Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 16:28
For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
28. I have five brethren ] If there be any special meaning in this detail, the clue to it is now lost. Some have seen in it a reference to the five sons of the High Priest Annas, all of whom succeeded to the Priesthood, Eleazar, Jonathan, Theophilus, Matthias, and the younger Annas, besides his son-in-law Caiaphas. But this seems to be very unlikely. An allusion to Antipas and his brethren is less improbable, but our Lord would hardly have admitted into a parable an oblique personal reflexion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I have five brethren,…. Meaning his brethren and countrymen, according to the flesh; who when he was alive, stood in such a relation to him; said to be “five”, in allusion it may be to the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, , “by fives”, or five in a rank, Ex 13:18 as a learned man m conjectures, to whom I am beholden for several hints, in the explanation of this parable; and certain it is, that these five brethren were Jews, since they had the writings of Moses and the prophets with them,
Lu 16:29. Wherefore I shall venture to propose another conjecture, though it may be liable to exception, as all conjectures usually are: it is plain that there were “six” brethren in all; let it be observed then, that the Jewish nation were usually divided into “three” parts, “priests, Levites, and Israelites”; of these three the great sanhedrim usually consisted n; and these read the law every sabbath day; first a priest, then a Levite, and then “five Israelites” o; (let that number also be remarked;) now these were again divided into “three” sects, “Pharisees, Sadducees”, and “Essenes”. The former of these are represented in this parable; this I only propose, I lay no stress on it: it may be, that the twice five, or ten tribes of Israel, which were not known where they were, nor are they to this day, may be designed by a “synechdoche”, of a part for the whole; whose return the Jews are yet expecting, and for whose welfare they are greatly concerned.
That he may testify unto them: that is, preach unto them, as the word is used in Ac 2:40. Christ, when here on earth, did testify to that people of their sins, showed them the heinousness of them, inveighed against them, and reproved for them; and of their righteousness, and showed the hypocrisy, deficiency, and insufficiency of it to justify them; of himself as the Messiah; of truth in general; and of their ruin, temporal and eternal; but he had now finished his testimony, and which, though faithful, was not heard nor received by them; the reason of this request is,
lest they also come into this place of torment; as hell is, and which these brethren of his, he left behind, were deserving of, and in danger of coming into; and his concern for them did not arise from any regard to Christ, and the enlargement of his interest; nor from any love to his testimony, the Gospel; nor from any real notion or desire of converting grace for his brethren; nor from true love to them; but from a selfish principle, lest his own torments should be aggravated by their coming: this, as it may regard the Jews in their affliction, and if the ten tribes should be meant by the five brethren, may design the very passionate concern the Jews had, and still have for them, who yet, to this day, hope for the return of them; see Manasseh ben Israel’s book, called, “Spes Israelis”.
m Teelmannus. n Maimon Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 2. o Ib. Hilchot Tephilla, c. 12. sect. 16.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That he may testify ( ). An old verb for solemn and thorough (–) witness. The Rich Man labours under the delusion that his five brothers will believe the testimony of Lazarus as a man from the dead.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “For I have five brethren;” (echo gar pente adelphous) “For I have five brothers,” back home, in my father’s house, unprepared for life and death, as I and the rich barn builder were, until too late, Luk 12:10.
2) “That he may testify unto them,” (hopos diamarturetai sutois) “So that he may witness to them,” urgently witness to them, though they had the testimony of all the prophets regarding the need of looking to, believing on, or receiving the Savior, Isa 55:6-7; Act 10:43.
3) “Lest they also come into this place of torment.” (hine me kai autoi elthosin eis ton topon touton tes basanou) “In order that they may not also come to this place of torment,” of which they were already warned, Psa 9:17; Ecc 12:13-14; And their coming here would also be an additional torment to me because of my memory of how I led them to follow me is the idea.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(28) For I have five brethren.Here again we are left to choose between opposite views of the motive which prompted the request. Was it simply a selfish fear of reproaches that might aggravate his sufferings? Was it the stirring in him of an unselfish anxiety for others, content to bear his own anguish if only his brothers might escape? Either view is tenable enough, but the latter harmonises more with the humility of the tone in which the request is uttered. The question why five are named is again one which we cannot answer with certainty. The allusions which some have found to the five senses, in the indulgence of which the man had passed his life, or to the five books of Moses (!), are simply fantastic. It may have been merely the use of a certain number for an uncertain, as in the case of the five wise and the five foolish virgins (Mat. 25:2), or the five talents (Mat. 25:15), or the five cities in the land of Egypt (Isa. 19:18). It may have been an individualising feature, pointing to some conspicuously self-indulgent rich man among the hearers of the parable, and so coming home to him as a warning; or, possibly (following up the hint in the Note on Luk. 16:19), to the number of the Tetrarchs surviving brothers. Of these he had had eight, but Aristobulus and Arche-laus were already dead, and possibly, of course, another. Here, returning to the structure of the parable, there is a special motive for the rich mans wishing Lazarus to be sent. The brothers had seen the beggar lying at his gate. If they were to see him now, as risen from the dead, they would learn how far more blessed his state had been than the luxurious ease in which they had passed and were still passing their lives.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Ver. 28. Lest they also come into this place ] This he wisheth, not for their good, but for his own. For he knew that if they were damned, he should be double damned, because they were brought thither partly by his lewd and loose example.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 16:28 . , brothers, in the literal sense. Why force on it an allegorical sense by finding in it a reference to the Pharisees or to the Jewish people, brethren in the sense of fellow-countrymen? Five is a random number, true to natural probability; a large enough family to make interest in their eternal well-being on the part of a deceased member very intelligible. , urgently testify to, telling them how it looks beyond, how it fares with their brother, with the solemn impressiveness of one who has seen.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
testify = earnestly testify.
lest they also = that they also may not (Greek. me. App-105).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 16:28. , five) Perhaps there were five Pharisees, who had especially derided their Lord, Luk 16:14, and who did not hear the law and the prophets, Luk 16:16; Luk 16:29; and who were like the rich feaster, if not externally, at least internally. Certainly the Lord knew the inmost character and also the number of such persons. See Luk 16:15. The sixth brother was he who was now crying aloud in hell: in contrast to those six, one individual, a seventh, viz. Lazarus, who also was of the posterity of Abraham, reached the bosom of Abraham.-, brethren) who are living securely and without concern about their state.- , that they may not) In hell the classical adage, Companions the solace of the wretched [Solamen miseris socios], etc., gives no comfort to the rich feaster. See, however, Eze 32:31. The self-indulger, who previously had shown no compassion, now puts forth into exercise a kind of compassion, but one which does not correspond to the Divine compassion. He was worse when amidst his pleasures, than now, when amidst the tortures of hell.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
lest: Psa 49:12, Psa 49:13
Reciprocal: Gen 42:21 – they said Job 21:21 – For what Psa 17:14 – leave Psa 37:10 – wicked Psa 52:5 – pluck Ecc 2:18 – I should Luk 16:23 – being Gal 5:3 – testify Heb 12:1 – witnesses