Luke 16:29

29 "`They have Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham; `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 "`I entreat you then, father,' said he, `to send him to my father's house.

28 For I have five brothers. Let him earnestly warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'

29 "`They have Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham; `let them hear them.'

30 "`No, father Abraham,' he pleaded; `but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

31 "`If they are deaf to Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham, `they would not be led to believe even if some one should rise from the dead.'"