The Rich Man and Lazarus
A rich man feasts every day while a beggar lies at his gate. After death their places are reversed — and the rich man learns too late that the word of God was enough.
Read Luke 16:19–31 in the reader
Awaiting theological review
Before you read
Who Jesus was speaking to
Scripture
Luke says that the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard Jesus teach that no one can serve God and mammon, and they derided him. This parable follows soon after.
Interpretation
The rich man is not accused of any crime. His sin is that he never saw the man at his own gate.
Luke 16:19–31
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition · Public Domain
At the gate19There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen; and feasted sumptuously every day. 20And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, 21Desiring to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one did give him; moreover the dogs came, and licked his sores. The great chaos22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell. 23And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom: 24And he cried, and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame. 25And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted; and thou art tormented. 26And besides all this, between us and you, there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither. Moses and the prophets27And he said: Then, father, I beseech thee, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, 28That he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torments. 29And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30But he said: No, father Abraham: but if one went to them from the dead, they will do penance. 31And he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead.
A banquet and a gate
The rich man, Lazarus and Abraham
Lay at his gate
Lazarus
The only character in any of Jesus' parables to have a name. Sick, hungry and ignored, he never speaks.
- 16:20 — A certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate
- 16:22 — Carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom
History & scholarship
Lazarus is a form of the Hebrew Eleazar, which means God helps. No one else helped him.
Interpretation
He is a different person from Lazarus of Bethany, the friend Jesus raised in John 11 — though the closing line of the parable, about someone rising from the dead and not being believed, has made many readers think of him.
Think about it
Who lies at your gate — near you, but unseen?
Feasted sumptuously every day
The rich man
He has no name in the Gospel; later tradition called him Dives, Latin for rich man.
- 16:19 — Clothed in purple and fine linen
- 16:24 — Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
- 16:27–28 — Send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren
Interpretation
Even in torment he still treats Lazarus as a servant to be sent. Yet he thinks of his brothers, and Jesus lets him speak: the parable is a last chance offered to the listeners, who are the five brothers.
Think about it
What would it take for you to change before it is too late?
Son, remember
Abraham
The father of the people of Israel answers the rich man with tenderness and firmness.
- 16:25 — Son, remember that thou didst receive good things
- 16:29 — They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them
Scripture
Abraham's last word is the heart of the parable: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead.” The Law and the prophets already command care for the poor.
Think about it
Does the word of God you already have move you to act?
What first hearers would have noticed
Context
Purple and fine linen
History & scholarship
Purple dye was among the most expensive goods of the ancient world, and fine linen was luxury clothing. Feasting every day, not only on feast days, marks a life of constant excess.
Abraham's bosom
History & scholarship
At a banquet, guests reclined, and the place of honour was next to the host, leaning on his breast. Lazarus, who longed for crumbs, now has the best place at Abraham's table.
Interpretation
The parable uses images of the afterlife familiar to its hearers. Its purpose is not to describe the geography of the next world, but to warn about the choices of this one.
Look closer
Symbols
- The gateLuke 16:20
Interpretation
Lazarus lies only a few steps away. The distance between them in life is a gate the rich man never opens; after death it becomes a great chaos no one can cross.- The dogsLuke 16:21
History & scholarship
Dogs were street scavengers, considered unclean. Only they come near Lazarus — the detail underlines his total abandonment.- The great chaosLuke 16:26
Church teaching
The Church teaches that each person decides their eternal destiny by their free response to God's love in this life, and that this parable warns how grave it is to ignore the poor.
Remember
Quiz me
Question 1 of 4beginner
What was the beggar's name?