And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the part of the property that falls to my share.’ Then he divided his means of living to them.

Surely this youth did not rebel because his father was harsh, abusive, or overly strict! According to the Mosaic Law, a son was entitled to a substantial share of his father’s property, though normally not until his father’s death. (Deuteronomy 21:15-17) How callous it was for him to demand his share in advance! Yet, the father lovingly acquiesced. (Compare Genesis 25:5, 6.) Clearly, then, the young man’s attitude​—not his father’s—​was faulty. As scholar Alfred Edersheim put it, possibly he disliked “the order and discipline of his home” and had a selfish “desire for liberty and enjoyment.”