Luke 16:29

29 But Abraham says to him, They have Moses and the prophets: let them hear them.

Luke 16:29 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 16:29

Abraham said unto him.
&c.] In reply to this his request:

they have Moses and the prophets;
that is, their writings; which shows this man, and his five brethren, to be Jews; for to them were the oracles of God committed; and these had the writings of Moses and the prophets read to them every sabbath day; and is true, whether the contemporaries and immediate successors of the Pharisees are meant, or the ten tribes: and also shows, that one view of the parable, is to establish the authority of these writings; see ( Luke 16:16 Luke 16:17 ) and that it is a peculiar privilege to have them; and that they ought to be attended to and regarded;

let them hear them;
for they testified concerning Christ, and concerning the sins of the Jews, and the calamities, both temporal and eternal, that should come upon them; and which, testimony was sufficient to leave them without excuse: and indeed, the word of God, read, explained, and heard, is the ordinary means of conversion, or of bringing men to faith and repentance.

Luke 16:29 In-Context

27 And he said, I beseech thee then, father, that thou wouldest send him to the house of my father,

28 for I have five brothers, so that he may earnestly testify to them, that they also may not come to this place of torment.

29 But Abraham says to him, They have Moses and the prophets: let them hear them.

30 But he said, Nay, father Abraham, but if one from the dead should go to them, they will repent.

31 And he said to him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, not even if one rise from among [the] dead will they be persuaded.