Luke 15:18
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you,
American King James Version (AKJV)
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you,
American Standard Version (ASV)
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight:
Basic English Translation (BBE)
I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes:
Webster's Revision
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
World English Bible
I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
English Revised Version (ERV)
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight:
Clarke's Luke 15:18 Bible Commentary
Against heaven - Εις τον ουρανον; that is, against God. The Jews often make use of this periphrasis in order to avoid mentioning the name of God, which they have ever treated with the utmost reverence. But some contend that it should be translated, even unto heaven; a Hebraism for, I have sinned exceedingly - beyond all description.
Barnes's Luke 15:18 Bible Commentary
I will arise - This is a common expression among the Hebrews to denote "entering on a piece of business." It does not imply that he was "sitting," but that he meant immediately to return. This should be the feeling of every sinner who is conscious of his guilt and danger.
To My father - To his father, although he had offended him, and treated him unkindly, and had provoked him, and dishonored him by his course of conduct. So the sinner. He has nowhere else to go but to "God." He has offended him, but he may trust in his kindness. If "God" does not save him he cannot be saved. There is no other being that has an arm strong enough to deliver from sin; and though it is painful for a man to go to one whom he has offended - though he cannot go but with shame and confusion of face - yet, unless the sinner is willing to go to "God" and confess his faults, he can never be saved.
I have sinned - I have been wicked, dissipated, ungrateful, and rebellious.
Against heaven - The word "heaven" here, as it is often elsewhere, is put for God. I have sinned against "God." See Matthew 21:25. It is also to be observed that one evidence of the genuineness of repentance is the feeling that our sins have been committed chiefly against "God." Commonly we think most of our offences as committed against "man;" but when the sinner sees the true character of his sins, he sees that they have been aimed chiefly against "God," and that the sins against "man" are of little consequence compared with those against God. So David, even after committing the crimes of adultery and murder after having inflicted the deepest injury on "man" - yet felt that the sin as committed against "God" shut every other consideration out of view: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned," etc., Psalm 2:4.
Before thee - This means the same as "against" thee. The offences had been committed mainly against God, but they were to be regarded, also, as sins against his "father," in wasting property which he had given him, in neglecting his counsels, and in plunging himself into ruin. He felt that he had "disgraced" such a father. A sinner will be sensible of his sins against his relatives and friends as well as against God. A true penitent will be as ready to "acknowledge" his offences against his fellow-men as those against his Maker.
Wesley's Luke 15:18 Bible Commentary
15:18 I will arise and go to my father - How accurately are the first steps of true repentance here pointed out!Against Heaven - Against God.