Rich man and poor Lazarus
The parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus is a biblical story from the Gospel of Luke ( Lk 16 : 19–31 EU ). The figure of Lazarus ( Hebrew אֶלְעָזָר Elʿāzār , German for 'God has helped' ) is not identical with Lazarus, who was raised by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of John ( John 11 EU ).
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The Lukan parable contrasts two figures: poor Lazarus and a nameless rich man dressed in purple and fine canvas. Lazarus lies in front of the rich man's gate and desires the pieces of bread that fall from his table on the floor,
instead the dogs came and licked his ulcers. (Lk 16.21)
After his death, Lazarus finds himself in Abraham's bosom (literally: “the bay”). The rich man also dies and is buried and finds himself in the hereafter in a place (literally: “Hades”) where he suffers excruciating pain and sees Abraham and Lazarus in his lap from afar . There is a great gap between the two (literally: " Abyssus "). The rich man is enlightened by Abraham:
My child, remember that during your lifetime you received your share of the good, but Lazarus only received bad things. Now he will be comforted for it, but you must suffer. (Lk 16.25)
The rich man would like Abraham to send a person from the afterlife to warn his loved ones of the fate that might overtake them. Abraham's answer is:
But Abraham said to him: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced either if one rises from the dead. (Lk 16.31)
Background and interpretation
The parable begins suddenly without any introduction. There is also no interpretation by Jesus or the evangelist. Due to the staging in Hades and the appearance of Abraham, however, it becomes clear that this is a fictional example narrative that uses the figures to bring about a change in behavior among the listeners and readers. From the narrower context of the text, those addressed can be identified as Pharisees who were previously described in Luke 16.14 EU as “money-loving”, then in Luke 16.15–17 EU as arrogant and hypocritical.
There are also various further interpretations of the meaning of the parable :
- The figure of Lazarus can be seen as a typo of Jewish piety. The early wisdom of Israel assumed that God rewards the righteous and punishes the sinner, so that sin corresponds to unhappiness and righteousness corresponds to happiness. Under David and Solomon , the kingdom of Israel had been a prosperous theocracy. After the exile with the Babylonians, the people became impoverished. 90 percent of the Judeans could be counted among the poor. The old principle that the righteous who are on the right path is well off and that poverty was a result of bad life could no longer be upheld. The righteous became more and more the righteous who suffered in the world. A series of Psalms (44, 73) deal with the subject of the lament of the poor before God, who live in obedience to his commandments and experience only misfortune, while the cynics who seem to despise God go from one success to another. In prayer it becomes clear to the pious already on earth that this kind of wealth is foolish.
But I will see your face in righteousness, fed up with your sight when I wake up. ( Ps 17.15 EU )
- Lazarus is an image for materially impoverished people; the rich man symbolizes rich people. According to this interpretation, the rich man suffers torments in Hades because he did not help the poor enough. Lazarus, on the other hand, falls into Abraham's lap because of his poverty alone. Since this is the only place in the Bible where there is talk of torments in Hades, an image of a hell is sometimes seen here .
- According to another interpretation, the parable criticizes the Jewish authorities who live comfortably but do not care about the fulfillment of the law ("Moses and the prophets") and thus falsify God's word, which is why they do not participate in the kingdom of God . Lazarus, on the other hand, refers to the believing part of Israel, the common people who await redemption. An older interpretation by Johann Nepomuk Sepp and the Abbé Drioux points in a similar direction, which seeks to recognize in the rich man the high priest Kajaphas , who was in office at the time of Jesus . The five brothers would therefore be his five brothers-in-law - Eleazar (high priest 16-17), Jonathan (36-37), Theophilus (37-41), Matthias (43) and Ananus (63) - who also held the office of in the 1st century High priest obtained.
Their father, to whom Lazarus is to be sent to warn them, is identified as the high priest Annas .
- Lazarus stands for Eliezer of Damascus, who was Abraham's house slave according to Gen 15.2 EU . Eliezer was a pagan who was disinherited from Abraham in favor of his biological son Isaac, but who continued to serve him faithfully. In addition to the similarity of names in Hebrew, there are also some motifs of the two stories that support this identification: In the parable, Lazarus lies “at the door” (i.e. in front of the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem), he feeds on rubbish that falls from the rich man's table (a well-known allusion to the pagans) and he lives with dogs (also an allusion to the way of life of the pagans). The rich man, on the other hand, stands for Judah, the son of Jacob, and thus for the people of the Jews. This identification is supported by the fact that it is emphasized four times in the parable that Abraham and the rich man are related (descent via the direct line: father-son), while this is not mentioned in Lazarus. Furthermore, the rich man has five brothers, just like Judah (Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar and Zebulun). He is also dressed in purple (the colors of royalty) and linen (the color of the priesthood) as essential elements that make up the people of the Jews. Abraham further emphasizes in the parable that the rich man's brothers “have Moses and the prophets” but do not listen to them. This leads to the interpretation that the genetic descent from Abraham alone does not lead to the “true inheritance”, but rather faithful service in poverty and modesty, which is what distinguishes pagans and can become children of Abraham. This interpretation places the parable in a row with the words of Jesus from Mt 8 : 11-12 EU , where Jesus speaks of Gentiles sitting at the table of Abraham while children of the kingdom will be cast out because of their unbelief.
- The image of the falling pieces of bread possibly goes back to the custom of the time of cleaning one's hands with bread, which was then thrown away.
The motif of the reversal of earthly fate in the hereafter probably has its origin in Egypt. One reason for inclusion in the gospel may have been the distribution and popularity of this material, which made it more effective for non-Palestinian and Hellenistic readers.
Others
The Latin antiphon " In paradisum " According to the deceased may rest jointly with Lazarus forever.
Remarks
- ↑ So already with Martin Luther , cf. J. Fritschel, in: Journal for the entire Lutheran theology and church 1867, p. 657.
- ↑ Basic textual interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus
- ↑ Abbé Drioux after Josephus: * Annas ben Seth (6-15) * Eleazar ben Ananus (16-17) * Joseph ben Caiaphas (18-36), who had married the daughter of Annas (John 18:13) * Jonathan ben Ananus (36–37 and 44) * Theophilus ben Ananus (37–41) * Matthias ben Ananus (43) * Ananus ben Ananus (63)
- ^ Johann Nepomuk Sepp: Acts and teachings of Jesus with their world-historical authentication. Schaffhausen 1864, p. 329
See also
literature
- Ruben Zimmermann (ed.): Compendium of the parables of Jesus . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2007, ISBN 978-3-579-08020-8 .
- Hermann Rocke: The rich man and Lazarus . Konkordanter Verlag, Pforzheim 1988
- Meinolf Schumacher : Doctors with the tongue. Licking dogs in European literature. From the patristic exegesis of the Lazarus parable (Lk 16) to the 'Romanzero' Heinrich Heines (= Aisthesis Essay 16), Aisthesis Verlag, Bielefeld 2003, ISBN 3-89528-310-X .
