And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. These last words are not to be pressed beyond their manifest intention-to express the constancy of his own love and service as a son toward his father, in contrast with the conduct of his brother. So Job, when resenting the charge of hypocrisy, brought against him by his friends, speaks as if nothing whatever could be laid to his charge: "When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold," etc. (Job 23:10-12). And David too (Psalms 18:20-24); and the Church, in a time of persecution for righteousness' sake (Psalms 44:17-22). And the father in the sequel of this parable (Luke 15:31) attests the truth of his son's protestation.
And yet thou never gavest me a kid ('I say not a calf, but not even a kid,') that I might make merry with my friends. Here lay his misapprehension. It was no entertainment for the gratification of the prodigal: it was a father's expression of the joy he felt at his recovery.