Who is Lazarus in Luke 16:20

[jimmie]

Could Lazarus equal Eliezer (God's Helper) of Damascus the servant of Abraham who put his hand under Abraham's thigh? Surely this faithful servant rest in Abraham" bosom.

Note if the "E" is dropped and you add a "s" to make the name have the Greek form, Eliezer becomes Lazarus.

[chrisg]

If that's the case, then who is the rich man?

[alon]

Apr 12, 2016 19:20:14 GMT -8 jimmie said:

Could Lazarus equal Eliezer (God's Helper) of Damascus the servant of Abraham who put his hand under Abraham's thigh? Surely this faithful servant rest in Abraham" bosom.

Note if the "E" is dropped and you add a "s" to make the name have the Greek form, Eliezer becomes Lazarus.

Then as now I don't think having the same name meant it was the same person. And Eliezar did not place his hand under Abraham's thigh. This is likely another common mistranslation. The practice was to place your hand on the person's sword, carried on his thigh, when you swore an oath. This was often carried under the robe. If Abraham had been dressed ceremonially, even on his bed, this would have been how he was dressed.

Dan C

[jimmie]

crisg,

First the clues.

Luk 16:19 There(1161) was2258 a certain5100 rich4145 man,444 which(2532) was clothed1737 in purple4209 and2532 fine linen,1040 and fared2165 sumptuously2988 every day:2596, 2250
Luk 16:25 But1161 Abraham11 said,2036 Son,5043 remember3415 that3754 thou4771 in1722 thy4675 lifetime2222 receivedst618 thy4675 good things,18 and2532 likewise3668 Lazarus2976 evil things:2556 but1161 now3568 he3592 is comforted,3870 and1161 thou4771 art tormented.3600
Luk 16:28 For1063 I have2192 five4002 brethren;80 that3704 he may testify1263 unto them,846 lest3363 they846 also2532 come2064 into1519 this5126 place5117 of torment.931

He was rich or a member of the elite, he wore purple meaning royalty, he wore linen, meaning priestly, he fared sumptuously as did Eli’s sons. He was a son of Abraham, and he had five brethren. The only one that fits that is Judah.

Christ was teaching the same concept that he did in Mat 5:20 For1063 I say3004 unto you,5213 That3754 except3362 your5216 righteousness1343 shall exceed4052, 4119 the righteousness of the3588 scribes1122 and2532 Pharisees,5330 ye shall in no case3364 enter1525 into1519 the3588 kingdom932 of heaven.3772

alon,

I have no problem with hand under one’s thigh being a euphemism for hand upon the sword. Both place Eliezer in a humble position in Abraham’s bosoms.

[alon]

Luke 16:19-31 (ESV)  The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.[bosom] The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers [brothers and sisters]—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Encyclopedia of The Bible – Eliezer, Eliezar
ELIEZER, ELIEZAR ĕl ĕ ē’ zər (אֱלִיעֶֽזֶר, God is help). The name of eleven different individuals in the OT.

1. The head servant of Abraham (Gen 15:2). According to the custom of that day, he was due to receive the inheritance of Abraham because Abraham then had no son as heir. He is designated as “from Damascus,” possibly to distinguish him from other servants of the same name. He was most likely the unnamed servant of Genesis 24 who was sent by Abraham to get a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s people. If so, he was a devout man of faith.
2. The second son of Moses by Zipporah (Exod 18:4). The name was given to him by Moses because God delivered Moses from Pharaoh. He had one son, Rehabiah, who had many sons (1 Chron 23:15, 17). One of his descendants, Shelomoth, was in charge of all the treasuries of the gifts which David and the heads of the families of Israel had dedicated to God (26:25, 26).
3. One of the sons of Becher, a descendant of Benjamin (7:8).
4. A priest of Levi (15:24). He was appointed to blow the trumpet when David brought the Ark to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom.
5. A ruler over the Reubenites in David’s day (27:16). He was the son of Zichri and the chief officer of the tribe.
6. A prophet, the son of Dodavahu, in Jehoshaphat’s time (2 Chron 20:37). He was from Mareshah and prophesied against Jehoshaphat because he had made alliance with Ahaziah. God promised to destroy the king’s works and consequently Jehoshaphat’s ships were broken and destroyed.
7. One sent by Ezra to Iddo to get ministers for the house of God (Ezra 8:16). The name is spelled ̓Ελεαζαρ in 1 Esdras 8:43.
8. One of the priests who married foreign wives and who promised to put them away and to offer guilt offerings (Ezra 10:18). It is also spelled Eliezar in 1 Esdras 9:19.
9. Another Levite who had married a foreign wife (Ezra 10:23), possibly the same as the Jonah of 1 Esdras 9:23.
10. The son of Harim, one who had married a foreign wife (Ezra 10:31). Possibly he is the same as Elionas of 1 Esdras 9:32.
11. An ancestor of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 3:29). He lived between the time of David and Zerubbabel.

Smith's Bible Dictionary, Lazarus; (whom God helps), another form of the Hebrew name Eleazar.
1.Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Martha and Mary. (John 11:1) All that we know of him is derived from the Gospel of St. John, and that records little more than the facts of his death and resurrection. The language of (John 11:1) implies that the sisters were the better known. Lazarus is "of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha." From this and from the order of the three names in (John 11:5) we may reasonably infer that Lazarus was the youngest of the family. All the circumstances of John 11 and 12 point to wealth and social position above the average.
2.The name of a poor man in the well-known parable of (Luke 16:19-31) The name of Lazarus has been perpetuated in an institution of the Christian Church. The leper of the Middle Ages appears as a lazzaro . The use of lazaretto and lazarhouse for the leper hospitals then founded in all parts of western Christendom, no less than that of lazaroni for the mendicants of Italian towns, is an indication of the effect of the parable upon the mind of Europe in the Middle Ages, and thence upon its later speech.

 The names are the same (good catch). We probably can draw some parallels to characters in the TNK, since everything taught in the B'rith Chadashah is to be found somewhere in the TNK. This also is in agreement with all the major schools of scriptural exegesis. However it is up to you (or us) to develop the d'rash based on those similarities and lessons. What is it the lesson you see here?

"Christ was teaching the same concept that he did in Mat 5:20."

That just begs further development- a d'rash in the making!

Dan C