Luke 16:23

Luke 16:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
• New International Version (NIV)In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Context of Luke 16:23

21He [eagerly] longed to eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22Now it happened that the poor man died and his spirit was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom (paradise); and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise). 24And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in severe agony in this flame.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things [all the comforts and delights], and Lazarus likewise bad things [all the discomforts and distresses]; but now he is comforted here [in paradise], while you are in severe agony.

Luke 16:23 word by word

καὶ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, ὑπάρχων ἐν βασάνοις ὁρᾷ Ἀβραὰμ ἀπὸ μακρόθεν καὶ Λάζαρον ἐν τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• hellᾍδηςhadēs · hell: HadesG86
• he lift upἐπαίρωepairō · to lift upG1869
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• eyesὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• beingὑπάρχωhuparchō · be alreadyG5225
• tormentsβάσανοςbasanos · tormentG931
• and seethὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• AbrahamἈβραάμAbraam · AbrahamG11
• ·ἀπόapo · away fromG575
• afar offμακρόθενmakrothen · from afarG3113
• LazarusΛάζαροςLazaros · LazarusG2976
• bosomκόλποςkolpos · bosomG2859

Cross-references for Luke 16:23

• Psalms 9:17The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), Even all the nations who forget God.
• Psalms 16:10For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
• Psalms 49:15But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah.
• Psalms 86:13For great is Your lovingkindness and graciousness toward me; And You have rescued my life from the depths of Sheol [from death].
• Proverbs 5:5Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
• Proverbs 7:27Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.
• Proverbs 9:18But he does not know that the spirits of the dead are there, And that her guests are [already] in the depths of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
• Proverbs 15:24The [chosen] path of life leads upward for the wise, That he may keep away from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) below.
• Isaiah 14:9Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon]; It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].
• Matthew 5:22But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice against him shall be guilty before the court; and whoever speaks [contemptuously and insultingly] to his brother, ‘Raca (You empty-headed idiot)!’ shall be guilty before the supreme court (Sanhedrin); and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of the fiery hell.
• Matthew 18:9If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life with only one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell.
• Matthew 23:33You serpents, you spawn of vipers, how can you escape the penalty of hell?
• 1 Corinthians 15:55O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
• 2 Peter 2:4For if God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but threw them into hell and sent them to pits of gloom to be kept [there] for judgment;
• Revelation 20:13And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades (the realm of the dead) surrendered the dead who were in them; and they were judged and sentenced, every one according to their deeds.
• Luke 16:28for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’

Commentaries on Luke 16:23

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23In hell - The word here translated hell (“Hades”) means literally a dark, obscure place; the place where departed spirits go, but especially the place where “wicked” spirits go. See the Job 10:21-22 notes; Isaiah 14:9 note. The following circumstances are related of it in this parable: 1.It is “far off” from the abodes of the righteous. Lazarus was seen “afar off.” 2.It is a place of torment. 3.There is a great gulf fixed between that and heaven, Luke…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-31Verses 19-31 Here the spiritual things are represented, in a description of the different state of good and bad, in this world and in the other. We are not told that the rich man got his estate by fraud, or oppression; but Christ shows, that a man may have a great deal of the wealth, pomp, and pleasure of this world, yet perish for ever under God's wrath and curse. The sin of this rich man was his providing for himself only. Here is a godly man, and one…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23Hades: This can refer to either the place where all people go when they die, or where the wicked go after death, as in this context.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. in hell--not the final place of the lost (for which another word is used), but as we say "the unseen world." But as the object here is certainly to depict the whole torment of the one and the perfect bliss of the other, it comes in this case to much the same. seeth Abraham--not God, to whom therefore he cannot cry [Bengel].Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 16:23

• Abraham
• Dead (People)
• Death
• Hades
• Hell
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Rich, the
• Righteous
• Sorrow
• Torments
• Wicked (People)
• Worldliness

In the dictionaries

• Abraham
• Lazarus
• Abraham, Abram
• Account
• Beg
• Beside
• Cool
• Deride
• Dig
• Fare

Commentaries on Luke 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings