Luke 16 Study Notes

16:18 Remarriage after divorce constitutes adultery if the former marriage was dissolved for illegitimate reasons or motivations; hence the strict terms of this verse. The parallel passages in Mt 5:31-32 and 19:9 are more detailed. They indicate that remarriage is legitimate in cases where the former marriage was dissolved due to sexual immorality.

16:19-21 The rich man (called Dives, Latin for “rich man”) clearly did not use his wealth to make friends in the “eternal dwellings” (see note at vv. 8-9). Sores is a medical term used only here in the NT, perhaps reflecting Luke’s background as a physician (Col 4:14). It is ironic that the suffering poor man was named Lazarus since a man by that name would later rise from the dead (Jn 11:1-44). On dress in purple, see Ac 16:14.

16:22-24 The circumstances were reversed after both men died. The Jewish Talmud refers to both paradise (23:43; 2Co 12:4) and Abraham’s side (or “bosom”) as names for the place of blessedness beyond the grave. Hades, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Sheol, is, generally, “the place of the dead.” In this case, however, because of the mention of being in torment, Hades must be viewed as hell, the place of the unrighteous dead. In this flame refers to the eternal lake of fire (Mt 25:41).

16:25 This verse is an application of the principle in 13:30. The rich man had been “first” in this life, having enjoyed many good things, but was now “last,” referring to his agony in the afterlife. By contrast, Lazarus had been “last” during his earthly existence (vv. 20-21) but now was “first” (eternally comforted).

16:26 In the afterlife, there is a separation between believers and unbelievers that cannot be spanned. It is not possible to cross over from heaven to hell or hell to heaven.

16:27-29 Not being able to improve his own lot, the rich man finally showed concern for the eternal destiny of his five brothers. The phrase Moses and the prophets is another way of referring to the entire OT (see v. 16).

16:30-31 The irony here is that Luke, writing from a time after Jesus’s resurrection, knew that very few people would be persuaded to repent even through witnessing the miracle of someone rising from the dead (Lazarus or Jesus). They must listen with “ears to hear” to the message of salvation in the Scriptures. On Moses and the prophets, see notes at vv. 16-17,27-29.