table humility.”(Fazil Iskander “Sandro from Chegem”)
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“The sudden death of the old prince softened the hearts of the gods, and Sergei Myatlev, like a prodigal son, returned to the cavalry guard’s roof.”(Bulat Okudzhava “Journey of Amateurs”)