17:14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, 9
from the murderers of this world! 10
They enjoy prosperity; 11
you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. 12
They have many children,
and leave their wealth to their offspring. 13
73:3 For I envied those who are proud,
as I observed 14 the prosperity 15 of the wicked.
73:4 For they suffer no pain; 16
their bodies 17 are strong and well-fed. 18
73:5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;
they do not suffer as other men do. 19
73:6 Arrogance is their necklace, 20
and violence their clothing. 21
73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; 22
their thoughts are sinful. 23
16:19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple 24 and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously 25 every day. 16:20 But at his gate lay 26 a poor man named Lazarus 27 whose body was covered with sores, 28 16:21 who longed to eat 29 what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs 30 came and licked 31 his sores.
16:22 “Now 32 the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. 33 The 34 rich man also died and was buried. 35 16:23 And in hell, 36 as he was in torment, 37 he looked up 38 and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. 39 16:24 So 40 he called out, 41 ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus 42 to dip the tip of his finger 43 in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish 44 in this fire.’ 45 16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, 46 remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 47
1 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Isaac’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are included.
2 tn Heb “and he went, going and becoming great.” The construction stresses that his growth in possessions and power continued steadily.
3 sn Do not go down to Egypt. The words echo Gen 12:10, which reports that “Abram went down to Egypt,” but state the opposite.
4 tn Heb “say to you.”
5 tn Heb “drink wine.”
6 tn Heb “and we will lie down.” The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive is subordinated to the preceding cohortative and indicates purpose/result.
7 tn Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.
8 tn Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”
9 tc Heb “from men [by] your hand,
10 tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”
11 tn Heb “their portion, in life.”
12 tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”
13 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”
14 tn The imperfect verbal form here depicts the action as continuing in a past time frame.
15 tn Heb “peace” (שָׁלוֹם, shalom).
16 tn In Isa 58:6, the only other occurrence of this word in the OT, the term refers to “bonds” or “ropes.” In Ps 73:4 it is used metaphorically of pain and suffering that restricts one’s enjoyment of life.
17 tn Or “bellies.”
18 tc Or “fat.” The MT of v. 4 reads as follows: “for there are no pains at their death, and fat [is] their body.” Since a reference to the death of the wicked seems incongruous in the immediate context (note v. 5) and premature in the argument of the psalm (see vv. 18-20, 27), some prefer to emend the text by redividing it. The term לְמוֹתָם (lÿmotam,“at their death”) is changed to לָמוֹ תָּם (lamo tam, “[there are no pains] to them, strong [and fat are their bodies]”). The term תָּם (tam, “complete; sound”) is used of physical beauty in Song 5:2; 6:9. This emendation is the basis for the present translation. However, in defense of the MT (the traditional Hebrew text), one may point to an Aramaic inscription from Nerab which views a painful death as a curse and a nonpainful death in one’s old age as a sign of divine favor. See ANET 661.
19 tn Heb “in the trouble of man they are not, and with mankind they are not afflicted.”
20 sn Arrogance is their necklace. The metaphor suggests that their arrogance is something the wicked “wear” proudly. It draws attention to them, just as a beautiful necklace does to its owner.
21 tn Heb “a garment of violence covers them.” The metaphor suggests that violence is habitual for the wicked. They “wear” it like clothing; when one looks at them, violence is what one sees.
22 tc The MT reads “it goes out from fatness their eye,” which might be paraphrased, “their eye protrudes [or “bulges”] because of fatness.” This in turn might refer to their greed; their eyes “bug out” when they see rich food or produce (the noun חֵלֶב [khelev, “fatness”] sometimes refers to such food or produce). However, when used with the verb יָצָא (yatsa’, “go out”) the preposition מִן (“from”) more naturally indicates source. For this reason it is preferable to emend עֵינֵמוֹ (’enemo, “their eye”) to עֲוֹנָמוֹ, (’avonamo, “their sin”) and read, “and their sin proceeds forth from fatness,” that is, their prosperity gives rise to their sinful attitudes. If one follows this textual reading, another interpretive option is to take חֵלֶב (“fatness”) in the sense of “unreceptive, insensitive” (see its use in Ps 17:10). In this case, the sin of the wicked proceeds forth from their spiritual insensitivity.
23 tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).
24 sn Purple describes a fine, expensive dye used on luxurious clothing, and by metonymy, refers to clothing colored with that dye. It pictures someone of great wealth.
25 tn Or “celebrated with ostentation” (L&N 88.255), that is, with showing off. Here was the original conspicuous consumer.
26 tn The passive verb ἐβέβλητο (ebeblhto) does not indicate how Lazarus got there. Cf. BDAG 163 s.v. βάλλω 1.b, “he lay before the door”; Josephus, Ant. 9.10.2 (9.209).
27 sn This is the one time in all the gospels that a figure in a parable is mentioned by name. It will become important later in the account.
28 tn Or “was covered with ulcers.” The words “whose body” are implied in the context (L&N 23.180).
29 tn Grk “to eat his fill,” but this phrase has been simplified as “to eat” for stylistic reasons.
30 tn The term κύνες (kunes) refers to “wild” dogs (either “street” dogs or watchdogs), not house pets (L&N 4.34).
31 sn When the dogs came and licked his sores it meant that he was unclean. See the negative image of Rev 22:15 that draws on this picture.
32 tn Grk “Now it happened that the.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
33 tn Grk “to Abraham’s bosom.” The phrase “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” describes being gathered to the fathers and is a way to refer to heaven (Gen 15:15; 47:30; Deut 31:16).
34 tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
35 sn The shorter description suggests a different fate, which is confirmed in the following verses.
36 sn The Greek term Hades stands for the Hebrew concept of Sheol. It is what is called hell today. This is where the dead were gathered (Ps 16:10; 86:13). In the NT Hades has an additional negative force of awaiting judgment (Rev 20:13).
37 sn Hades is a place of torment, especially as one knows that he is separated from God.
38 tn Grk “he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).
39 tn Grk “in his bosom,” the same phrase used in 16:22. This idiom refers to heaven and/or participation in the eschatological banquet. An appropriate modern equivalent is “at Abraham’s side.”
40 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous actions in the narrative.
41 tn Grk “calling out he said”; this is redundant in contemporary English style and has been simplified to “he called out.”
42 sn The rich man had not helped Lazarus before, when he lay outside his gate (v. 2), but he knew him well enough to know his name. This is why the use of the name Lazarus in the parable is significant. (The rich man’s name, on the other hand, is not mentioned, because it is not significant for the point of the story.)
43 sn The dipping of the tip of his finger in water is evocative of thirst. The thirsty are in need of God’s presence (Ps 42:1-2; Isa 5:13). The imagery suggests the rich man is now separated from the presence of God.
44 tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92).
45 sn Fire in this context is OT imagery; see Isa 66:24.
46 tn The Greek term here is τέκνον (teknon), which could be understood as a term of endearment.
47 tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92). Here is the reversal Jesus mentioned in Luke 6:20-26.