One fifth-century Greek manuscript introduces Jesus’ portrayal of the rich man and Lazarus with the words, “But he also told them another parable” (Eipen de kai heteran parabolen). The destitute man of the parable is called Lazarus, but the majority of extant manuscripts do not identify the rich man by name. One papyrus manuscript (P75) from the second or early third century calls the rich man “Neues,” which name looks like an abbreviated form of the Greek designation for “Nineveh” (Nineue). No later manuscripts, though, preserve this name for the rich man. The idea that his name was “Dives” is based on a misunderstanding of the Vulgate rendering dives, which Latin term means “rich” or “rich man.”
Dressed in garments made from fine linen and purple fabric, the rich man lived each day in showy splendor. The Greek term byssos designates linen of the best quality. It was a finely woven and nearly translucent fabric. The inner garments of the wealthy were customarily made from fine linen, and the purple fabric was used for the outer garments. (Luke 16:19)
Considerable effort was required to obtain the purple dye. It was extracted from the murex and the purple mollusks, with each mollusk yielding only one drop. This made the dye very costly, and only the wealthy could afford purple garments. The first-century Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (Book IX, chapter 60), refers to pearls as being almost “a possession of everlasting duration,” one that is passed on to heirs, and then adds, “But the colours that are extracted from the murex and the purple fade from hour to hour; and yet luxury ... has set upon them prices almost equal to those of pearls.” (English translation edited by John Bostock and H. T. Riley)
Whereas the rich man was magnificently attired with garments made from the costliest fabrics, ulcers covered the skin of poor Lazarus, whom unnamed individuals laid at the rich man’s gate. This suggests that Jesus depicted Lazarus as emaciated, diseased, and too feeble to walk to the estate of the rich man. (Luke 16:20)
There, at the gate, poor Lazarus desired to be filled with the scraps that had fallen from the rich man’s table and would afterward be tossed outside. Meanwhile, scavenger dogs would approach him and lick his ulcers, intensifying his pathetic plight as one too weak to fend them off. (Luke 16:21)
Then, one day, Lazarus died. Jesus included no reference to a burial, leaving it to his listeners to conclude that the life of Lazarus ended without being mourned and given a customary burial. Yet, the one whose life and death Jesus had represented as having been without honor he then portrayed as being carried by angels to the “bosom of Abraham.” (Luke 16:22)
Those who heard this would have understood this to mean that Lazarus attained the reward of being in the highly favored position with Abraham, comparable to reclining with him while partaking of a meal. (For additional comments about the “bosom of Abraham,” see the Notes section.)
The wealthy man also died and was buried, suggesting that the mourning and entombment typical of the rich followed his death. Upon finding himself in Hades, he became aware that a decisive reversal had taken place. He, while existing in torments, looked up and, in the distance, saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. In the Greek text the word for “bosom” (kólpos) is plural. Possibly this is to be understood as meaning that Lazarus enjoyed the highly favored position of one in the arms of Abraham. (Luke 16:22, 23; see the Notes section for additional comments.)
In his anguish, the rich man called out, “Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus that he might dip his finger tip in water and cool my tongue, for I am in pain in this fire.” Abraham then addressed the rich man as “child” (with a kindly expression that acknowledged him as his natural descendant and not with harsh, denunciatory language). He reminded him of having received the good things in his life, whereas Lazarus had been the recipient of distressing things. Now, though, Lazarus was being comforted, but he found himself tormented. Moreover, a great chasm existed between them, making it impossible for those on either side to cross over to the other side even if they wanted to do so. (Luke 16:24-26)
With no relief possible for himself, the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to the house of his father or his nearest relatives. He had five brothers and desired that they hear the testimony of Lazarus, for he did not want them to end up in the same place of torment. Abraham rejected this request, telling him that they had “Moses and the prophets.” He added, “Let them listen to them.” The rich man protested, “No, father Abraham; but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,” Abraham responded, “neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.” (Luke 16:27-31)
In the previous parable, Jesus had admonished his disciples to use unrighteous riches to make friends, and the Pharisees had ridiculed his teaching. He then exposed the unbelieving Pharisees as not being the righteous persons they imagined themselves to be, telling them that God’s view is different. What humans may regard as highly prized based on their flawed judgment is the very thing that God considers to be abominable. (Luke 16:14, 15) The parable about the rich man and Lazarus reiterated this truth and warned the ridiculers about the severe judgment they would face.
The unbelieving Pharisees regarded themselves as certain of being rewarded in the age to come. In their view, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would welcome them. They despised those whom they considered ignorant of the law (particularly with reference to the manner in which the “tradition of the elders” interpreted it). They thought of the wealthy who lived according to their standard of uprightness as heaven’s favorites, and believed the suffering of the poor and afflicted to be punishment for their sins. In their treatment of the lowly and oppressed and through the burdens their traditional interpretations imposed on them, they repeatedly failed in living up to the law respecting love, mercy, and justice. Therefore, what they imagined to be the adverse judgment for others Jesus, in language familiar to them, portrayed as facing them. As he had taught on various occasions, those who refused to repent and heed the words of Moses and the prophets by believing in him would lose out. They would not be in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but would be thrown into the outer darkness. Pained by their great loss, they would weep and gnash their teeth. (Matthew 8:11, 12) Comparable to a large, impassable chasm, the final judgment would be irreversible.
Like the rich man in the parable when requesting Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers to persuade them to change their course, the unbelieving Pharisees and scribes wanted a heavenly sign from Jesus, one that met their expectation about the Messiah. The parable reveals that persons who do not believe the evidence available to them would not accept the testimony of someone who is raised from the dead. This likely served to indicate that Jesus’ resurrection would not persuade those who had hardened themselves in unbelief to repent.
“Moses and the prophets” do not refer to Sheol or Hades as a place of torment, but do repeatedly admonish treating the poor and afflicted with love and compassion, responding to their needs. Moreover, the testimony in “Moses and the prophets” identified Jesus as the promised Messiah, for the works his Father enabled him to do revealed him to be the foretold prophet like Moses and greater than all the prophets that had preceded him.
Notes:
Ancient Jewish sources do link future rewards to being with Abraham. When relating the determination of the seven brothers to remain obedient to the commandment of God when faced with torture and death, 4 Maccabees 13:17 (NRSV, Common Bible) quotes them as saying, “Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will welcome us, and all the fathers will praise us.” According to one version of the account about the martyrdom of these seven sons, the mother encourages her youngest son with the words, “You will be taken to the bosom of Abraham our father.”
Luke 16:23 and the verses that follow reveal that Jesus used the language of parable. The rich man had never seen Abraham, and from afar would not have recognized the man in the favorable position as the ulcer-covered poor man that had once lain at his gate. In the parable, however, the rich man immediately recognized both Abraham and Lazarus. Although a considerable distance separated them, Abraham and the rich man carried on a conversation. A mere drop of water on a finger tip would have done nothing to relieve torment in a literally hot place and, in fact, would have evaporated even before touching the rich man’s tongue. Moreover, for Lazarus to reach the rich man would have required him to enter the flames and to experience temporary torment.
When relating the conversation in Hades, Jesus adopted a manner of expression similar to that of the prophet Isaiah concerning the “king of Babylon” or the Babylonian dynasty. “Sheol [Hades, LXX] beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. All of them will speak and say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!’ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol [Hades, LXX], and the sound of your harps; maggots are the bed beneath you, and worms are your covering.” (Isaiah 14:9-11, NRSV) In Isaiah, this portrayal heightens the dramatic effect of the reversal for the Babylonian dynasty. This dynasty had tyrannized other nations, wielding the ultimate power in the region as it carried out campaigns of conquest. Upon its sudden and surprising downfall, however, it would sink to the lowest level, proving to be just as weak as all the other rulerships that had ended. Isaiah’s depiction of Hades does not apply to a literal place where former kings sit on thrones and carry on conversations with later arrivals in the realm of the dead. Instead, the vivid imagery serves to convey the message about the astonishing fall of the Babylonian dynasty from its lofty position.
Likewise, Jesus’ words are the language of parable and do not provide a revelatory vision of Hades that is foreign to “Moses and the prophets.” The parable dramatically illustrates the contrast Jesus expressed when he told the chief priests and elders of the nation, “The tax collectors and the harlots are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God, for John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. The tax collectors and the harlots, however, did believe him, and you saw this but did not afterward repent and believe him.” (Matthew 21:23, 31, 32) Later, many miracles of Jesus did not motivate the hardened unbelievers to change. Finally, the sign of Jonah—Jesus’ rising from the dead on the third day—did not persuade them to repent.
Jesus’ teaching, particularly suited to parable, pointed to a major reversal. Lazarus who lived a life in torment and desired to be filled with whatever fell from the rich man’s table came to be looked upon as a possible benefactor. As Lazarus yearned for the crumbs, the rich man longed for just a drop of water on the finger tip of the hand to which he had failed to extend compassionate aid.
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus contains teaching that calls for sober reflection. There are very serious consequences for failing to respond compassionately to the genuine needs of others as a loyal disciple of God’s Son. This vital aspect is obscured when, like the unbelieving Pharisees, individuals envision a place of torment for others but imagine themselves to be God’s favored ones and, in word and attitude (if not also in action or inaction), reveal themselves to be lacking in love and compassion.
Comments regarding “Josephus’s Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades”
In his translation of the writings of first-century Jewish historian Josephus, William Whiston included an extract that he identified as “Josephus’s Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades.” It is generally agreed, however, that this extract is the work of Hippolytus (c. 170 to c. 235), titled “Against Plato, On the Cause of the Universe.” To what extent the material incorporates Jewish views existing in the first century cannot be established with any degree of certainty. A comparison of Whiston’s English translation with J. H. MacMahon’s English rendering of the work of Hippolytus (in Volume V of the Ante-Nicene Fathers) indicates that they are basically the same. In the final paragraph of the preserved portion attributed to Hippolytus, there are two concluding sentences that are not found in Whiston’s translation. The following quotations (taken from the first section that, in a few places, somewhat parallels the words of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus) are provided for comparison purposes (with “J” representing Whiston’s translation and “H” representing MacMahon’s translation of the work of Hippolytus):
J: Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous and unrighteous are detained, it is necessary to speak of it. Hades is a place in the world not regularly finished; a subterraneous region, wherein the light of this world does not shine; from which circumstance, that in this region the light does not shine, it cannot be but there must be in it perpetual darkness. This region is allotted as a place of custody for souls, in which angels are appointed as guardians to them, who distribute to them temporary punishments, agreeable to every one’s behavior and manners.
H:But now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine; and as the sun does not shine in this locality, there must necessarily be perpetual darkness there. This locality has been destined to be as it were a guard-house for souls, at which the angels are stationed as guards, distributing according to each one’s deeds the temporary punishments for (different) characters.
J: In this region there is a certain place set apart, as a lake of unquenchable fire, whereinto we suppose no one hath hitherto been cast; but it is prepared for a day aforedetermined by God, in which one righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men; when the unjust and those that have been disobedient to God, and have given honor to such idols as have been the vain operations of the hands of men, as to God himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting punishment, as having been the causes of defilement; while the just shall obtain an incorruptible and never-fading kingdom. These are now indeed confined in Hades, but not in the same place wherein the unjust are confined.
H: And in this locality there is a certain place set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast; for it is prepared against the day determined by God, in which one sentence of righteous judgment shall be justly applied to all. And the unrighteous, and those who believed not God, who have honoured as God the vain works of the hands of men, idols fashioned (by themselves), shall be sentenced to this endless punishment. But the righteous shall obtain the incorruptible and unfading kingdom, who indeed are at present detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous.
J: For there is one descent into this region, at whose gate we believe there stands an archangel with an host; which gate when those pass through that are conducted down by the angels appointed over souls, they do not go the same way; but the just are guided to the right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by the angels appointed over that place, unto a region of light, in which the just have dwelt from the beginning of the world; not constrained by necessity, but ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they see, and rejoice in the expectation of those new enjoyments, which will be peculiar to every one of them, and esteeming those things beyond what we have here; with whom there is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing cold, nor are any briers there; but the countenance of the fathers and of the just, which they see, always smiles upon them, while they wait for that rest and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region. This place we call The Bosom of Abraham.
H: For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate whereof we believe an archangel is stationed with a host. And when those who are conducted by the angels appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not proceed on one and the same way; but the righteous, being conducted in the light toward the right, and being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, are brought to a locality full of light. And there the righteous from the beginning dwell, not ruled by necessity, but enjoying always the contemplation of the blessings which are in their view, and delighting themselves with the expectation of others ever new, and deeming those ever better than these. And that place brings no toils to them. There, there is neither fierce heat, nor cold, nor thorn; but the face of the fathers and the righteous is seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location. And we call it by the name Abraham’s bosom.
J: But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force to the left hand by the angels allotted for punishment, no longer going with a good-will, but as prisoners driven by violence; to whom are sent the angels appointed over them to reproach them and threaten them with their terrible looks, and to thrust them still downwards. Now those angels that are set over these souls drag them into the neighborhood of hell [Gehenna] itself; who, when they are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear of the hot vapor itself; but when they have a nearer view of this spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in effect punished thereby: and not only so, but where they see the place [or choir] of the fathers and of the just, even hereby are they punished; for a chaos deep and large is fixed between them; insomuch that a just man that hath compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it.
H: But the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels who are ministers of punishment, and they go of their own accord no longer, but are dragged by force as prisoners. And the angels appointed over them send them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when they are brought there, those appointed to that service drag them on to the confines of hell [Gehenna]. And those who are so near hear incessantly the agitation, and feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, (as if they were) already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, where they see the place of the fathers and the righteous, they are also punished there. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to pass it, nor any of the unrighteous dare to cross it.