The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
Parallel Translations
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The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
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And that fortuned that the begger dyed and was caried by the angelles into Abrahams bosome. The riche man also died and was buried.
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And it was so that the begger died, and was caried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome. The rich man also died, and was buried.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (26)
Passages linked to Luke 16:22 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.
- Psalms 49:16-19 Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won’t descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself— he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.
- James 1:11 For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
- Revelation 14:13 I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”
- Psalms 49:6-12 Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches— none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.
- Proverbs 14:32 The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is vanity.
- Matthew 18:10 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
- Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.
- Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil. He enters into peace. They rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.
- Mark 8:36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?
- Hebrews 1:14 Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
- Psalms 91:11-12 For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
- Matthew 24:31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
- Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’
- 2 Kings 9:34-35 When he had come in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.” They went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands.
- Job 3:13-19 For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves; or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver: or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master.
- Job 21:30-32 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led out to the day of wrath? Who will declare his way to his face? Who will repay him what he has done? Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men will keep watch over the tomb.
- Psalms 73:18-20 Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors. As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
- John 13:23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast.
- Isaiah 14:18 All the kings of the nations, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house.
- Isaiah 22:16 ‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!”
- Matthew 8:11 I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,
- Matthew 13:38-43 the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- John 21:20 Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”
- Hebrews 2:14 Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar…
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Ver. 22. Into Abraham’s bosom] A metaphor from feasts, say some; from fathers, say others, who imbosom and hug their children when wearied with long running about, or have met with a knock, and come crying unto them.
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And was carried by the angels] Through the air, the devil’s region, do the angels conduct the saints at death; who may therefore call death, as Jacob did the place where he met the angels, Mahanaim, Gen 32:2. For like as the palsyman was let down with his bed through the tiling before Jesus, Luk 5:18, so is every good soul taken up in a heavenly couch through the roof of his house, and carried into Christ’s presence by these heavenly courtiers; who as in life they are our supporters, Psa 91:10-11, so after death our porters, as here, by the angels; as if they had striven which should have a part.
And was buried] Possibly with as much noisome stench and hurry in the air, as at Cardinal Wolsey’s burial. A terrible example there is in the Book of Martyrs of one Christopher Landsdale, an unmerciful courtier, who suffering a poor lazar {a} to die in a ditch by him, did afterwards perish himseff in a ditch.
The rich man also died] Perhaps he was choked, as Hardicanutus (noted for epicurism, A.D. 1041) was at a marriage at Lambeth, most men rejoicing to be rid of him; in memory whereof Hocktide (a feast of scorning) was a long time after continued in this kingdom, saith our chronicler.
{a} A poor and diseased person, usually one afflicted with a loathsome disease; esp. a leper. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. That our Saviour represents all men,…
Observe here, 1. That our Saviour represents all men, both good and bad, passing immediately out of this life into a state of happiness or misery; Lazarus died, and was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom.
Thence note,
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1. That the souls of men survive in sensibility and activity, after the dissolution of their bodies, and do not sleep with the body until the day of the resurrection.
2. That all holy souls, and amongst the rest the godly poor, are instantly, after death, conveyed by angels to their place of rest and blessedness. The rich man also died: this is added to let us know that riches, for all men’s confidence in them, will not deliver from death; the rich man might be surfeited by faring deliciously every day, while Lazarus was famished.
And was buried: here is no mention of Lazarus’s burial, probably he had none, but was flung out of the way into some hole or pit; or if he had a burial, a very mean one, which is past over in silence: all the advantage which a rich man has by a great estate after he is dead, is only to have a pompous funeral, which yet signifies nothing to him, because he is not sensible of it. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, etc. He feels at once both his own misery, and sensibly perceives Lazarus’s happiness.
Thence note, that the souls of wicked men, while their bodies lie in the grave, are in the state of the greatest misery, which is aggravated by the sense they have at the same time of the saints’ happiness. For probably the blessed shall see the torments of the damned, and the damned probably shall see the glory of the blessed.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And in hell he lift up his eyes, being…
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,.... Which may design the place of torment, and the miserable state the Scribes and Pharisees, as all wicked men, enter immediately into upon death, Psa 9:17 who in their lifetime were blind, and are called blind guides, blind watchmen, blind leaders of the blind, and who were given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart; but in hell their eyes are opened, and they see their mistakes about the Messiah, and find themselves in torments, under dreadful gnawings, and remorse of conscience; and having a terrible sensation of divine wrath, their worm dies not, and their fire is not quenched: or this may regard the vengeance of God on the Jews, at the destruction of Jerusalem; when a fire was kindled against their land, and burned to the lowest hell; and consumed the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains; and the whole land became brimstone, salt, and burning; and they were rooted out of it in anger, wrath, and great indignation; see Deu 29:23 or rather, the dreadful calamities which came upon them in the times of Adrian at Bither; when their false Messiah Bar Cochab was taken and slain, and such multitudes of them were destroyed in the most miserable manner (z), when that people, who before had their eyes darkened, and a spirit of slumber and stupidity fallen upon them, in those calamities began to be under some convictions:
and seeth Abraham afar off: the covenant of circumcision given to him, and to them his natural seed, now of no use to them; their descent from him, of which they boasted, and in which they trusted, now of no avail; and him in the kingdom of heaven, and themselves thrust out; see Luk 13:28.
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And Lazarus in his bosom; they now found the Messiah was come, and was gone to heaven, whither they could not come, Joh 7:33. The Jews are convinced that the Messiah is born, though not revealed; and they sometimes confess, that he was born the same day Jerusalem was destroyed; and sometimes they say, he sits at the gates of Rome among the lepers, and at other times, that he is in the walks of paradise (a). This is said in agreement with the notions of the Jews, that wicked men will see the righteous in happiness, and themselves in torment; by which the latter will be aggravated, to which the allusion is; for they say (b),
"the gates of paradise are fixed over against the gates of hell, so that they can see the righteous in rest, and themselves in distress.''
(z) Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. col. 372. (a) Synagog. Jud. c. 50. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 1. Aben Ezra in Cant. vii. 5. T. Hieros Beracot, fol. 5. 1. (b) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 125. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And the beggar - Worn out with hunger, and…
And the beggar - Worn out with hunger, and pain, and want of all things, died: and was carried by angels (amazing change of the scene!) into Abraham's bosom - So the Jews styled paradise; the place where the souls of good men remain from death to the resurrection. The rich man also died, and was buried - Doubtless with pomp enough, though we do not read of his lying in state; that stupid, senseless pageantry, that shocking insult on a poor, putrefying carcass, was reserved for our enlightened age!
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 22. The rich man also died, and was…
Verse 22. The rich man also died, and was buried] There is no mention of this latter circumstance in the case of Lazarus; he was buried, no doubt-necessity required this; but he had the burial of a pauper, while the pomp and pride of the other followed him to the tomb. But what a difference in these burials, if we take in the reading of my old MS. BIBLE, which is supported by several versions: forsothe the riche man is deed: and is buried in helle. And this is also the reading of the Anglo-saxon,: [A.S.], and was in hell buried. In some MSS. the point has been wanting after εταφη, he was buried; and the following και, and, removed and set before επαρας he lifted up: so that the passage reads thus: The rich man died also, and was buried in hell; and lifting up his eyes, being in torment, he saw, c. But let us view the circumstances of this man's punishment.
Scarcely had he entered the place of his punishment, when he lifted up his eyes on high and what must his surprise be, to see himself separated from God, and to feel himself tormented in that flame! Neither himself, nor friends, ever suspected that the way in which he walked could have led to such a perdition.
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1. And seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, Lu 16:23. He sees Lazarus clothed with glory and immortality - this is the first circumstance in his punishment. What a contrast! What a desire does he feel to resemble him, and what rage and despair because he is not like him? We may safely conclude that the view which damned souls have, in the gulf of perdition, of the happiness of the blessed, and the conviction that they themselves might have eternally enjoyed this felicity, from which, through their own fault, they are eternally excluded, will form no mean part of the punishment of the lost.
2. The presence of a good to which they never had any right, and of which they are now deprived, affects the miserable less than the presence of that to which they had a right, and of which they are now deprived. Even in hell, a damned spirit must abhor the evil by which he is tormented, and desire that good that would free him from his torment. If a lost soul could be reconciled to its torment, and to its situation, then, of course, its punishment must cease to be such. An eternal desire to escape from evil, and an eternal desire to be united with the supreme good, the gratification of which is for ever impossible, must make a second circumstance in the misery of the lost.
3. Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, Lu 16:25. The remembrance of the good things possessed in life, and now to be enjoyed no more for ever, together with the remembrance of grace offered or abused, will form a third circumstance in the perdition of the ungodly. Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime, c.
4. The torments which a soul endures in the hell of fire will form, through all eternity, a continual present source of indescribable wo. Actual torment in the flames of the bottomless pit forms a fourth circumstance in the punishment of the lost. I am tormented in this flame, Lu 16:24.
5. The known impossibility of ever escaping from this place of torment, or to have any alleviation of one's misery in it, forms a fifth circumstance in the punishment of ungodly men. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf, Lu 16:26. The eternal purpose of God, formed on the principles of eternal reason, separates the persons, and the places of abode, of the righteous and the wicked, so that there can be no intercourse: They who wish to pass over hence to you, cannot neither can they pass over, who would come from you hither. A happy spirit cannot go from heaven to alleviate their miseries; nor can any of them escape from the place of their confinement, to enter among the blessed. There may be a discovery from hell of the paradise of the blessed; but there can be no intercourse nor connection.
6. The iniquitous conduct of relatives and friends, who have been perverted by the bad example of those who are lost, is a source of present punishment to them; and if they come also to the same place of torment, must be, to those who mere the instruments of bringing them thither, an eternal source of anguish. Send Lazarus to my father's family, for I have five brothers, that he may earnestly testify (διαμαρτυρηται) to them, that they come not to this place of torment. These brothers had probably been influenced by his example to content themselves with an earthly portion, and to neglect their immortal souls. Those who have been instruments of bringing others into hell shall suffer the deeper perdition on that account.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Luk 16:22. And it came to pass — In…
Luk 16:22. And it came to pass — In a little time; that the beggar died — Worn out with hunger, and pain, and want of all things; and was carried by angels (amazing change of the scene!) into Abraham’s bosom — So the Jews styled paradise; the place or state where the souls of good men remain from death to the resurrection. The expression alludes to the way of representing the felicities of heaven, by sharing a magnificent banquet with Abraham and the other patriarchs; (see Mat 8:11; Luk 22:30;) and nothing could better describe the honour and happiness of Lazarus, who had lain in so wretched a condition before the rich man’s gate, than telling us that he was placed next to Abraham, and so, as the Jews expressed themselves, lay in his bosom, Joh 13:23. The rich man also died — For death knocks with equal boldness at the sumptuous mansion of the rich, or even at the palace of the prince, and at the cottage of the peasant. This rich man’s purple and fine linen, and his faring sumptuously every day, could not keep death from him: nay, probably these things served to hasten its approach: for various diseases, and even those of a very dreadful and tormenting kind, are frequently the certain consequences of luxury and high living. And was buried — Doubtless with pomp enough, though we do not read of his lying in state: that stupid, senseless pageantry, that shocking insult on a poor putrifying carcass, was reserved for our enlightened age! We read nothing of poor Lazarus’s funeral: and indeed, this is one advantage which the rich have over the poor, their wealth will provide for them a costly funeral! Their clay-cold corpse shall be enclosed in a coffin covered with velvet, many mourners shall be hired to put on a melancholy aspect, a cloak for a glad heart, and horses decked with nodding plumes, shall bear their wretched remains to the cold, senseless tomb! But alas! what is all this pomp to the soul, which, the moment it leaves the body, enters on an eternal scene of bliss or wo! Nay, and even before it leaves it, has views and feelings very different, according to the difference of the state it finds itself to be in, and the apprehensions of coming misery, or expectations of approaching happiness which it entertains. How great was the difference in these respects between the feelings of the rich man and those of Lazarus, when on the verge of eternity! the approach of death being very terrible to the former, while the latter descried the goal with inexpressible joy. And from the moment of their departure, how utterly were all things respecting them reversed! the beggar, being a pious man, finds himself, after being wafted by guardian angels through the unknown regions, laid in Abraham’s bosom; whereas the man that was in high life, having probably always pleased himself with the thought that there would be no future state, is amazed beyond what can be expressed, when he finds himself plunged in the torments of hell.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Was carried by the angels - The Jews held…
Was carried by the angels - The Jews held the opinion that the spirits of the righteous were conveyed by angels to heaven at their death. Our Saviour speaks in accordance with this opinion; and as he expressly affirms the fact, it seems as proper that it should be taken literally, as when it is said the rich man died and was buried. Angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of salvation Heb 1:14, and there is no more improbability in the supposition that they attend departing spirits to heaven, than that they attend them while on earth.
Abraham’s bosom - This is a phrase taken from the practice of reclining at meals, where the head of one lay on the bosom of another, and the phrase, therefore, denotes intimacy and friendship. See the notes at Mat 23:6. Also Joh 13:23; Joh 21:20. The Jews had no doubt that Abraham was in paradise. To say that Lazarus was in his bosom was, therefore, the same as to say that he was admitted to heaven and made happy there. The Jews, moreover, boasted very much of being the friends of Abraham and of being his descendants, Mat 3:9. To be his friend was, in their view, the highest honor and happiness. Our Saviour, therefore, showed them that this poor and afflicted man might be raised to the highest happiness, while the rich, who prided themselves on their being descended from Abraham, might be cast away and lost forever.
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Was buried - This is not said of the poor man. Burial was thought to be an honor, and funerals were, as they are now, often expensive, splendid, and ostentatious. This is said of the rich man to show that he had “every” earthly honor, and all that the world calls happy and desirable.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Abraham’s bosom.[3] The place of rest, where the souls…
Abraham’s bosom.[3] The place of rest, where the souls of the saints resided, till Christ had opened heaven by his death. (Challoner) --- It was an ancient tradition of the Jews, that the souls of the just were conducted by angels into paradise. The bosom of Abraham (the common Father of all the faithful) was the place where the souls of the saints, and departed patriarchs, waited the arrival of their Deliverer. It was thither the Jesus went after his death; as it is said in the Creed, "he descended into hell," to deliver those who were detained there, and who might at Christ’s ascension enter into heaven. (Calmet) See 1 Peter iii. 19. --- "Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham." (Matthew viii. 11.)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
In sinum Abrahæ, Greek: eis ton kolpon tou Abraam. --- Ver. 22. In inferno, Greek: en to ade. See Pearson on the Creed, (p. 236) and our Catholic controvertists.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain died--His burial was too unimportant to mention; while "the…
died--His burial was too unimportant to mention; while "the rich man died and was buried"--his carcass carried in pomp to its earthly resting-place.
in to Abraham's bosom--as if seen reclining next to Him at the heavenly feast (Mat 8:11).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 22. The beggar died—It is not said that the…
22. The beggar died—It is not said that the beggar was, like the rich man, buried. His carcass may have been thrown into the valley of Hinnom; so that while his soul may have been in Paradise, his body may have been in the earthly symbol of hell.
He was carried—That is, his true self, his soul. Phaedon asked the dying Socrates: “How shall we bury you, Socrates?” “Just as you please,” said Socrates, “if you can catch me.” And smiling, he continued: “I cannot convince Phaedon that the mind conversing with him is myself; but he thinks me to be the corpse he will soon see laid out, and asks how he shall bury ME.”
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Lazarus’s dogs gave place to the angels. Thus heavenly beings minister to them which shall be heirs of salvation. Abraham’s bosom—The abode of the blessed spirits was symbolized by the Jewish Church as a great banquet at whose head was the great father of the faithful, Abraham. Happy he who, as John reclined on the Saviour’s breast at the last supper, reclines at the paradisaic table in Abraham’s bosom. But this, the chief point of happiness, was then not only conceived as belonging to all, but the very term Abraham’s bosom became the name for the blessed abode. So it is said by the Jewish doctors, “We, dying, shall be received by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob into their bosoms.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 22. into Abraham’s bosom] Comp. Luk_13:28. This expression is…
22. into Abraham’s bosom] Comp. Luk_13:28. This expression is used as a picture for the banquet of Paradise (comp. Num_11:12; Joh_1:18; Joh_13:23, and Josephus, De Maccab. 13).
the rich man also died] “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave,” Job_21:13.
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and was buried] Nothing is said of the pauper-funeral of Lazarus. In one touch our Lord shews how little splendid obsequies can avail to alter the judgment of heaven.
“One second, and the angels alter that.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (22) Was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.—Of…
(22) Was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.—Of the three terms in common use among the Jews to express the future state of blessedness—(1) the Garden of Eden, or Paradise; (2) the Throne of Glory; (3) the bosom of Abraham—this was the most widely popular. It rested on the idea of a great feast, in which Abraham was the host. To lie in his bosom, as St. John in that of our Lord’s (Joh_13:23), was to be there as the most favoured guest. And this was the position which was assigned to the beggar, obviously not merely as a compensation for the “evil things” he had endured on earth, but as the crown of the faith and patience with which he had borne them. The being “carried by angels” was literally in accord with the popular Jewish belief. Either good angels in general, or the special guardian angels of the righteous, took on them this office.
The rich man also died, and was buried.—As no mention is made of the burial of the beggar, it is obvious that there is something specially distinctive in the word. It had been, we may imagine, a stately burial, with hired mourners and all the pageantry of woe. such as within a few weeks, or even days, was to be the portion of the historic Lazarus of Bethany.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And it came to pass, that the beggar died,…
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham"s bosom. At last kind death came, and relieved Lazarus of his sufferings. His dismissal, as might have been expected, preceded that of the rich man; for he was enfeebled by a deadly disease. We must not, of course, press too much the details we find in parables; still, from our Lord"s way of speaking of the great change in the cases of both Lazarus and Dives, it would seem as though there was absolutely no pause between the two lives of this world and the world to come. The rich man evidently is pictured as closing his eyes upon his gorgeous surroundings here, and opening them directly again upon his cheerless surroundings there. Lazarus is described as being borne at once into Abraham"s bosom. Indeed, some interpret the words as signifying that the body as well as the soul was carried by angels into Paradise. It is, however, better, with Calvin, to understand the expression as alluding only to Lazarus"s soul; of the body of the pauper nothing was said, as men probably contemptuously, if not carelessly, buried it with the burial rites which such homeless, friendless ones too often receive. The place whither the blest Lazarus went is termed "Abraham"s bosom." This term was used by the Jews indifferently, with "the garden of Eden," or "under the throne of glory," for the home of happy but waiting souls. The rich man also died, and was buried. There is a terrible irony here in this mention of burial. This human pageantry of woe was for the rich man what the carrying by the angels into Abraham"s bosom was for Lazarus it was his equivalent; but while these empty honours were being paid to his senseless, deserted body, the rich man was already gazing on the surroundings of his new and cheerless home. After the moment"s sleep of death, what an awakening!
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 22. The beggar died. What became of his body…
22. The beggar died. What became of his body is not stated. It may have been cast into the potter's field. Was carried by the angels. Here is one who in his life had not a single friend, and now, suddenly, not one, but many angels wait upon him.—Luther. His body may have had no pall-bearers, but angels carried his soul. Into Abraham's bosom. The place of rest where Abraham welcomed his children; heavenly bliss. The Jews spoke of those who went to Abraham's heavenly abode as in Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. We are to infer that he had a splendid burial; his body was placed in a costly tomb, but where was he?
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Heb 1:4")
angels
(See Scofield "Heb 1:4")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Another contrast:
Another contrast:
v. 22. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried, by the angels into Abraham’s bosom; the rich man also died, and was buried;
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v. 23. and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
v. 24. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
v. 25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
v. 26. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.
Here the fortunes are reversed with a vengeance: the servant of God in bliss, the servant of mammon in misery. The beggar died, he finally succumbed to the combination of sickness and starvation. But his death provoked an embassy from heaven: he was carried up by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. Note: So inexpressibly wonderful is the bliss of heaven that human language cannot, even remotely, describe its glories; and therefore this circumscription is used, the bosom of Abraham, as the father of all the faithful. He that had not had a friend in the wide world, whom people refused so much as to touch, now was joyfully received into the eternal home and found a place of honor by the side of Abraham, leaning against his bosom, as the beloved disciple leaned against the bosom of Jesus. But the account of the death and funeral of the rich man is extremely bare and meager: he died and was buried. Such is the valuation which God places upon the life of him that wasted his substance in service of self; that was God’s obituary. But the sequel? In hell, where his soul found itself, the former rich man found himself in tortures, in inexpressible agony, as great, by contrast, as was the bliss of Lazarus whom he could see. In his pain and misery he called out for relief, asking Abraham to have pity upon him and dispatch Lazarus with only so much as a single drop of water on the tip of his finger, to quench the burning, feverish thirst which was consuming the pampered soul. Just a little cooling he longed, he pleaded for, on account of the flame which was affecting him with the severest pains. Note: Now the rich man could and did notice Lazarus, now he could plead for a favor from the hands of him whom his dainty fingers refused to touch in life. But the pathetic request is refused. Son, indeed, Abraham calls him, for such he is after the flesh, and upon that carnal relationship he had depended; but there is no relationship of spirit between them. He should remember that he had received that which he had wanted, the good things of life, while he was still alive and in the world. He had served mammon, and mammon had rewarded him after his own manner. Now the position of Lazarus and the rich man were reversed: the former received comfort, the latter torture. There was absolute justice in the situation. And even if Abraham had been willing to listen to the pleading of the poor wretch in hell, there was no possibility of fulfilling his request, since there was a deep chasm, an unbridgeable abyss, between the place of the blessed and that of the damned, firmly fixed, excluding all possibility of intercourse. So, though he that never showed pity now asks pity; though he that never practiced humility now humbly pleads, there is no chance, his last hope is gone.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 It came about that
It came about that
This phrase is used here to mark an event in the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
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was carried away by the angels
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the angels carried him away" (See: Active or Passive)
to Abraham's side ... at his side
This implies that Abraham and Lazarus were reclining next to each other at a feast, in the Greek style of feasting. The joy in heaven is often represented in the scriptures by the idea of a feast. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
was buried
This can be stated in active form. AT: "people buried him" (See: Active or Passive)
in Hades, being in torment
"he went to Hades, where, suffering in terrible pain"
he lifted up his eyes
This idiom means "he looked up" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
angel
Abraham
bury
Hades
torment
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 16:22 carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham…
16:22 carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham (literally into Abraham’s bosom): The Greek suggests a banquet at which guests reclined around a low table (see John 13:23). Lazarus was taken to the messianic banquet in the Kingdom of God (see Luke 14:1-24).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.