^15:15So he went and worked for⁴⁷ one of the citizens of that country, who⁴⁸ sent him to his fields to feed pigs.⁴⁹^15:16He⁵⁰ was longing to eat⁵¹ the carob pods⁵² the pigs were eating, but⁵³ no one gave him anything.

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Footnotes

47 Grk “joined himself to” (in this case an idiom for beginning to work for someone).
48 Grk “and he.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) and the personal pronoun have been translated by a relative pronoun to improve the English style.
49 To a Jew, being sent to the field to feed pigs would be an insult, since pigs were considered unclean animals (Lev 11:7).
50 Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
51 Or “would gladly have eaten”; Grk “was longing to be filled with.”
52 This term refers to the edible pods from a carob tree ( κεράτιον). They were bean-like in nature and were commonly used for fattening pigs, although they were also used for food by poor people (L&N 3.46).
53 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to eat his fill from the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him anything.

NLTNew Living Translation

He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to tend pigs. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

KJV 1900King James Version

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

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