Luke 16:21

ἐπιθυμῶν, desiring, perhaps not intended to suggest that his desire was not gratified. Suppose morsels did come to him from the rich man's table, not meant for him specially, but for the hungry without, including the wild street dogs, would that exhaust the duty of Dives to his poor brother? But the trait is introduced to depict the poor man's extreme misery rather than the rich man's sin. ἀλλὰ καὶ : no ellipse implied such as that supplied by the Vulgate: et nemo illi dabat. Bornemann supplies: “not only was he filled with the crumbs,” etc., but also, etc. (οὐ μόνον ἐχορτάσθη ἀπὸ τῶν ψιχίων πλουσίου, ἀλλὰ, etc.). ἀλλὰ simply introduces a new feature, and heightens the picture of misery (so Schanz) = he was dependent on casual scraps for his food, and moreover, etc. ἐπέλειχον, licked (here only in N.T.); was this an aggravation or a mitigation? Opinion is much divided. Or is the point that dogs were his companions, now licking his sores (whether a benefit or otherwise), now scrambling with him for the morsels thrown out? The scramble was as much a fact as the licking. Furrer speaks of witnessing dogs and lepers waiting together for the refuse (Wanderungen, p. 40).