Bible Strands
Luke 16:23
In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The dead rich man, now placed in Hades after burial, lifts his eyes and sees Abraham and Lazarus from a distance. He addresses Abraham as Father to request relief from his immediate torment.
The words — The phrase ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ (eparas tous ophthalmous autou) literally means "having lifted up his eyes," describing a deliberate visual shift from his own suffering to the distant scene.
The thread — The parable's depiction of Hades as a place of conscious suffering runs parallel to the warning about escaping the sentence of hell in Matthew 23:33.
Why it lands — The text states that physical death fixes one's eternal location and severs earthly means of obtaining mercy. It requires the reader to acknowledge that present privilege or neglect carries irreversible consequences.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Cross-references
- 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Matthew 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
- Matthew 23:33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
- Luke 16:28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’
- Psalms 9:17 The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.
- Revelation 14:10 he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
- Isaiah 14:9 Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
- Isaiah 14:15 But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
- Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
- Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.