the benefit of the Pharisees, to whom He was speaking when He delivered it. I believe the connecting link is to be found in the 9th verse, where Jesus said, " Make to yourselves Mends of the mammon of unrighteousness," and in the 14th verse, where it is said, " The Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things, and derided him." And I believe that our Lord's principal object was to rebuke the selfishness, worldliness, want of charity, and
feneral forgetfulness of their responsibilities, of which the ^harisees were guilty, and to expose the fearftil end to which their unbelief and neglect of their own Scriptures were rapidly bringing them.
[Clothed in purple.] Purple was a peculiarly rich and expen- sive dye, and clothes dyed with it were worn by none but the rich and noble. Lydia in the 16th chapter of Acts, is mentioned OS a " seller of purple."
[Fared sumptuously.'] The Greek word rendered " fared," is only translated so in this place in the New Testament. In other places the verb is rendered " to be merry, — make merry, — ^rejoice, — or be glad."
Let it be noted, that we are not told that the rich man was an open breaker of any one of the ten commandments. It is not said that he was an idolater, blasphemer, murderer, adulterer, or thief. But he was one who lived only for himself. This was the ruin of his soul.
20. — [^ certain beggar named Lazarus.] The Greek word rendered " beggar" does not necessarily mean what our English word im- plies, a mendicant. In thirty-one out of thirty-two other places where it is used in the New Testament, beside this parable, it is translated " poor."
We know nothing of this Lazarus, excepting that he was not the brother of Martha and Mary. Several of the fathers call attention to the fact that the beggar^s name is given, but not the name of the rich man. It is thought to imply that the rich man's name was not in the book of life, while that of I^azarus was. Let us add to this, that to mention the name of the rich man in such a history as that before us, would have been most invidious, and most offensive to his relatives and friends.
21. — {Desiring to be fed.] This does not imply that he was not fed, though he desired it. It rather signifies, as in the case of the prodigal son with the husks, (Luke xv. 16.) that he was " only too glad to have " the crumbs. That which fell from the rich man's table, as refuse, was food for Lazarus.
, [The dogs came and licked.,. sores.] Some have thought that this is mentioned as an aggravation of Lazarus' misery, and that the dogs added to his sufferings. I cannot see this. To me it seems rather to imply that the dogs cared more for Lazarus than man did. It was an act of kindness.