Luke 16:21

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. AND DESIRING TO BE FED [ epithumoon (G1937 ) chortastheenai (G5526 )] WITH THE CRUMBS WHICH FELL FROM THE RICH MAN'S TABLE. The meaning may either be (as in Luke 15:16), that 'he was fain to feed' or 'gladly fed,' as Alford, Webster and Wilkinson, etc., take it; or he 'desired to be fed,' but was not: so Grotius, Bengel, Meyer, Trench, etc., understand it. The context seems rather to favour this latter view. MOREOVER THE DOGS CAME AND LICKED HIS SORES - a touching act of brute pity in the abs...

21._And even the dogs came. _It was quite enough to prove the hardened cruelty of the _rich man, _that the sight of wretchedness like this did not move him to compassion. Had there been a drop of humanity in him, he ought at least to have ordered a supply from his kitchen for the unhappy man. But the crowning exhibition of his wicked, and savage, and worse than brutal disposition was, that he did not learn pity even from _the dogs _There can be no doubt that those _dogs _were guided by the secret purpose of God, to condemn that man by their example. Christ certainly produces them here as witnesses to convict him of unfeeling and detestable cruelty. What could be more monstrous than to see _the dogs _taking charge of a man, to whom his neighbor is paying no attention; and, what is more, to see the very crumbs of bread refused to a man perishing of hunger, while _the dogs _are giving him t...

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 that will hereafter be happy for ever, in the depth of adversity and distress. It is often the lot of some of the dearest of God's saints and servants to be greatly afflicted in this world. We are not told that the rich man did him any harm, but we do not find that he had any care for him. Here is the different condition of this godly poor man, and this wicked rich man, at and after death. The rich man in hell lifted up his eyes, being in torme...

Verse Luke 16:21. _AND DESIRING TO BE FED WITH THE CRUMBS_] And it is likely this desire was complied with, for it is not intimated that he spurned away the poor man from the gate, or that his suit was rejected. And as we find, Luke 16:24, that the rich man desired that Lazarus should be sent with a little water to him, it is a strong intimation that he considered him under some kind of _obligation_ to him; for, had he refused him a few crumbs in his lifetime, it is not reasonable to suppose that he would now have requested such a favour from him; nor does Abraham glance at any such uncharitable conduct on the part of the rich man. We may now observe, II. In what the punishment of this man consisted. 1. Lazarus dies and is carried into Abraham's bosom. B

BEGGAR - Poor man. The original word does not mean “beggar,” but simply that he was “poor.” It should have been so translated to keep up the contrast with the “rich man.” NAMED LAZARUS - The word Lazarus is Hebrew, and means a man destitute of help, a needy, poor man. It is a name given, therefore, to denote his needy condition. LAID AT HIS GATE - At the door of the rich man, in order that he might obtain aid. FULL OF SORES - Covered with ulcers; afflicted not only with poverty, but with loathsome and offensive ulcers, such as often are the accompaniments of poverty and want. These circumstances are designed to show how different was his condition from that of the rich man. “He” was clothed in purple; the poor man was covered with sores; “he” fared sumptuously; the poor man was dependent even for the crumbs that fell

EXPOSITION LUKE 16:1 The _Lord_'_s teaching on the right use of earthly possessions with regard to the prospect of another world, in the form of the two parables of the unjust steward, and Dives and Lazarus._ LUKE 16:1, LUKE 16:2 AND HE SAID ALSO UNTO HIS DISCIPLES. There is no doubt that this important teaching belongs to the last portion of our Lord's life, and it is probable that it is closely connected with the parable of the prodigal son just related. It is not likely that two such weighty sermons had been preached at the same time, but in the evening, or on the following day, or at leas

AND DESIRING TO BE FED WITH THE CRUMBS,.... The offal food, broken bread, fragments of meat: that food which falls from the knife, or plate, in eating, and from thence on the ground; and literally understood, may express the low condition Christ was in, in his human nature: he assumed a true body, like to ours, and partook of the same flesh and blood with us, and was liable to the same infirmities as ours, which are sinless; and among the rest, was subject to hunger and thirst, and was obliged to the ministration of others for a subsistence: and it may also express his contentment in such a condition; he never murmured at the providence of God, but was entirely, resigned to his will; he did not desire to live in fulness and affluence, but avoided and shunned every step that led unto it; nor did he envy the plenty of others, and was fully satisfied with his meanness; nor did he ever work...

LUKE 16:21 tw/n pipto,ntwn {B} The more picturesque expression tw/n yici,wn (“the crumbs”) was introduced by copyists from Matthew 15:27....

CHAPTER 16 _ 1. The Unjust Steward. (Luke 16:1)_ 2. The Impossible Service. (Luke 16:13) 3. The Deriding Pharisees Answered. (Luke 16:14) 4. Concerning Divorce. (Luke 16:18) 5. The Rich Man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19 .) Luke 16:1 Let us notice that this story was spoken to the disciples. It contains a number of difficulties. It has well been said “there are knots in it which perhaps will never be untied, until the Lord comes again. We might re

PARABLE OF DIVES AND LAZARUS (Lk. only). The story may have originally ended at Luke 16:23 or at Luke 16:25, and been intended simply to illustrate the contrasted lot of poor and rich in this world and the next. _Cf. Luke 6:21; Luke 6:24_. Inequality is redressed apart from moral considerations. We need not suppose that Dives was specially cruel; if Lazarus had only got harsh treatment at his door he would have shifted his pitch. Certain points are (as usual in the parables) ignored, _e.g._ the fate of the godly rich or the wicked poor, and the unequal balance of temporal comfort and eternal woe. To the rich man's deprivation is added punishment, so