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
Go to G33 now, G3568 ye rich men, G4145 weep G2799 and howl G3649 for G1909 your G5216 miseries G5004 that shall come upon G1904 you. Your G5216 riches G4149 are corrupted, G4595 and G2532 your G5216 garments G2440 are G1096 motheaten. G4598 Your G5216 gold G5557 and G2532 silver G696 is cankered; G2728 and G2532 the rust G2447 of them G846 shall be G2071 a witness G3142 against G1519 you, G5213 and G2532 shall eat G5315 your G5216 flesh G4561 as it were G5613 fire. G4442 Ye have heaped treasure together G2343 for G1722 the last G2078 days. G2250 Behold, G2400 the hire G3408 of the labourers G2040 who G3588 have reaped down G270 your G5216 fields, G5561 which G3588 is of G575 you G5216 kept back by fraud, G650 crieth: G2896 and G2532 the cries G995 of them which have reaped G2325 are entered G1525 into G1519 the ears G3775 of the Lord G2962 of sabaoth. G4519 Ye have lived in pleasure G5171 on G1909 the earth, G1093 and G2532 been wanton; G4684 ye have nourished G5142 your G5216 hearts, G2588 as G5613 in G1722 a day G2250 of slaughter. G4967
And G1161 when Jesus G2424 saw G1492 that he G846 was G1096 very sorrowful, G4036 he said, G2036 How G4459 hardly G1423 shall they G1525 that have G2192 riches G5536 enter G1525 into G1519 the kingdom G932 of God! G2316 For G1063 it is G2076 easier G2123 for a camel G2574 to go G1525 through G1223 a needle's G4476 eye, G5168 than G2228 for a rich man G4145 to enter G1525 into G1519 the kingdom G932 of God. G2316
And G1161 he spake G2036 a parable G3850 unto G4314 them, G846 saying, G3004 The ground G5561 of a certain G5100 rich G4145 man G444 brought forth plentifully: G2164 And G2532 he thought G1260 within G1722 himself, G1438 saying, G3004 What G5101 shall I do, G4160 because G3754 I have G2192 no G3756 room where G4226 to bestow G4863 my G3450 fruits? G2590 And G2532 he said, G2036 This G5124 will I do: G4160 I will pull down G2507 my G3450 barns, G596 and G2532 build G3618 greater; G3187 and G2532 there G1563 will I bestow G4863 all G3956 my G3450 fruits G1081 and G2532 my G3450 goods. G18 And G2532 I will say G2046 to my G3450 soul, G5590 Soul, G5590 thou hast G2192 much G4183 goods G18 laid up G2749 for G1519 many G4183 years; G2094 take thine ease, G373 eat, G5315 drink, G4095 and be merry. G2165 But G1161 God G2316 said G2036 unto him, G846 Thou fool, G878 this G5026 night G3571 thy G4675 soul G5590 shall be required G523 of G575 thee: G4675 then G1161 whose G5101 shall those things be, G2071 which G3739 thou hast provided? G2090 So G3779 is he that layeth up treasure G2343 for himself, G1438 and G2532 is G4147 not G3361 rich G4147 toward G1519 God. G2316
That lie H7901 upon beds H4296 of ivory, H8127 and stretch H5628 themselves upon their couches, H6210 and eat H398 the lambs H3733 out of the flock, H6629 and the calves H5695 out of the midst H8432 of the stall; H4770 That chant H6527 to the sound H6310 of the viol, H5035 and invent H2803 to themselves instruments H3627 of musick, H7892 like David; H1732 That drink H8354 wine H3196 in bowls, H4219 and anoint H4886 themselves with the chief H7225 ointments: H8081 but they are not grieved H2470 for the affliction H7667 of Joseph. H3130
For I was envious H7065 at the foolish, H1984 when I saw H7200 the prosperity H7965 of the wicked. H7563 For there are no bands H2784 in their death: H4194 but their strength H193 is firm. H1277 They are not in trouble H5999 as other men; H582 neither are they plagued H5060 like H5973 other men. H120 Therefore pride H1346 compasseth them about as a chain; H6059 violence H2555 covereth H5848 them as a garment. H7897 Their eyes H5869 stand out H3318 with fatness: H2459 they have more H5674 than heart H3824 could wish. H4906
They send forth H7971 their little ones H5759 like a flock, H6629 and their children H3206 dance. H7540 They take H5375 the timbrel H8596 and harp, H3658 and rejoice H8055 at the sound H6963 of the organ. H5748 They spend H3615 H1086 their days H3117 in wealth, H2896 and in a moment H7281 go down H2865 H5181 to the grave. H7585 Therefore they say H559 unto God, H410 Depart H5493 from us; for we desire H2654 not the knowledge H1847 of thy ways. H1870 What is the Almighty, H7706 that we should serve H5647 him? and what profit H3276 should we have, if we pray H6293 unto him?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 16
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."