I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

LUKE 15:7KJV
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Luke 15:7 (KJV)

What does Luke 15:7 mean?

Luke 15:7 says that heaven welcomes a sinner’s turning away from wrongdoing with great joy. Jesus presents that person’s change as a cause for greater celebration than the presence of ninety-nine just people who need no repentance.

Jesus says this just after telling of a shepherd who finds a lost sheep and calls others to celebrate. The word “likewise” connects the shepherd’s joy with the joy Jesus describes in heaven.

The Greek behind Luke 15:7

  • “repenteth” — μετανοέω (metanoeō): This word carries the sense of changing one’s mind or turning away from wrongdoing. Here it describes the sinner’s change of direction, not merely a feeling of regret.
  • “just” — δίκαιος (dikaios): This word describes people who are right or upright. The KJV’s “just persons” means people regarded as doing what is right, rather than people who are merely fair in one decision.

Why Luke 15:7 matters

  • Jesus answers a complaint about the company he keeps. Earlier, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled that he welcomed sinners and ate with them (Luke 15:1–2); verse 7 presents a sinner’s change as a reason for joy.
  • The comparison puts attention on the one who returns. The “ninety and nine” echo the larger flock in Jesus’ story, while the “one sinner” corresponds to the sheep that had been lost.
  • “Need no repentance” describes the ninety-nine within Jesus’ comparison. The sentence’s emphasis falls on the joy over the one sinner who repents, rather than on an account of who belongs among the ninety-nine.

Where else these words appear

“nine” Greek G1768 · used in 4 verses

  • Matthew 18:12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
  • Matthew 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
  • Luke 15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

“repentance” Greek G3341 · used in 24 verses

  • Matthew 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
  • Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
  • Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

“repenteth” Greek G3340 · used in 32 verses

  • Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
  • Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
  • 2 Corinthians 12:21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.

“sinner” Greek G268 · used in 45 verses

  • Matthew 9:10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
  • Luke 6:33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
  • John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.