Luke 16 - Exegesis

Introduction

There's a lot of problems with how pastors and mainstream Christianity have interpreted the rich man in Luke 16. It has been classically interpreted as a parable but it is not a parable because real names are mentioned (has Abraham ever been mentioned in any parable before? No! That would make Abraham himself a parable).

Christ is simply and deliberately omitting the real name of the 'rich man' but this has whizzed past everyone. Think about how funny it is he gets referred to as "rich man" (Mr. Moneybags) but Lazarus and Abraham retain their actual names -- especially since a parable was just brought up. It could also be in reference to how hellbent (no pun intended) the rich man was to harass Lazarus, and so now he doesn't even get to be mentioned in the Word by name.

Another reason why it's not a parable is that the rich man's mental profile is so rotten that a fictitious character wouldn't really be that malicious or devious for a mere parable: it does line up with real people who are negative to God though. This is actually why it's even brought up at all, had it been a regular person they'd either just have believed and been saved on the spot, or just sit with total disinterest rather than seethe.... but seething is the general conclusion most come to (demons included).

Another common distortion is that people assume Lazarus was standing right beside with Abraham when talking with the rich man (you can search up common Christian depicitions and they'll draw Lazarus standing beside Abraham), this was not the case and the exact opposite is mentioned, even in translation. It's likely Lazarus wasn't even aware of the rich man when he "checked in" to Hades as Lazarus didn't have an obsession issue. They most likely never died at the same time; I suspect from context Lazarus died first and then later the rich man later on.

Luke 16 (Rich Man & Lazarus)

Luke 16:19 And there was a certain rich man 💰 "Mr. Moneybags" 💰, who was dressed in Tyrian purple and luxurious linens: (spending) every day (saturated) among pure extravagance

Luke 16:19 Ἄνθρωπος δέ τις ἦν πλούσιος, καὶ ἐνεδιδύσκετο πορφύραν καὶ βύσσον εὐφραινόμενος καθ᾽ ἡμέραν λαμπρῶς.

Luke 16:20 And a certain beggar named Lazarus, (was) tossed outside the gateway, himself full of ulcers/sores

Luke 16:20 πτωχὸς δέ τις ὀνόματι Λάζαρος ἐβέβλητο πρὸς τὸν πυλῶνα αὐτοῦ εἱλκωμένος

Luke 16:21 And craving to gorge from the flying (crumbs) from the rich (man's) table: instead, and so, the dogs were coming licking the ulcers/sores of his.

Luke 16:21 καὶ ἐπιθυμῶν χορτασθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν πιπτόντων ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τοῦ πλουσίου· ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ κύνες ἐρχόμενοι ἐπέλειχον τὰ ἕλκη αὐτοῦ.

Luke 16:22 And it came to be, dying, the beggar also he (was) carried away by the angels into the bosom (of) Abraham's. And dying also the rich (man) 💰 "Mr. Moneybags" 💰 (was) also buried.

Luke 16:22 ἐγένετο δὲ ἀποθανεῖν τὸν πτωχὸν καὶ ἀπενεχθῆναι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἰς τὸν κόλπον Ἀβραάμ· ἀπέθανεν δὲ καὶ ὁ πλούσιος καὶ ἐτάφη.

• Lazarus: believed
• Rich man: did not believe

It's probably worth noting that Lazarus and the rich man are both described by singular adjectives at this point, contrasting rich/poor without using Ἄνθρωπος or Λάζαρος:

• πτωχὸν adjective normal accusative masculine singular no degree from πτωχός
• πλούσιος adjective normal nominative masculine singular no degree from πλούσιος

Luke 16:23 And (now being) in {'that'} Hades, gazing upward {with those} his eyes, (now) existing in torment, (then) seeing Abraham from a distance, and (then) Lazarus in the bosom of his (Abraham's).

Luke 16:23 καὶ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, ὑπάρχων ἐν βασάνοις, ὁρᾷ Ἀβραὰμ ἀπὸ μακρόθεν καὶ Λάζαρον ἐν τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ.

Luke 16:24 And he yelled saying: "Father Abraham! Have 'mercy' on me 🙏😘, and dispatch Lazarus (here), so that he dips the tip of his finger (in) water, and cools my tongue 🥵💦😏, because (I'm) 'suffering' 😏 in the flame here.

Luke 16:24 καὶ αὐτὸς φωνήσας εἶπεν· πάτερ Ἀβραάμ, ἐλέησόν με καὶ πέμψον Λάζαρον ἵνα βάψῃ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ δακτύλου αὐτοῦ ὕδατος καὶ καταψύξῃ τὴν γλῶσσάν μου, ὅτι ὀδυνῶμαι ἐν τῇ φλογὶ ταύτῃ.

Things to consider:

1. Immediately the rich man's focus resumes on himself. He does not think to believe in God's free gift of salvation nor to even ask God. He's only reacting with what he sees and God isn't on his mind.


2. The rich man immediately revisits his obsession with putting down Lazarus and sees an opportunity:


1. Out of all of the people there (which was probably an astronomical amount) including Abraham himself, he explicitly asks for Lazarus 🙄, it's also impressive he singled out Lazarus so quickly in the whole situation. A reminder that Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom (ἐν τοῖς κόλποις) which would include everyone who has died at [that] point. Abraham is standing away from the bosom and everyone else inlcuding Lazarus (ἀπὸ μακρόθεν).


2. He asks for Lazarus to use his finger (as if his finger would even have that much retention for sufficient water) rather than a more logical & conventional glass of water, which as already noted he could just ask Abraham who was already nearby to grab him a glass of water or better yet, just ask God TO GET HIM OUT. I suspect this somehow plays into his initial ulterior motive: he could bite Lazarus' finger or then proceed to heckle Lazarus to say his finger isn't holding enough water, or just continually keep asking for more water without ceasing etc. "Oh Lazarus, it's not enough, you have to go back and bring me more, these torments are too much to bear... have mercy on me..." ad nauseam.
• Given the situation the request is abnormal; who would want relief in a strange way from someone they liked to bully if there wasn't an ulterior motive.
• Even worse, to actually be singled out by Christ as an example, you have to be one of the worst cases of this mentality.


3. It appears the appeal for mercy and feigning being tormented was a ploy for convincing Abraham to drag Lazarus out. If he was actually in that much pain as he was claiming, he wouldn't be able to articulate such clear thinking and once again, he'd be asking God. The pain is actually being used as an asset in his repretoire to enact out further bullying.

Luke 16:25 But answering, Abraham (said): "hey kid, remember that YOU 🫵 eagerly sought the good life, YOU 🫵... and Lazarus similarly (experienced) the bad. And now here (Lazarus is) relieved, and you, 'suffering'. 🐷🐷🐷

Luke 16:25 εἶπεν δὲ Ἀβραάμ· τέκνον, μνήσθητι ὅτι ἀπέλαβες τὰ ἀγαθά σου 🫵 ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου 🫵, καὶ Λάζαρος ὁμοίως τὰ κακά· νῦν δὲ ὧδε παρακαλεῖται, σὺ δὲ ὀδυνᾶσαι.

Having realized Mr. Moneybags' ulterior motives with the focus on Lazarus, Abraham plays along by shifting the conversation to outlining the disparities they had in life bringing the focus back on him (σου σου). Of course this has nothing to do with salvation but: the rich man doesn't want to believe which is why Abraham is pointing out how both of their lives were experienced on opposite spectrums thus shutting down using the pain as an asset.

Something I didn't know until reading the Greek (the intended meaning is often obfuscated in English translation as they'll translate σου differently, i.e. "you/your" breaking the emphasis through repetition, although the KJV keeps it consistent with "thy/thy"), Abraham repeats "σου" (you) twice, which is making the emphasis on the YOU much greater. There's also a lot packed behind ὁμοίως, because it's contrasting the rich man's experience to Lazarus' as an inversion: in the sense they experienced 'the same' but on the opposite spectrums.

Luke 16:26 And all things in here, between myself and you, (a) mega-chasm (has been) placed in order that those purposefully intending to cross over from here to you (are) not capable, nor crossing from over there to us.

Luke 16:26 καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν τούτοις μεταξὺ ἡμῶν καὶ ὑμῶν χάσμα μέγα ἐστήρικται, ὅπως οἱ θέλοντες διαβῆναι ἔνθεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς μὴ δύνωνται, μηδὲ ἐκεῖθεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς διαπερῶσιν.

Obviously God can do anything so the chasm isn't relevant to the original request... but it is relevant to answering someone who doesn't want God and has ulterior motives to harass Lazarus! Ask a stupid question, get a stupid response: it would have been obvious that the massive chasm prevents people from crossing over and yet here Abraham is explaining the obvious to the rich man who already knows: this is why Abraham starts off with "ἔνθεν", to emphasize the fact Lazarus isn't going to cross over without explicitly naming him.

Luke 16:27-28 And (the rich man) answered: "then (I) pray (of) you 🙏😘😏, father, that (you) dispatch him into the house of my father: for (I) have five brothers, that he (can) warn: that they do not also come into this place, the one of 'torment'." 😱😏🥳🔥🔥🔥🔥

Luke 16:27-28 εἶπεν δέ· ἐρωτῶ σε οὖν, πάτερ, ἵνα πέμψῃς αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου, ἔχω γὰρ πέντε ἀδελφούς, ὅπως διαμαρτύρηται αὐτοῖς, ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλθωσιν εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον τῆς βασάνου.

Things to consider:

1. Since the first ploy failed, he once again tries to appeal to Abraham's emotion: instead of asking for mercy because of personal suffering he's asking for mercy for his "family".


2. Once again he's asking for Lazarus to go to witness to his family, why not ask Abraham to go: or better yet, asking God Himself to do something? Ah, but he's not actually serious, Lazarus is the scapegoat he wants to torment.


3. Had Lazarus actually gone to his family, the rich man's family would (by proxy) begin to humiliate and heckle Lazarus. They could also accuse him of faking his death, or, "if you really died bring back our brother Mr. Moneybags" -- of course all of this is so completely irrelevant to wanting God. Since Christ was addressing the Pharisees prior to bringing up the rich man & Lazarus (Luke 16:14), it's likely Christ wanted to put on display how ulterior motives and religion always want to force irrelevancies to cope or seethe. Often time those who are biased or argue dishonestly always go to irrelevant things for the sole purposes of winning their argument, they don't care about what's true.


4. Notice how quickly the rich man was already to pounce on another excuse to get Lazarus tormented by any means, he already had this one in the hopper before Abraham finished shooting down the first one.


5. We know that his whole family were unbelievers, and clearly he wants them to be with him as he knows Lazarus wouldn't actually change their minds. You can ratify this from the freudian slip: he forgets to ask Lazarus to also "witness" to his father and mother, I'm not really certain the degree he actually cares about his family, he could just 'tolerate' them as they were related by blood and no other reason.

Luke 16:29 And speaking Abraham (said): "(they) have Moses and the prophets, they (can just) hear (them)." 🤷‍♂️

Luke 16:29 λέγει δὲ Ἀβραάμ· ἔχουσιν Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας· ἀκουσάτωσαν αὐτῶν.

Luke 16:30 And continuing (the rich man) answered: "NO ✋ Father Abraham, but if someone from (the) dead goes to them, (they'll) change their minds from unbelief to belief. 😽

Luke 16:30 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· οὐχί ✋, πάτερ Ἀβραάμ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐάν τις ἀπὸ νεκρῶν πορευθῇ πρὸς αὐτοὺς μετανοήσουσιν.

Note the hypocrisy: the rich man himself hasn't changed his mind either (μετανοήσουσιν) or bothered asking or talking to God, despite seeing Lazarus right across the chasm. The entire premise is therefore rigged because he's hasn't changed his mind about God after seeing Lazarus, so his brothers won't either. And once again this has NOTHING to with Lazarus yet he's roped into the situation, there's a bazillion other things he could ask Abraham or God.

In desperation he then adds a condition (technically two conditions) in order to forcefully get Lazarus sent: it must be someone who's now dead and it must be someone they knew. If Abraham went they could just say "well you're not Abraham!" and if it was any of the millions of people they would just say the same "who are you?!".

I think this also portrays a bit of projection, since he refuses changing his mind from unbelief to belief (μετανοήσουσιν), he uses that for his brothers as well.

Luke 16:31 But he (Abraham) answered: "if Moses and the prophets (they) don't hear, neither if someone dead rises (will that) persuade (them)." 😘

Luke 16:31 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ· εἰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἀκούουσιν, οὐδ᾽ ἐάν τις ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ πεισθήσονται.

Abraham once again recognizing the same ulterior motive, clarifies the five brothers won't budge on anything if they did see Lazarus due to the extant disinterest in the Bible. The rich man simultaneously wants to remain in Hades (hell) but also torment Lazarus some more just as he had in the past. Since that's how they got a kick in the past with Lazarus, the rich man wants his cake (zero interest in God) and eat it too (continue tormenting Lazarus).

It's interesting the rich man uses metanoia (μετανοήσουσιν) to describe his brothers, but Abraham swaps it to peisthesontai (πεισθήσονται), in other words they're so disinterested in God and the Bible changing their mind 'to believe' for salvation isn't even on the table!

Luke 16 (The ACTUAL Parable)

I think it's sometimes lost on certain people that the way God displays the Word is sometimes as a test to see if you're awake (no different than what Christ pulled in Mark 10:18). Therefore, having a parable precede a real life event, are you awake & paying attention?

In most English translations they'll translate the Greek as "there was a certain rich man", of course the underlying Greek isn't identical, in Luke 16:19 "δέ" is added. It's normal for δέ to be left untranslated if it's adding context, but the context has no way to be translated into English: that's precisely the problem with English translations -- and of course conventional translations aren't going to point this out so it simply gets missed. Fantastic. As per the prior verses, both Lazarus and the rich man have "δέ" applied to them hidden in the Greek, completely unnoticeable in English.

My point is, the openings are not the same in the Greek as the English makes it to be, and in this instance the KJV adds a pause to Luke 16:1 where there shouldn't be. It's straight up "there was a certain rich man who had a stewart". Therefore if you're going to use English translations as the method of determining if something is a parable or not, you're going to have a bad time. It's incredible that Christians place all of their faith in English when there are translation and verse numbering errors that have gone unfixed for hundreds of years. You don't think the demons are going to use this to their advantage? Of course they are! This is why Christians read their Bibles in English remaining uneducated in the original languages meanwhile Muslims and Hindus continue to read their scriptures in Arabic and Sanskrit. 🤔

Here is the beginning 'actual parable', I've rearranged it for the purpose of this article, and as mentioned prior Christ brings up Luke 16:19 once the Pharisees poke their heads out like little meerkats:

Notice: currently the verses below are just KJV, I've not had the time to retranslate them or perform an exegesis, I'll do that at a future date when I want to come back to Luke 16, low priority at the moment.

Luke 16:1 Ἔλεγεν δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς· ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν πλούσιος ὃς εἶχεν οἰκονόμον, καὶ οὗτος διεβλήθη αὐτῷ ὡς διασκορπίζων τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ.

Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

Luke 16:2 καὶ φωνήσας αὐτὸν εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τί τοῦτο ἀκούω περὶ σοῦ; ἀπόδος τὸν λόγον τῆς οἰκονομίας σου, οὐ γὰρ δύνῃ ἔτι οἰκονομεῖν.

Luke 16:2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

Luke 16:3 εἶπεν δὲ ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὁ οἰκονόμος· τί ποιήσω, ὅτι ὁ κύριός μου ἀφαιρεῖται τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ; σκάπτειν οὐκ ἰσχύω, ἐπαιτεῖν αἰσχύνομαι.

Luke 16:3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

Luke 16:4 ἔγνων τί ποιήσω, ἵνα ὅταν μετασταθῶ ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομίας δέξωνταί με εἰς τοὺς οἴκους αὐτῶν.

Luke 16:4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

Luke 16:5 καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος ἕνα ἕκαστον τῶν χρεοφειλετῶν τοῦ κυρίου ἑαυτοῦ ἔλεγεν τῷ πρώτῳ· πόσον ὀφείλεις τῷ κυρίῳ μου;

Luke 16:5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

Luke 16:6 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματα καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα.

Luke 16:6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

Luke 16:7 ἔπειτα ἑτέρῳ εἶπεν· σὺ δὲ πόσον ὀφείλεις; ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· ἑκατὸν κόρους σίτου. λέγει αὐτῷ· δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματα καὶ γράψον ὀγδοήκοντα.

Luke 16:7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

Luke 16:8 καὶ ἐπῄνεσεν ὁ κύριος τὸν οἰκονόμον τῆς ἀδικίας ὅτι φρονίμως ἐποίησεν· ὅτι οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου φρονιμώτεροι ὑπὲρ τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ φωτὸς εἰς τὴν γενεὰν τὴν ἑαυτῶν εἰσιν.

Luke 16:8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

Luke 16:9 Καὶ ἐγὼ ὑμῖν λέγω, ἑαυτοῖς ποιήσατε φίλους ἐκ τοῦ μαμωνᾶ τῆς ἀδικίας, ἵνα ὅταν ἐκλίπῃ δέξωνται ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰς αἰωνίους σκηνάς.

Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Luke 16:10 Ὁ πιστὸς ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ καὶ ἐν πολλῷ πιστός ἐστιν, καὶ ὁ ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ ἄδικος καὶ ἐν πολλῷ ἄδικός ἐστιν.

Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Luke 16:11 εἰ οὖν ἐν τῷ ἀδίκῳ μαμωνᾷ πιστοὶ οὐκ ἐγένεσθε, τὸ ἀληθινὸν τίς ὑμῖν πιστεύσει;

Luke 16:11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Luke 16:12 καὶ εἰ ἐν τῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ πιστοὶ οὐκ ἐγένεσθε, τὸ ὑμέτερον τίς ὑμῖν δώσει;

Luke 16:12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

Luke 16:13 Οὐδεὶς οἰκέτης δύναται δυσὶν κυρίοις δουλεύειν· ἢ γὰρ τὸν ἕνα μισήσει καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀγαπήσει, ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου καταφρονήσει. οὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶ μαμωνᾷ.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Luke 16:14 Ἤκουον δὲ ταῦτα πάντα οἱ Φαρισαῖοι φιλάργυροι ὑπάρχοντες καὶ ἐξεμυκτήριζον αὐτόν.

Luke 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

Luke 16:15 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ὑμεῖς ἐστε οἱ δικαιοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁ δὲ θεὸς γινώσκει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν· ὅτι τὸ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ὑψηλὸν βδέλυγμα ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Luke 16:16 Ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται μέχρι Ἰωάννου· ἀπὸ τότε ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ εὐαγγελίζεται καὶ πᾶς εἰς αὐτὴν βιάζεται.

Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

Luke 16:17 εὐκοπώτερον δέ ἐστιν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν παρελθεῖν ἢ τοῦ νόμου μίαν κεραίαν πεσεῖν.

Luke 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

Luke 16:18 Πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ γαμῶν ἑτέραν μοιχεύει, καὶ ὁ ἀπολελυμένην ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς γαμῶν μοιχεύει.

Luke 16:18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

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