Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Was dead - This is capable of two significations:
1."I supposed" that he was dead, but I know now that he is alive.
2.He was "dead to virtue" - he was sunk in pleasure and vice.
The word is not unfrequently thus used. See I Timothy 5:6; Matthew 8:22; Romans 6:13. Hence, to be restored to "virtue" is said to be restored again to life, Romans 6:13; Revelation 3:1; Ephesians 2:1. It is probable that this latter is the meaning here. See Luke 15:32.
Was lost - Had wandered away from home, and we knew not where he was.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Luke 15:24:
Psalms 103:13
Amos 6:6
Romans 7:9
James 5:13
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