known in the figurative lore of the rabbis as Abraham's
bosom. The rich man also died; his burial was doubtless an elaborate
affair, but we read not of any angelic escort receiving his spirit. In
hell he lifted up his eyes and saw, afar, Lazarus at peace in the abode
of Abraham.

As a Jew the man had often boasted of having Abraham for his father; and
now the wretched spirit appealed to the patriarch of his race by the
paternal address, "Father Abraham," and asked only the boon of a single
drop of water to be placed on his parched tongue; this he prayed that
Lazarus, the erstwhile beggar, might bring. The reply throws light on
certain conditions existing in the spirit world, though as in the use of
parables generally, the presentation is largely figurative. Addressing
the poor tormented spirit as "Son," Abraham reminded him of all the good
things he had kept for himself on earth, whilst Lazarus had lain a
suffering, neglected beggar at his gates; now by the operation of divine
law, Lazarus had received recompense, and he, retribution. Moreover, to
grant his pitiful request was impossible, for between the abode of the
righteous where Lazarus rested and that of the wicked where he suffered
"there is a great gulf fixed," and passage between the two is
interdicted. The next request of the miserable sufferer was not wholly
selfish; in his anguish he remembered those from whom he had been
separated by death, fain would he save his brothers from the fate he had
met; and he prayed that Lazarus be sent back to earth to visit the
ancestral home, and warn those selfish, pleasure-seeking, and yet mortal
brothers, of the awful doom awaiting them except they would repent and
reform. There may have been in this petition an insinuation that had he
been sufficiently warned he would have done better, and would have
escaped the torment. To the reminder that they had the words of Moses
and the prophets, which they should obey, he replied that if one went to
them from the dead they would surely repent. Abraham answered that if
they would not heed Moses and the prophets neither would "they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

In any attempt to interpret the parable as a whole or definitely apply
any of its parts, we should bear in mind that it was addressed to the
Pharisees as an instructive rebuke for the derision and scorn with which
they had received the Lord's warning concerning the dangers attending
servitude to mammon. Jesus