And he said unto him.
&c.] 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".