Dismissing, therefore, this idea, we now find Dives pleading that Lazarus might be sent to his five brothers, who, as we infer, were of the same disposition and life as himself had been, to testify unto them' - the word implying more than ordinary, even earnest, testimony. Presumably, what he so earnestly asked to be attested was, that he, Dives, was in torment; and the expected effect, not of the testimony but of the mission of Lazarus, [4641] whom they are supposed to have known, was, that these, his brothers, might not come to the same place. At the same time, the request seems to imply an attempt at self-justification, as if, during his life, he had not had sufficient warning. Accordingly, the reply of Abraham is no longer couched in a tone of pity, but implies stern rebuke of Dives. They need no witness-bearer: they have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. If testimony be needed, their has been given, and it is sufficient - a reply this, which would specially appeal to the Pharisees. And when Dives, now, perhaps, as much bent on self-justification as on the message to his brothers, remonstrates that, although they had not received such testimony, yet if one come to them from the dead,' they would repent, the final, and, as, alas! history has shown since the Resurrection of Christ, the true answer is, that if they hear not [give not hearing to] Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be influenced [4642] [moved: their intellects to believe, their wills to repent], if one rose from the dead.'
And here the Parable, and the warning to the Pharisees, abruptly break off. When next we hear the Master's voice, [4643] it is in loving application to the disciples of some of the lessons which were implied in what He had spoken to the Pharisees. __________________________________________________________________
[4517] St. Luke xvi.
[4518] ver 1.
[4519] ver. 15.
[4520] St. Luke xv. 1, 2.
[4521] St. Luke xvi. 15.
[4522] ver. 16.
[4523] ver. 17.
[4524] ver. 18.
[4525] The reader who wishes to see the different views and interpretations of this Parable is referred to the modern commentaries, and especially to Archbishop Trench's Notes on the Parables (13th ed.). pp. 427-452.
[4526] St. Luke xvi. 1-8.
[4527] ver. 9.
[4528] vv. 10-13.
[4529] vv. 1-8.
[4530] ver. 8.
[4531] St. Luke xv. 13.
[4532] St. Luke xvi. 2, 3.
[4533] A somewhat similar parable occurs in Vayyik. R. 5 (towards the close) about a prudent' farmer. When matters go badly with his farm, he dresses himself in his best, puts on a cheerful mien, and so appears before his landlord. By well turned, flattering replies to the inquiries about the cattle and the crops, he so conciliates favour, that when the landlord finally inquires what he wished, and he requests a loan, he receives double the sum he had asked.
[4534] See Herzfield, Handelsgesch, pp. 183-185. I have proceeded on his computation. I am bound to add, that there are few subjects on which the statements of writers are more inconsistent or confused. The statements made in the text are derived from Jewish sources.
[4535] The writer in Smith's Bibl. Dict., vol. iii. p. 1740 b, is mistaken in saying that the Bath is the largest of liquid measures.' According to Ezek. xlv. 11, the Chomer or Cor = ten bath or ephah, was equally applied to liquid and dry measures. The Bath (one-tenth of the Chomer or Cor) = three seah; the seah = two hin; the hin = twelve log; the log = space of six eggs. Further, one thirty-secondth of a log is reckoned equal to a large (table), one sixty-fourth to a small (dessert) spoon.
[4536] This difference between the Wilderness,' or Mosaic,' and the Galilean' measure removes the difficulty (raised by Thenius) about the capacity of the brazen sea' in Solomon's Temple (1 Kings vii. 23, 26). The Bath should be calculated, not according to the Galilean ( = Metrêtês = about thirty-nine litres), but according to the Wilderness' measure ( = amphora = about twenty-six litres).