Luke 16:29

29 "But Avraham said to him, 'They have Moshe and the prophets. Let them listen to 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 "He said, 'I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house;

28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'

29 "But Avraham said to him, 'They have Moshe and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'

30 "He said, 'No, father Avraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

31 "He said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moshe and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.'"