Luke 16:23
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast.
Webster's Revision
And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
World English Bible
In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Definitions for Luke 16:23
Barnes's Luke 16:23 Bible Commentary
In hell - The word here translated hell ("Hades") means literally a dark, obscure place; the place where departed spirits go, but especially the place where "wicked" spirits go. See the Job 10:21-22 notes; Isaiah 14:9 note. The following circumstances are related of it in this parable:
1. It is "far off" from the abodes of the righteous. Lazarus was seen "afar off."
2. It is a place of torment.
3. There is a great gulf fixed between that and heaven, Luke 16:26.
4. The suffering is great. It is represented by "torment" in a flame, Luke 16:24.
5. There will be no escape from it, Luke 16:26.
The word "hell" here means, therefore, that dark, obscure, and miserable place, far from heaven, where the wicked shall be punished forever.
He lifted up his eyes - A phrase in common use among the Hebrews, meaning "he looked," Genesis 13:10; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 31:10; Deuteronomy 8:3; Luke 6:20.
Being in torment - The word "torment" means "pain, anguish" Matthew 4:24; particularly the pain inflicted by the ancients in order to induce people to make confession of their crimes. These "torments" or tortures were the keenest that they could inflict, such as the rack, or scourging, or burning; and the use of the word here denotes that the sufferings of the wicked can be represented only by the extremest forms of human suffering.
And seeth Abraham ... - This was an aggravation of his misery. One of the first things that occurred in hell was to look up, and see the poor man that lay at his gate completely happy. What a contrast! Just now he was rolling in wealth, and the poor man was at his gate. He had no expectation of these sufferings: now they have come upon him, and Lazarus is happy and forever fixed in the paradise of God. It is more, perhaps, than we are authorized to infer, that the wicked will "see" those who are in paradise. That they will "know" that they are there is certain; but we are not to suppose that they will be so near together as to be seen, or as to make conversation possible. These circumstances mean that there will be "a separation," and that the wicked in hell will be conscious that the righteous, though on earth they were poor or despised, will be in heaven. Heaven and hell will be far from each other, and it will be no small part of the misery of the one that it is far and forever removed from the other.
Wesley's Luke 16:23 Bible Commentary
16:23 He seeth Abraham afar off - And yet knew him at that distance: and shall not Abraham's children, when they are together in paradise, know each other!