“A few days later,
The younger son
Gathered all he had.
He traveled
To a distant country.
There he squandered
His property
In dissolute living.”
καὶ μετ’ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας συναγαγὼν πάντα ὁ νεώτερος υἱὸς ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς χώραν μακράν, καὶ ἐκεῖ διεσκόρπισεν τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ ζῶν ἀσώτως.
This long parable story about the 2 sons can only be found in Luke, not in any of the other gospel stories. Luke indicated that Jesus said that a few days later or not too many days later (καὶ μετ’ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας), this younger son gathered all that he had (συναγαγὼν πάντα ὁ νεώτερος υἱὸς), without any indication of how much stuff he actually had. He then traveled or went away to a distant country (ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς χώραν μακράν), since he did not stay close to home. There he squandered his property in dissolute living (καὶ ἐκεῖ διεσκόρπισεν τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ ζῶν ἀσώτως). Luke was the only biblical writer to use this term ἀσώτως that means prodigal or extravagantly wasteful, because of loose living in a debauched, profligate lifestyle. Thus, this story came to be known as the prodigal son. In other words, this young son took off for a Las Vegas kind of city in a faraway place. There he spent his new-found inheritance very quickly in a number of stupid ways. It is not clear how he was able to convert his inheritance property into cash, but presumably he did. Have you ever thought about running away and spending a lot of money foolishly?
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 