Luke 15:16

He would fain. Literally, “he was desiring [or craving].”

Filled his belly. Apparently he could not earn even enough to eat, and found himself reduced to the place where what the swine ate seemed desirable to him also. Thus, for the moment, his ambitions in life were no higher than those of the swine. In fact, his ambitions had been no higher during his riotous days, but he did not become aware of the fact until he was reduced to actual hunger.

Husks. Gr. keratia, “little horns,” a diminutive form of keros, “a horn.” Keratia is used to describe the pods of the keratea, the carob, or locust, tree, because of the hornlike shape of the pods. The pod of this tree has also been called St.-John’s-bread, on the tradition that this was part of the diet of John the Baptist (see Additional Note on Matt. 3). After the removal of the seeds for human consumption, the pods themselves were commonly used as fodder for domestic animals — as contemporary Jewish literature often observed. The carob tree is still cultivated in Palestine, and has been introduced into the United States.