Luke 16:22

Carried by the angels. Compare Matt. 24:31. For principles to guide in the interpretation of Luke 16:25-31, see on v. 19. It should be remembered that the purpose of the parable is to compare the opportunities of this life, and the use made of them, with the rewards of the life to come. Destiny is fixed at death, and men must use well this present life if they would enjoy the privileges of the next.

Abraham’s bosom. A typically Jewish idiom, meaning “paradise.” The Talmud (. Kiddushim 72a; in Soncino ed., p. 369) mentions “Abraham’s lap” as a place of the blessed dead. On another occasion Jesus spoke of paradise as a place where “many” would “come from the east and west” and “sit down with Abraham” at the feast of “the kingdom of heaven” (see on Matt. 8:11; Luke 14:15).

On Jesus being “in the bosom of the Father” see on John 1:18. On “leaning on the bosom” of someone while reclining at a feast see on John 13:23. Abraham was the father of the Jews (see John 8:39, 56), and they had practically come to look to him for salvation in place of God (see on Luke 16:24). They conceived of Abraham as welcoming his children to paradise, as, in much the same way, Peter is sometimes now represented as greeting Christians at the gate of heaven.

Was buried. Those who hold that this narrative is literal, and not a parable, should note that if the rich man is literally and bodily in torment, then Lazarus was borne to heaven literally and bodily. However, the bodies of both Lazarus and the rich man returned to the dust, whence they had come (see Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Eccl. 12:7).