Thus, when bearing in mind that, as previously stated, we have here only the heads,' or rather the stepping stones,' of Christ's argument - from notes by a hearer at the time, which were afterwards given to St. Luke - we clearly perceive, how closely connected are the seemingly disjointed sentences which preface the Parable, and how aptly they introduce it. The Parable itself is strictly of the Pharisees and their relation to the publicans and sinners' whom they despised, and to whose stewardship they opposed thoughts of their own proprietorship. With infinite wisdom and depth the Parable tells in two directions: in regard to their selfish use of the literal riches - their covetousness - and in regard to their selfish use of the figurative riches: their Pharisaic righteousness, which left poor Lazarus at their door to the dogs and to famine, not bestowing on him aught from their supposed rich festive banquets.
On the other hand, it will be necessary in the interpretation of this Parable to keep in mind, that its Parabolic details must not be exploited, nor doctrines of any kind derived from them, either as to the character of the other world, the question of the duration of future punishments, or the possible moral improvement of those in Gehinnom. All such things are foreign to the Parable, which is only intended as a type, or exemplification and illustration, of what is intended to be taught. And, if proof were required, it would surely be enough to remind ourselves, that this Parable is addressed to the Pharisees, to whom Christ would scarcely have communicated details about the other world, on which He was so reticent in His teaching to the disciples. The Parable naturally falls into three parts.
1. Dives and Lazarus before and after death, [4614] or the contrast between before men' and before God;' the unrighteous use of riches - literal and figurative; and the relations of the Pharisaic Dives to the publican Lazarus, as before men and as before God: the exalted among men' an abomination before God.' And the application of the Parable is here the more telling, that alms were so highly esteemed among the Pharisees, and that the typical Pharisee is thus set before them as, on their own showing, the typical sinner.
The Parable opens by presenting to us a rich man' clothed in purple and byssus, joyously faring every day in splendor.' All here is in character. His dress is described as the finest and most costly, for byssus and purple were the most expensive materials, only inferior to silk, which, if genuine and unmixed - for at least three kinds of silk are mentioned in ancient Jewish writings - was worth its weight in gold. Both byssus - of which it is not yet quite certain, whether it was of hemp or cotton - and purple were indeed manufactured in Palestine, but the best byssus (at least at that time [4615] ) came from Egypt and India. The white garments of the High-Priest on the Day of Atonement were made of it. [4616] To pass over exaggerated accounts of its costliness, [4617] the High-Priest's dress of Pelusian linen for the morning service of the Day of Atonement was said to have cost about 36l.; that of Indian linen for the evening of the same day about 24l. Of course, this stuff would, if of home-manufacture, whether made in Galilee or in Judæa, [4618] be much cheaper. As regarded purple, which was obtained from the coasts of Tyre, [4619] wool of violet-purple was sold about that period by weight [4620] at the rate of about 3l. the Roman pound, though it would, of course, considerably vary in price.
Quite in accordance with this luxuriousness - unfortunately not uncommon among the very high-placed Jews, since the Talmud (though, no doubt, exaggeratedly) speaks of the dress of a corrupt High-Priest as having cost upwards of 300l. [4621] - was the feasting every day, the description of which conveys the impression of company, merriment, and splendour. All this is, of course, intended to set forth the selfish use which this man made of his wealth, and to point the contrast of his bearing towards Lazarus. Here also every detail is meant to mark the pitiableness of the case, as it stood out before Dives. The very name - not often mentioned in any other real, and never in any other Parabolic story - tells it: Lazarus, Laazar, a common abbreviation of Elazar, as it were, God help him!' Then we read that he was cast' [4622] (bbleto) at his gateway, as if to mark that the bearers were glad to throw down their unwelcome burden. [4623] Laid there, he was in full view of the Pharisee as he went out or came in, or sat in his courtyard. And as he looked at him, he was covered with a loathsome disease; as he heard him, he uttered a piteous request to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table. Yet nothing was done to help his bodily misery, and, as the word desiring' (pithumn) implies, his longing for the crumbs' remained unsatisfied. So selfish in the use of his wealth was Dives, so wretched Lazarus in his view; so self-satisfied and unpitying was the Pharisee, so miserable in his sight and so needy the publican and sinner. Yea, even the dogs came and licked his sores' - for it is not to be understood as an alleviation, but as an aggravation of his ills, that he was left to the dogs, which in Scripture are always represented as unclean animals.