Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
In the wilderness (en th erhmw). Their usual pasturage, not a place of danger or peril. It is the owner of the hundred sheep who cares so much for the one that is lost. He knows each one of the sheep and loves each one.
Go after that which is lost (poreuetai epi to apolwlov). The one lost sheep (apolwlov, second perfect active participle of apollumi, to destroy, but intransitive, to be lost). There is nothing more helpless than a lost sheep except a lost sinner. The sheep went off by its own ignorance and folly. The use of epi for the goal occurs also in Matthew 22:9; Acts 8:26; Acts 9:11.
Until he find it (ewv eurh auto). Second aorist active subjunctive of euriskw, common verb, with ewv, common Greek idiom. He keeps on going (poreuetai, linear present middle indicative) until success comes (effective aorist, eurh).
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Luke 15:4:
Matthew 18:12
Luke 15:3
Luke 15:9
Luke 15:11
1 Peter 2:25
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