Luke 15:16

He would fain [ε π ε θ υ μ ε ι]. Longing desire. Imperfect tense, he was longing, all the while he was tending the swine.

Filled his belly [γ ε μ ι σ α ι τ η ν κ ο ι λ ι α ν]. The texts vary. The Rev. follows the reading cortasqhnai, "He would fain have been filled," using the same word which is employed by filling those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6, see note), and of the five thousand (Matthew 14:20). He had wanted the wrong thing all along, and it was no better now. All he wanted was to fill his belly.

Husks [κ ε ρ α τ ι ω ν]. Carob - pods. The word is a diminutive of kerav, a horn, and means, literally, a little horn, from the shape of the pod. The tree is sometimes called in German Bockshornbaum, Goat's - horn - tree. "The fleshy pods are from six to ten inches long, and one broad, lined inside with a gelatinous substance, not wholly unpleasant to the taste when thoroughly ripe" (Thomson, "Land and Book "). The shell or pod alone is eaten. It grows in Southern Italy and Spain, and it is said that during the Peninsular War the horses of the British cavalry were often fed upon the pods. It is also called Saint John's bread, from a tradition that the Baptist fed upon its fruit in the wilderness. Edersheim quotes a Jewish saying," When Israel is reduced to the carob - tree, they become repentant. "