Luke 16:29

29 "Abraham answered, 'They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. 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 "The rich man said, 'Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father

28 where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won't end up here in this place of torment.'

29 "Abraham answered, 'They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.'

30 "'I know, Father Abraham,' he said, 'but they're not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.'

31 "Abraham replied, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.'"