"At last he came to his senses," Luke writes in describing the dramatic turning point in the life of the young man whom we’ve come to call 'the prodigal son.' " That, in Today’s English Version, corresponds to RSV’s "But when he came to himself." Whatever else, this one thing is clear: the young man was obviously not himself before. His friends would have said of him, "He’s not himself these days." His grieving family would have claimed that he had flipped in an astonishing personality change. His acquaintances, a little more objective than others, would have cried, "What a fool he is!" But, then, when he came to his senses, he himself was saying, "What a fool I’ve been!"

When he came to his senses, this young man, who might have been a first century Palestinian playboy, suddenly realized…