Verse 16: he would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.

He would have been glad. As a Jew, he should refrain from eating pork. But worse than to eat pork, now he almost wishes to be pork! Imagine the horror in those listening. What could you compare it to in your life? Someone hasn't just gone on a fling and done one foolish thing, they have really hit bottom. And in the next verse, he will begin to change.

No one gave him a thing. In some societies, alms-giving is a duty. In some, its acceptable but not always done. But in Grecro-Roman society, it was actually frowned upon. That no one gave him anything is not a sign of discrimination or special bad luck for him. He, like all poor people, was vulnerable to bad times since there was no such thing as a social safety net either from government programs or private charity. People looked to their families to supply that. Having cut himself off from his family, he is now truly alone.

Digging deeper
· Greek text of the verse
kai. evpequ,mei cortasqh/nai evk tw/n kerati,wn w-n h;sqion oi` coi/roi( kai. ouvdei.j evdi,dou auvtw/|

He would have been "glad": This word (evpequ,mei) can also take stronger meanings such as "longing" (Luke 16.21, 17.22) or "lust" (Matthew 5.28).

· The story of Lazerath shows another example of begging and beggers being ignored. This story starts at Luke 16:19.