Commentaries:
People's Commentary (NT)
Luke 16:19
"The Rich Man and the Beggar" (Luke 16:19-31). A parable, also,
showing the consequences of a worldly spirit and the worldly use of
wealth. Arnot says:
``Here, as in other cognate parables, great wisdom is displayed
in bringing the whole force of the rebuke to bear on one
point. It is not intimated that this man made free with other
people's money, or that he had gained his fortune in a
dishonest way. All other charges are removed, that the weight
lying all on one point may more effectively imprint the
intended lesson. To have represented him as dishonest, or
drunken, would have blunted the weapon's edge. Here is an
affluent citizen, on whose fair fame the breath of scandal
can fix no blot. He had a large portion in the world, and did
not seek--did not desire--any other. He spent his wealth in
pleasing himself, and did not lay it out in serving God or
helping man.'
A certain rich man. Not one whom the world would call great, but
eminently respectable; one whom the worldly would admire, while the
poor man was one whom the covetous world despise.
Clothed in purple. The purple was anciently the royal color, the
gorgeous hue of the imperial robes, and hence the very term, "the
purple", is still used to signify the royal dignity.
Fine linen. The finest apparel.
Fared sumptuously every day. Enjoying not only the most sumptuous
fare on the table every day, but every sensual enjoyment. How the world
would admire his lot in life!
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Luke 16:19
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