⁸ “Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ ¹⁰ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

A different image is used in a second parable to the same effect. What woman who has lost one of her ten drachmas, Greek silver coins will expend so much energy, turning her house upside down in search of this one coin in ten? Perhaps it was part of her dowry and thus had added sentimental value. In a barter society perhaps it represents that fund for a “rainy day.” There is a part of the question that begs a “no one would,” but where the shepherd lost 1% of the flock, the woman has lost 10%. (In the next parable the father will lose 50% of his sons…. perhaps a stretch in thought, but…) Continue reading →