Various untenable identifications have been made in con- nexion with the story of Lazarus. Mary has been identified either with Mary Magdalene, or with the sinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee, or with both. Almost certainly they were three different persons. Simon the Pharisee has been identified with Simon the leper, in whose house was the meal at which Martha served, Mary anointed the Lord's feet, while L. was one of those who reclined with Him at table. This also is highly improbable. All these identifications, however, have been suggested by some patristic writers as well as by some moderns. It was reserved for the imagination of a modern scholar to identify L. himself not only with the young ruler who had great possessions (Mt 1918, Mk 1017, Lk 1818), but with the young man with a linen cloth about him, who was near being arrested with Christ (Mk 1451), We do not know that L. was young; it is most improbable that he was a ruler ; and although the family seems to have been well-to-do, there is no evidence that L. had great possessions. And were there so few young men in Palestine that wherever we find one men- tioned we must assume that he is the same as some other one? To identify the ruler of Lk 1818 with the young man of Mk 1451, and both of these with L., is against all probability. The inter- esting article on Lazarus in Smith’s DB is an excellent example of spinning ropes of sand.
In various forms of early Christian art the resur rection of Lazarus was a favourite subject. [Ὁ is found, from the 8rd cent. onwards, very often in paintings and sculptures, and sometimes in mosaics, And there is evidence that it was also woven or embroidered on clothing. In early ex
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88 LAZARUS AND DIVES
amples Christ is a large figure and Lazarus a very small one, and the latter is wrapped tightly in grave cloths. Small images of Lazarus were some- times fastened outside tombs. See the authorities quotes in Trench, Miracles, § 29 sub fin. ; Smith’s
ict. of Chr. Ant. li. p. 949; Kraus, 1. p. 286.
Legends about Lazarus are less common than one might expect. The Jews are said to have sent him and his sisters with other disciples to sea in a leaky boat, which took them safely to Marseilles, where he became a bishop. Writers of medieval romances sometimes made him their mouthpiece in publishing their ideas about the unseen world (T. Wright, St. Patrick's Purgatory, p- 167 ff., London, 1844). No trust can be placed in the tradition preserved by Epiphanius that Lazarus was thirty when he was raised, and lived thirty years afterwards (Her. ii. 2.652). In short, nothing historical can be added to the brief narra- tive of St. John, which has never ceased to impress the mind of Christendom.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that this narra- tive contains important evidence respecting Christ’s human consciousness. Supernatural knowledge was within His reach (Jn 114); but when He could acquire the necessary information in the usual way He did not make use of supernatural means (1127 *), A. PLUMMER.
LAZARUS AND DIYES.—In this parable alone is a name given to any of the persons introduced. The name Lazarus may be a later addition, to connect the parable with L. of Bethany, who did ‘go to them from the dead,’ and still they did not repent. More probably, the name suggests the helplessness of the man, so far as his fellow-men were concerned. Tertullian argues that the name proves that the story is historical, and that the scene in Hades confirms his view that the soul is corporeal (de Animé, vii.). In this parable also popular usage has given the other chief character a name. In the West ‘Dives’ has become almost a proper name; and this in spite of the fact that tradition had given the name of Nineuis to the rich man (Euthym. Zig. on Lk 16”),
This parable is the counterpart of the parable of the Unjust Steward. That teaches what good
results may be won by a wise use of present advantages. This teaches how calamitous are the results of failing to make a wise use of them. It illustrates also the preceding saying, that what is exalted among men may be an abomination in the sight of God (Lk 16%), It is not ‘ Ebionitie.’ It neither states nor implies that it is wicked to be rich. Dives is condemned, not for having been wealthy, but for having found in wealth his highest good, and for not having used it to win something etter. Out of this mammon he might have made L. and others his ‘ friends,’ and through them have secured ‘eternal tabernacles.’ Both halves of the parable are original, and each is needed to explain the other. It is a grave error to suppose that the scene in Hades is the only part of the parable that is significant, or that its purpose is to teach us the nature of the unseen world. The one thing that it teaches is that our condition there depends upon our conduct here, and that this may produce a complete reversal of human judgments. The details of the picture represent Jewish ideas about Sheol, but they in no way confirm those ideas. In order to enable us to realize the picture, dis- embodied spirits are described as if they were bodies. The finger, the tongue, the flame, ete., are figurative, for the actual finger and tongue were in the graye, In both halves of the parable L. (like his name- sake in all the scenes at Bethany) is silent; and his silence is instructive. It indicates that, just