Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

Saint Luke: The Gospel of Divine Mercy 35 Greek verb is splagchnizomai (cf. The noun splagchna above) which, like the Hebrew rahamim (which the noun translates in Proverbs 12: 10), denotes a feeling that is felt physically, an emo­ tion. Literally, splagchnizomai means ‘to be moved in one’s bow­ els.’ The Greeks regarded the bowels as the seat o f violent passion such as anger and love; the Jews regarded them as the center o f the more tender affections, especially kindness and pity.38 When we come to the parable of The Prodigal Son, no matter what English translation you use it falls short o f the emotional expression in the Greek text. I now give you several translations o f Luke 15: 20: “But while he was at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Revised Standard Version). “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (King James Version). “But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him” (The New Revised Standard Version). “So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him” (New American Bible). “ 'While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him” (The New Jerusalem Bible). Only the NRSV and NAB with their use o f “f i lled with compassion ” , and NJB with its use o f “was moved with pity, ” give hints that there might be more emotion here than we read in the English. And there is so much more in the Greek that is not translated here. The father o f the prodigal is moved in his bowels with pity, “splagch­ na eleous, ” for his son. Added emphasis is given by the description that the father kissed him. Again, something is lost in the translation. The Greek word, kataphileo (2705), usually translated as kissed , is a combi­