📖 Biblical Definition
Christ's first lost-found parable in Luke 15:3-7. A shepherd with 100 sheep loses one, leaves the 99, searches until he finds it, lays it on his shoulders rejoicing, calls friends to celebrate. Christ's interpretation: "likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." The 99 are not abandoned (they are presumably safe in the fold); the focus is the active search for the one.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Luke 15: shepherd searches actively for one lost; heaven rejoices over repentance.
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Christ's first lost-found parable in Luke 15:3-7 (par. Matt 18:12-14, where the focus is on "these little ones"). A shepherd with one hundred sheep loses one. He leaves the ninety and nine (presumably in the fold or with another shepherd) and goes after the lost one until he finds it. When he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing and calls his friends to share the joy. Christ's application: "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." The parable emphasizes (1) the active search-and-find verb of the shepherd; (2) the joy of heaven over recovered sinners; and (3) the value of the individual — one is enough to mobilize the search.
📖 Key Scripture
Luke 15:4-5 — "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing."
Luke 15:7 — "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."
Matthew 18:12-14 — "How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
"99 abandoned for the 1" misreadings ignore that the 99 are not in danger; the 1 is. The shepherd is being responsible, not negligent.
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Modern misreading: the shepherd "abandons" the 99 to chase the 1. The text doesn't say abandons; it says "leaves" (presumably in the fold or with another). The 99 are safe; the 1 is in danger. The shepherd is doing his job, not neglecting it. Pastor-shepherds today face the same calculus: tend the 99 in the fold, AND go after the 1 who has wandered.
Recover the joy: when the lost is found, heaven rejoices more — not because the 99 are less valuable, but because the rescue is the moment of joy. Both are loved; the rescue is celebrated.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek to apolōlos.
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['Greek', 'G622', 'apollymi', 'to lose, perish']
['Greek', 'G4263', 'probaton', 'sheep']
Usage
"Active search-and-find verb."
"99 are safe; the 1 is in danger."
"Heaven rejoices over recovered sinner."