Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Luke » Chapter 16 » Verse 19-25

Luke 16:19-25 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

19 G1161 There was G2258 a certain G5100 rich G4145 man, G444 which G2532 was clothed G1737 in purple G4209 and G2532 fine linen, G1040 and fared G2165 sumptuously G2988 every G2596 day: G2250

20 And G1161 there was G2258 a certain G5100 beggar G4434 named G3686 Lazarus, G2976 which G3739 was laid G906 at G4314 his G846 gate, G4440 full of sores, G1669

21 And G2532 desiring G1937 to be fed G5526 with G575 the crumbs G5589 which G3588 fell G4098 from G575 the rich man's G4145 table: G5132 moreover G235 G2532 the dogs G2965 came G2064 and licked G621 his G846 sores. G1668

22 And G1161 it came to pass, G1096 that the beggar G4434 died, G599 and G2532 was carried G667 by G5259 the angels G32 into G1519 Abraham's G11 bosom: G2859 the rich man G4145 also G1161 G2532 died, G599 and G2532 was buried; G2290

23 And G2532 in G1722 hell G86 he lift up G1869 his G846 eyes, G3788 being G5225 in G1722 torments, G931 and seeth G3708 Abraham G11 afar G3113 off, G575 and G2532 Lazarus G2976 in G1722 his G846 bosom. G2859

24 And G2532 G846 he cried G5455 and said, G2036 Father G3962 Abraham, G11 have mercy G1653 on me, G3165 and G2532 send G3992 Lazarus, G2976 that G2443 he may dip G911 the tip G206 of his G846 finger G1147 in water, G5204 and G2532 cool G2711 my G3450 tongue; G1100 for G3754 I am tormented G3600 in G1722 this G5026 flame. G5395

25 But G1161 Abraham G11 said, G2036 Son, G5043 remember G3415 that G3754 thou G4771 in G1722 thy G4675 lifetime G2222 receivedst G618 thy G4675 good things, G18 and G2532 likewise G3668 Lazarus G2976 evil things: G2556 but G1161 now G3568 G3592 he is comforted, G3870 and G1161 thou G4771 art tormented. G3600

Commentary on Luke 16 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 16

Lu 16:1-31. Parables of the Unjust Steward and of the Rich Man and Lazarus, or, the Right Use of Money.

1. steward—manager of his estate.

accused—informed upon.

had wasted—rather, "was wasting."

3. cannot dig … to beg, ashamed—therefore, when dismissed, shall be in utter want.

4. may receive me, &c.—Observe his one object—when cast out of one home to secure another. This is the key to the parable, on which there have been many differing views.

5-7. fifty … fourscore—deducting a half from the debt of the one, and a fifth from that of the other.

8. the lord—evidently the steward's lord, so called in Lu 16:3, 5.

commended, &c.—not for his "injustice," but "because he had done wisely," or prudently; with commendable foresight and skilful adaptation of means to end.

children of this world—so Lu 20:34; compare Ps 17:14 ("their portion in this life"); Php 3:19 ("mind earthly things"); Ps 4:6, 7.

their generation—or "for their generation"—that is, for the purposes of the "world" they are "of." The greater wisdom (or shrewdness) of the one, in adaptation of means to ends, and in energetic, determined prosecution of them, is none of it for God and eternity—a region they were never in, an atmosphere they never breathed, an undiscovered world, an unborn existence to them—but all for the purposes of their own grovelling and fleeting generation.

children of light—(so Joh 12:36; Eph 5:8; 1Th 5:5). Yet this is only "as night-birds see better in the dark than those of the day owls than eagles" [Cajetan and Trench]. But we may learn lessons from them, as our Lord now shows, and "be wise as serpents."

9. Make … friends of—Turn to your advantage; that is, as the steward did, "by showing mercy to the poor" (Da 4:27; compare Lu 12:33; 14:13, 14).

mammon of unrighteousness—treacherous, precarious. (See on Mt 6:24).

ye fail—in respect of life.

they may receive you—not generally, "ye may be received" (as Lu 6:38, "shall men give"), but "those ye have relieved may rise up as witnesses for you" at the great day. Then, like the steward, when turned out of one home shall ye secure another; but better than he, a heavenly for an earthly, an everlasting for a temporary habitation. Money is not here made the key to heaven, more than "the deeds done in the body" in general, according to which, as a test of character—but not by the merit of which—men are to be judged (2Co 5:10, and see Mt 25:34-40).

10. He, &c.—a maxim of great pregnancy and value; rising from the prudence which the steward had to the fidelity which he had not, the "harmlessness of the dove, to which the serpent" with all his "wisdom" is a total stranger. Fidelity depends not on the amount entrusted, but on the sense of responsibility. He that feels this in little will feel it in much, and conversely.

11, 12. unrighteous mammon—To the whole of this He applies the disparaging term "what is least," in contrast with "the true riches."

12. another man's … your own—an important turn to the subject. Here all we have is on trust as stewards, who have an account to render. Hereafter, what the faithful have will be their own property, being no longer on probation, but in secure, undisturbed, rightful, everlasting possession and enjoyment of all that is graciously bestowed on us. Thus money is neither to be idolized nor despised: we must sit loose to it and use it for God's glory.

13. can serve—be entirely at the command of; and this is true even where the services are not opposed.

hate … love—showing that the two here intended are in uncompromising hostility to each other: an awfully searching principle!

14-18. covetous … derided him—sneered at Him; their master sin being too plainly struck at for them to relish. But it was easier to run down than to refute such teaching.

15. justify yourselves—make a show of righteousness.

highly esteemed among men—generally carried away by plausible appearances. (See 1Sa 16:7; and Lu 14:11).

16. The law, &c.—(See Mt 11:13).

and every man presseth, &c.—Publicans and sinners, all indiscriminately, are eagerly pressing into it; and ye, interested adherents of the mere forms of an economy which is passing away, "discerning not the signs of this time," will allow the tide to go past you and be found a stranded monument of blindness and obstinacy.

17. it is easier, &c.—(See on Mt 5:17, 18)

18. putteth away his wife, &c.—(See on Mt 19:3-9). Far from intending to weaken the force of the law, in these allusions to a new economy, our Lord, in this unexpected way, sends home its high requirements with a pungency which the Pharisees would not fail to feel.

19. purple and fine linen, &c.—(Compare Es 8:15; Re 18:12); wanting nothing which taste and appetite craved and money could procure.

20, 21. laid—having to be carried and put down.

full of sores—open, running, "not closed, nor bound up, nor mollified with ointment" (Isa 1:6).

21. desiring to be fed with—but was not [Grotius, Bengel, Meyer, Trench, &c.]. The words may mean indeed "was fain to feed on," or "gladly fed on," as in Lu 15:16 [Alford, Webster and Wilkinson, &c.]. But the context rather favors the former.

licked, &c.—a touching act of brute pity, in the absence of human relief. It is a case of heartless indifference, amidst luxuries of every kind, to one of God's poorest and most afflicted ones, presented daily before the eye.

22. 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 (Mt 8:11).

23. in hell—not the final place of the lost (for which another word is used), but as we say "the unseen world." But as the object here is certainly to depict the whole torment of the one and the perfect bliss of the other, it comes in this case to much the same.

seeth Abraham—not God, to whom therefore he cannot cry [Bengel].

24. Father Abraham—a well-founded, but unavailing, claim of natural descent (Lu 3:8; Joh 8:37).

mercy on me—who never showed any (Jas 2:3).

send Lazarus—the pining victim of his merciless neglect.

that he may—take me hence? No; that he dares not to ask.

dip … tongue—that is the least conceivable and the most momentary abatement of his torment; that is all. But even this he is told is (1) unreasonable.

25, 26. Son—stinging acknowledgment of the claimed relationship.

thou … Lazarus, &c.—As it is a great law of God's kingdom, that the nature of our present desires shall rule that of our future bliss, so by that law, he whose "good things," craved and enjoyed, were all bounded by time, could look for none after his connection with time had come to an end (Lu 6:24). But by this law, he whose "evil things," all crowded into the present life, drove him to seek, and find, consolation in a life beyond the grave, is by death released from all evil and ushered into unmixed and uninterrupted good (Lu 6:21). (2) It is impossible.

26. besides all this—independently of this consideration.

a great gulf fixed—By an irrevocable decree there has been placed a vast impassable abyss between the two states, and the occupants of each.

27-31. Then he said—now abandoning all hope for himself.

send him to my father's house, &c.—no waking up of good in the heart of the lost, but bitter reproach against God and the old economy, as not warning him sufficiently [Trench]. The answer of Abraham is, They are sufficiently warned.

30. Nay—giving the lie to Abraham.

but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent—a principle of awful magnitude and importance. The greatest miracle will have no effect on those who are determined not to believe. A real Lazarus soon "rose from the dead," but the sight of him by crowds of people, inclined thereby to Christ, only crowned the unbelief and hastened the murderous plots of the Pharisees against the Lord of glory; nor has His own resurrection, far more overpowering, yet won over that "crooked and perverse nation."