Luke 16:29

29 And Abraham said 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: Then, father, I beseech thee that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house, for I have five brethren,

28 That he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torments.

29 And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.

30 But he said: No, father Abraham: but if one went to them from the dead, they will do penance.

31 And he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead.