Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 16:31
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
31 . neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead ]
“We are saved by faithful hearing, not by apparitions,” Bengel. This was most remarkably exemplified in the results which followed the raising of another Lazarus (Joh 12:10) and the resurrection of our Lord Himself (Mat 28:11-13). Observe that the reply of Abraham (‘be persuaded,’ ‘arose, ‘from among’ [ not ] the dead) is much stronger than the words used by Dives. “A far mightier miracle …would be ineffectual for producing a far slighter effect,” Trench.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Be persuaded – Be convinced of the truth; of the danger and folly of their way; of the certainty of their suffering hereafter, and be induced to turn from sin to holiness, and from Satan unto God.
From this impressive and instructive parable we may learn:
- That the souls of people do not die with their bodies.
- That the soul is conscious after death; that it does not sleep, as some have supposed, until the morning of the resurrection.
- That the righteous are taken to a place of happiness immediately at death, and the wicked consigned at once to misery.
- That wealth does not secure from death.
How vain are riches to secure
Their haughty owners from the grave!
The rich, the beautiful, the happy, as well as the poor, go down to the grave. All their pomp and apparel, all their honors, their palaces, and their gold cannot save them. Death can as easily find his way into the splendid mansions of the rich as into the cottages of the poor; and the rich shall turn to the same corruption, and soon, like the poor, be undistinguished from common dust and be unknown.
- We should not envy the condition of the rich.
On slippery rocks I see them stand,
And fiery billows rollI below.
Now let them boast how tall they rise,
Ill never envy them again;
There they may stand with haughty eyes,
Till they plunge deep in endless pain.
Their fancied joys how fast they flee!
Like dreams, as fleeting and as vain;
Their songs of softest harmony.
Are but a prelude to their pain.
- We should strive for a better inheritance than can be possessed in this life.
Now I esteem their mirth and wine.
Too dear to purchase with my blood:
Lord, tis enough that thou art mine –
My life, my portion, and my God.
- The sufferings of the wicked in hell will be indescribably great. Think what is represented by torment; by burning flame; by insupportable thirst; by that state where a single drop of water would afford relief. Remember that all this is but a representation of the pains of the damned, and that this will have no intermission day or night, but will continue from year to year, and age to age, without any end, and you have a faint view of the sufferings of those who are in hell.
- There is a place of sufferings beyond the grave a hell. If there is not, then this parable has no meaning. It is impossible to make anything of it unless it be designed to teach that.
- There will never be any escape from those gloomy regions. There is a gulf fixed – fixed, not movable. Nor can any of the damned beat a pathway across this gulf to the world of holiness.
- We see the amazing folly of those who suppose there may be an end to the sufferings of the wicked, and who, on that supposition, seem willing to go down to hell to suffer a long time, rather than go at once to heaven. If man were to suffer but a thousand years, or even one year, why should he be so foolish as to choose that suffering rather than go at once to heaven, and be happy at once when he dies?
- God gives us sufficient warning to prepare for death. He has sent his Word, his servants, his Son; he warns us by his Spirit and his providence; by the entreaties of our friends and by the death of sinners; he offers us heaven, and he threatens hell. If all this will not move sinners, what would do it? There is nothing that would.
- God will give us nothing farther to warn us. No dead man will come to life to tell us of what he has seen. If he did we would not believe him. Religion appeals to man not by ghosts and frightful apparitions. It appeals to their reason, their conscience, their hopes, their fears. It sets life and death soberly before people, and if they will not choose the former, they must die. If you will not hear the Son of God and the warnings of the Scriptures, there is nothing which you will or can hear. You will never be persuaded, and will never escape the place of torment.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 31. If they hear not Moses, c.] This answer of Abraham contains two remarkable propositions.
1. That the sacred writings contain such proofs of a Divine origin, that though all the dead were to arise, to convince an unbeliever of the truths therein declared, the conviction could not be greater, nor the proof more evident, of the divinity and truth of these sacred records, than that which themselves afford.
2. That to escape eternal perdition, and get at last into eternal glory, a man is to receive the testimonies of God, and to walk according to their dictates.
And these two things show the sufficiency and perfection of the sacred writings. What influence could the personal appearance of a spirit have on an unbelieving and corrupted heart? None, except to terrify it for the moment, and afterwards to leave it ten thousand reasons for uncertainty and doubt. Christ caused this to be exemplified, in the most literal manner, by raising Lazarus from the dead. And did this convince the unbelieving Jews? No. They were so much the more enraged and from that moment conspired both the death of Lazarus and of Christ! Faith is satisfied with such proofs as God is pleased to afford! Infidelity never has enow. See a Sermon on this subject, by the author of this work.
To make the parable of the unjust steward still more profitable, let every man consider: –
1. That God is his master, and the author of all the good he enjoys, whether it be spiritual or temporal.
2. That every man is only a steward, not a proprietor of those things.
3. That all must give an account to God, how they have used or abused the blessings with which they have been entrusted.
4. That the goods which God has entrusted to our care are goods of body and soul: goods of nature and grace: of birth and education: His word, Spirit, and ordinances: goods of life, health, genius, strength, dignity, riches; and even poverty itself is often a blessing from the hand of God.
5. That all these may be improved to God’s honour, our good, and our neighbour’s edification and comfort.
6. That the time is coming in which we shall be called to an account before God, concerning the use we have made of the good things with which he has entrusted us.
7. That we may, even now, be accused before our Maker, of the awful crime of wasting our Lord’s substance.
8. That if this crime can be proved against us, we are in immediate danger of being deprived of all the blessings which we have thus abused, and of being separated from God and the glory of his power for ever.
9. That on hearing of the danger to which we are exposed, though we cannot dig to purchase salvation, yet we must beg, incessantly beg, at the throne of grace for mercy to pardon all that is past.
10. That not a moment is to be lost: the arrest of death may have gone out against us; and this very night-hour-minute, our souls may be required of us. Let us therefore learn wisdom from the prudent despatch which a worldly-minded man would use to retrieve his ruinous circumstances; and watch and pray, and use the little spark of the Divine light which yet remains, but which is ready to die, that we may escape the gulf of perdition, and obtain some humble place in the heaven of glory. Our wants are pressing; God calls loudly; and eternity is at hand!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
27-31. Then he saidnowabandoning all hope for himself.
send him to my father’shouse, &c.no waking up of good in the heart of the lost,but bitter reproach against God and the old economy, as not warninghim sufficiently [TRENCH].The answer of Abraham is, They are sufficiently warned.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he said unto him….. That is, Abraham said unto him, as the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions express it:
if they hear not Moses and the prophets; as they did not, nor regarded what they said of Christ, but disbelieved both him and them:
neither will they be persuaded: or brought to repent and believe;
though one rose from the dead; as Christ did; whose resurrection, the truth of it they endeavoured to baffle, stifle, and suppress: this was the sign Christ gave them, of the truth of his Messiahship; and yet they repented not of what they had done to him, that they might believe in him; but remained still in their impenitence and infidelity, and so died. This shows the regard that ought to be had to the written word, as read, or preached; and that it is a sad sign of a desperate condition, when men reject divine revelation. Beza’s ancient copy adds, “and should go unto them”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Neither will they be persuaded (‘ ). First future passive of . Gressmann calls attention to the fact that Jesus is saying this in the conclusion of the parable. It is a sharp discouragement against efforts today to communicate with the dead. “Saul was not led to repentance when he saw Samuel at Endor nor were the Pharisees when they saw Lazarus come forth from the tomb. The Pharisees tried to put Lazarus to death and to explain away the resurrection of Jesus” (Plummer). Alford comments on the curious fact that Lazarus was the name of the one who did rise from the dead but whose return from the dead “was the immediate exciting cause of their (Pharisees) crowning act of unbelief.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Be persuaded. Dives had said, “they will repent.” Abraham replies, “they will not be even persuaded.”
Though one rose. Dives had said, “if one went.”
From the dead [ ] . Dives had said from the dead, but using a different preposition [] . It is wellnigh impossible to give the English reader this nice play of prepositions. The general distinction is ajpo, from the outside; ejk, from within. Thus Luk 2:4, Joseph went up from [] Galilee, the province, out of [] the city of Nazareth. Abraham ‘s preposition (ejk, out of) implies a more complete identification with the dead than Dives’ ajpo, from. A rising from among the dead was more than a messenger going from the dead. “We can hardly pass over the identity of the name Lazarus with that of him who actually was recalled from the dead; but whose return, far from persuading the Pharisees, was the immediate exciting cause of their crowning act of unbelief” (Alford).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he said unto him,” (eipen de auto) “Then he replied to him,” that is Abraham asserted to him, in a revelation from heaven, regarding the unsaved yet on earth, as a final conclusion.
2) “If they hear not Moses and the prophets,” (ei mouseos kai ton propheton ouk akouousin) “If they do not hear (give heed to) Moses and the prophets,” the God-sent messengers that they have about them now, who have testified concerning salvation, Isa 53:1-12; Isa 55:1-3.
3) “Neither will they be persuaded,” (oude peisthesontai) “Neither (not at all) will they (the five brothers on earth) be persuaded,” to repent, to give heed, Deu 18:15-18.
4) “Though one rose from the dead.” (ean tis ek nekron anaste) “Even if someone should rise again out of the dead,” which Jesus Himself did; And the unbelieving Jews, who asked for the sign, thereafter hired men to tell it all about that His disciples came and stole His body from the grave, Mat 28:11-15; Joh 8:21; Joh 8:24. They still did not believe. And today if men do not hear or give heed to the witness of His church people, they would not repent either, if one came back from the dead, in, a spectacular manner, Act 1:8; Rev 22:17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(31) If they hear not Moses and the prophets.We are accustomed, rightly enough, to look on our Lords own Resurrection as leading to the great fulfilment of these words. We should not forget, however, that there was another fulfilment more immediately following on them. In a few weeks, or even days, according to the best harmonists, tidings came that Lazarus of Bethany was sick (Joh. 11:1). In yet a few days more that Lazarus did rise from the dead; cured, we may believe, of whatever love of this worlds good things had checked his spiritual growth, a witness of the power of Christ to raise, as from the shadow-world of Hades, so also from the darkness of spiritual death to newness of life. And yet that wonder also brought about no repentance, Scribes and Pharisees, and Sadducees and priests simply took counsel together that they might put Lazarus also to death (Joh. 12:10). We can hardly believe the coincidence of name and fact in this instance to have been undesigned.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. Neither persuaded though one rose from the dead Jesus was expecting soon to be on his way to raise a Lazarus from the dead. Many did believe on him in consequence. Hence, our Lord is not to be understood as saying no one would have been convicted or converted by a message from the dead. But there are Sadducees, both of the sensual and intellectual character, whom no miracle would convince. Indeed, an isolated single miracle or testimony from the dead, perhaps, ought not to convince a man. The miracles of the Bible are a great system of miraculous dealings of God with man. They are to be embraced as a great whole; as the one comprehensive miracle, embracing and consisting of many subordinate miracles.
Upon this parable, note:
1 . It was a terrible rebuke to the silver-loving Pharisees of Luk 16:15; men of worldly hearts, and who probably were but the panders to the profligate Sadducee, Herod Antipas and his court.
2 . It was a fit completion of the parable of the rich fool. The latter traces the worldly sinner to death, and this pursues and pictures him in the world after death.
3 . It is a striking counterpart to the parable of the unjust steward. The latter so made friends of mammon as to secure his eternal life; this rich man so made a master of mammon as to secure eternal death.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.” ’
So Jesus tells him that if they will not listen to the word of God through Moses and the prophets, they will not listen even if one rises from the dead. This was prophetic concerning His own resurrection, but it also contained an eternal truth. It is that those persuaded by wonders and signs, will just as quickly forget them when time has eradicated the impact from their minds. Those only can be expected to persevere, who believe because of the word of God, and especially the word of God as given through Jesus.
The Teaching Of The Passage On The Afterlife.
We will pause in order to consider what lessons about the Afterlife we may be able to gather from this account as connected with other Scriptures, although too much dogmatism would be foolish. The first point is that in death those who are Christ’s go to a different sphere than those who are not. Elsewhere we learn that they go to be ‘with Christ, which is far better’ than being on earth (Php 1:21). This must suggest consciousness and enjoyment. That ties in with here.
Unbelievers (revealed as such by their lives) go to a place of unpleasantness, of spiritual thirst and longing, of ‘anguish’. They have no joy in Christ. They lack what God made us for. How much of the anguish is positive (this flame) and how much is due to what is lacked (thirst) it is impossible and unnecessary to say. But while it is doubtful if we should take the idea of fire literally (it is chosen because it causes thirst and is destructive) it is clear that it is a place best avoided. It is a place of ‘outer darkness’ (Mat 8:12; Mat 22:13; Mat 25:30), away from the true Light.
Both await the day of Christ’s appearing. At that stage the resurrection will take place. Then those who are truly His will rise in ‘spiritual bodies’ (1Co 15:44) and go into everlasting bliss into a new spiritual ‘earth’ ( Isa 35:10 ; 2Pe 1:11; Rev 21:1 to Rev 22:5), while those who are not His will be cast in their bodies into Gehenna (Isa 66:24; Mar 9:47-48; Rev 20:15). This is the equivalent of the ancient rubbish dump outside Jerusalem and is described in those terms, except that its fires never go out and its maggots never cease consuming (Isa 66:24; Mar 9:48). But that it is largely spiritual comes out in that it is to receive the Devil and his angels (Mat 25:41; Rev 20:10). A literal burning furnace and literal fire would be of no use there. Many would argue further that nowhere is eternal consciousness suggested, except for the Devil, and that the impression given is otherwise. Consider for example the contrast in Rev 19:20-21. The people themselves are cast in dead along with Death and Hades (Luk 20:12-15). It is the Devil and his minions who are cast in alive. But it is certainly something that no one would wish to experience, and the fact of punishment will be real and best avoided. It is deliberately revealed as horrific.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
REFLECTIONS
Reader! in beholding the character of this unjust steward, let us learn to seek from God grace, that we may be found faithful. And let us, in putting the question to our own hearts, which he put to everyone of his Lord’s debtors, do the reverse of what he recommended, and instead of lessening our account, learn to discover that they far exceed our own views of them. Oh! thou blessed Lord! I owe thee more in nature, providence, and grace, than any calculation can number. So much so, O Lord! that I am insolvent forever. But, Lord! let thy grace still exceed even my unworthiness. Oh! grant that I may be received into thine everlasting habitations!
Blessed Jesus! cause me to learn, in the history of this rich glutton, how short-lived all pamperings of the flesh are; and what an awful close terminates the career of all who live without God, and without Christ, in the world. And let me be content to be as Lazarus, poor, if need be, here below, if rich in faith, and an heir of the kingdom. Be thou, dear Lord! my portion, and then all is well. Every state sanctified in Christ is, and must be, blessed. Lord! grant that I may exercise an holy jealousy in all; and by making thee what God the Father hath made thee, both Alpha and Omega; my Lord may be the first in all my desires, and the close of all my joys; for then in life and death, both here and hereafter, Jesus will be my everlasting portion.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Ver. 31. Though one rose from the dead ] As Lazarus did, and yet they listened as little to him as to Christ, Joh 12:10 ; but sought to kill him also.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 16:31 . : Abraham does not plead impossibility as in reference to the first request; he simply declares his unbelief in the utility of the plan for converting the five. The denizens of Paradise set little value on the unusual as a means of grace. Abraham does not say that a short-lived sensation could not be produced; he does say that they would not be persuaded ( ), i.e. , to repent (Hahn). By taking as meaning something less than , and emphasising the difference between and (Luk 16:30 ), Trench ( Notes on the Parables ) makes this point: “A far mightier miracle than you demand would be ineffectual for producing a far slighter effect”. It is doubtful if the contrast be legitimate in either case; certainly not as between “repent” and “be persuaded”. In the other case there may be the difference between an apparition and a resurrected man. It may be noted that the resurrection of Christ and of Christians is spoken of as ( vide Luk 20:35 ), while the general resurrection is . ( e.g. , 1Co 15:42 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
And, &c. The lesson of the parable. From these final words of the Lord (Luk 16:31, B) Lightfoot says “it is easy to judge what was the design and intention of this parable” (vol. xii, p. 168). The Lord’s words were proved to be true, by the results of the resurrection of another Lazarus (Joh 12:9), and of Himself (Mat 28:11-13).
be persuaded.Much less “repent”, as in Luk 16:30.
though = not even if.
from = from among. Note the Lord’s true word, in contrast with the rich man’s in Luk 16:30.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 16:31. -, not even if-shall have risen from the dead, will they be persuaded) The rich man had said, – , if one shall have gone to them from the dead, they will repent: now the hypothetical antecedent increases in force [viz. taking the place of ]; whereas, however, the consequent decreases in force [ taking the place of .] There are many proofs afforded from the unseen world (Mat 27:53); but those proofs are not intended chiefly for his end, in order that mortals may repent. Another and a different Lazarus was raised to life, and yet they did not believe; Joh 11:44; Joh 11:53. , as also , is at one time to be referred, for the sense in which it is to be taken, to the understanding, at another time to the will: often to both.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
neither: Joh 11:43-53, Joh 12:10, Joh 12:11, 2Co 4:3
be persuaded: Gen 9:27, *marg. Act 19:8, Act 26:28, Act 28:23, 2Co 5:11
Reciprocal: 2Ch 20:20 – believe his 2Ch 24:19 – Yet he sent Psa 78:32 – believed Pro 13:13 – despiseth Mat 27:40 – come Mar 16:13 – neither Luk 16:16 – Law Luk 22:67 – If Joh 4:48 – Except Joh 5:39 – Search Joh 5:47 – General Joh 6:36 – That Joh 9:18 – General Joh 11:46 – General Joh 12:37 – General Act 18:4 – persuaded Gal 3:19 – It was added Heb 11:32 – the prophets
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
Neither will they be persuaded. Again there is nothing said about being convinced of facts already taught in the Scriptures, but that the brothers might be induced to do what they knew was their duty. Rose from the dead. The rich man understood that in going back from Hades to the earth, one would need to be raised from the dead, and Abraham endorsed that idea by repeating it without any correction. This all proves that no communication ever takes place between men on earth and the spirits in the unseen world, hence the theory of spiritualism is a fraud. Even those who have been permitted to rise from the dead never said anything about information gained while dead. God expects men to be convinced by the testimony furnished them by living persons; that was verified by the miracles performed before their eyes.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
[Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.] Any one may see how Christ points at the infidelity of the Jews, even after that himself shall have risen again. From whence it is easy to judge what was the design and intention of this parable.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 16:31. If they hear not Moses, etc. The Old Testament Scriptures were sufficient to lead them to repentance, and if they were not rightly affected by them, no appearance from the other world would awaken faith, conviction of the truth. For the Jews at that time the Old Testament was sufficient. Those who do not hear when God speaks, will not hear the truth about the other world, even if a message came from it. Granting the possibility of such message, we must, from this verse, deny any moral advantage to be derived from it. According to our view of the chronology, the raising of Lazarus had already occurred; and this, so far from convincing the Pharisees, who were now addressed, led to their bitterest opposition. Our Lord rose from the dead, but did not appear to the Pharisees; and the testimony concerning His resurrection produced no important results among them. The prerequisite to the conversion of a Jew to faith in the risen Lord was an earnest listening to what God had spoken before.
THE FUTURE WORLD, in the light of this parable. Our Lord here assumes: (1) that all live after death; (2) that in the state of the disembodied dead, there are two classes, which remain unchanged: the punished and the blessed; (3) that the disembodied spirits retain their personality and their memory; and that one element of torment is the apprehension, on the part of the lost, of what they would not believe on earth, without any corresponding moral effect; so that even natural sympathy only increases their misery. The parable, especially in its closing verse, cautions against too great curiosity on this subject. The answer He puts in the mouth of Abraham is not only opposed to modern spiritualism, but also to attempts to work upon the conscience and awaken faith by graphic portrayals of future misery. If Lazarus, coming from Abrahams bosom and a witness of the sufferings of Dives, could do no good to those who were disobedient to the simple words of Divine revelation, little good can be expected from the most vivid descriptions made by those who have never been there. Dantes Inferno has done little for Christianity.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
A very awakening text this is, which speaks dreadfully to persons sitting all their days under the ministry of the gospel, and yet find not their understandings enlightened, their judgments convinced, their wills subdued, and their lives reformded by it. Were it possible for such persons to see one come from the dead, yea, from the damned, with the flames of hell about his ears, wringing his hands, and gnashing his teeth, bewailing his misery, and beseeching them to take warning by his example, and in time to acquaint themselves with God, and be at peace; all this would have no farther effect upon them, than to move their passions a little for the present, while the dreadful sound is in their ears: the ordinances of God and not his providences, are the instituted and appointed means for men’s conversion and salvation.
Note then, 1. That no visions or apparitions, no new revelations concerning eternal rewards and punishments, are to be expected from the other world, in order to men’s conversion and salvation.
Note, 2. That the word of God dispensed to us, and the ordinary means of grace enjoyed by us, are more conducible and effectual means to persuade men to repentance, than if one should arise from the dead, and preach unto us. A messenger from the dead cannot bring with him either a more necessary doctrine, or a more certain and infallible doctrine, nor bring with him better arguments for our conviction, than what the scriptures do propound for our consideration; nor can we expect a greater co-operation of the Holy Spirit, or a greater concurrence of divine power, to render a message from the dead more effectual, than does ordinarily attend the ministry of the word.
Henceforward then, let us not wonder, if when a drunkard drops down dead upon the spot, the companions say one to another, Drink on; if sinners daily tumble one another into the grave, without considering the operation of God’s hand; this, to those that consider this text, will not seem strange; For if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be converted, though hundreds of sinners before their eyes drop down dead: nay, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 31
The meaning is, that the change necessary to prepare the soul for heaven is a change in the affections and feelings of the heart; and any extraordinary revelations from heaven, or marvels of any kind, though they might produce wonder or alarm, would have no tendency to awaken love.–We must not allow the material images, which our Savior uses in this parable, to fix themselves permanently in our minds, and give form to our conceptions of the world of spirits. In this our present state of being, we can form no correct ideas of that world. The Savior teaches, in this parable, only certain spiritual truths, employing very striking imagery to give vividness and emphasis to the expression of them. These truths are, 1. That the conditions of men in this life do not correspond with their characters, and will often be reversed in the world to come, 2. That the ruin in which the sinner will then find himself involved is a permanent ruin, admitting of no restoration or remedy; and, 3. That the change necessary to prepare the impenitent for heaven, is a moral change, which can be produced only by moral influences.