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The Parable of the women who lost a coin

Luke Chapter 15:8-10

This wonderful scene that The Lord describes would not be unusual to his audience 2000 year ago. In the parables Jesus takes every day events and uses them to expound Heavenly themes. But to us here in Britain much of the meaning of this parable is lost if we fail to understand the manners and customs of the bible lands.

From the passage under study it is clear:

This woman is married.

She lives in a house.

She keeps a good home.

She is God fearing.

She has lost a silver coin.

The value of the silver coin (Greek denarius) was the equivalent of a day’s wages for a working man.

She has the support of her female friends and female neighbours.

What is not clear to non Oriental peoples is the importance of what she has lost because its part of her dowry this was an absolutely dreadful thing that could happen to her and in order to find this missing part of her dowry she was going to turn the house up side down.  

What is dowry?

 In the Orient, when a bride’s parents gave their daughter in marriage, they are actually diminishing the efficiency of the family. Often the unmarried daughters would tend the flock/goats of their father Exodus 2:16 or they would work in the field or render help in other ways thus on her marriage a young women would be thought of as increasing the efficiency of her husbands family and diminishing that of her parents Therefore a young man who expects to marry there daughter must be able to offer some sort of adequate compensation This compensation was the marriage of dowry.

It was not always required that the dowry be paid in cash see Gen 29:18 and I Sam 18:25

 Dowry for the bride herself:

It was usually customary for a least some of the price of dowry to be given to the bride. This would be in addition to any personal gift from the bride’s parents.  Since a divorced wife in the Orient is entitled to all her wearing apparel for this reason much of her personal dowry consists of coins on her headgear, or jewellery on her person. These become wealth to her in case her marriage ends in failure. The ten pieces of silver were no doubt a part this poor women’s dowry, worn about her neck as precious possession the nine which remained were no joy to her while one was lost.

 

First she lights a candle

The candle/lamp is a well known emblem in the bible of three things

1.       The Spirit of God in a man’s soul.

2.       The Word of God.

3.       The consistent testimony of the church.  

Let’s follow this woman in her quest to find the silver coin

1.       She is deliberate.

2.       She is painstaking.

3.       She is protracted.

4.       She is effectual.

Second: Luke 15:8

With the lighted candle/lamp the women had to seek diligently sweeping the house leaving no ground uncovered back and forth making sure she achieved close sweeping movements with her brush that no ground or corner was left uncovered Her task would have been made more difficult because eastern houses were often dark with a rush floor thus with a great commotion and disturbance she cleans the house.

The women was overjoyed upon finding the missing part of her dowry that she asked her female friends and female neighbours to rejoice with her.

Luke 15:9 And when she had found it she calleth her friends and her neighbours together saying rejoice with me for I have found that which I had lost.   

The words friends and neighbours in Greek are feminine indicating that the women called her women friends to rejoice

The word Rejoice (Greek sunchairo) meaning to rejoicing together in the recovery of what was lost.   

The crowd was moved by the parable that Jesus had just shared with them.  On this high point Jesus concluded the parable by saying.

Luke 15:10 Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.