Many ask, “What about Laz­arus and the rich man? Didn’t they both die and go to heaven and hell, respectively? Isn’t that the lesson of the story?” Sadly, this account is almost universally misunderstood.

Mark 4:33-34 describes the pattern Jesus Christ used to teach the masses: “And with many such parables spoke He the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spoke He not unto them: and when they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples.” He continually used parables to teach. The story of Lazarus and the rich man is a parable and must be accepted as such.

Nearly everyone asserts that this account is not a parable but rather a literal representation of the afterlife. But this statement cannot withstand the scrutiny of facts. All one must do is start with the assumption that it is literal and then attempt to explain the elements in it.

The account is found in Luke 16:19-31. Take time to read it and get a complete picture of this story in your mind. The rich man suffered hellfire and Lazarus was saved. While this much is plain, what does it mean? Does this really say that when people die, they immediately go to either heaven or hell? We will see that it says no such thing!

A Verse-by-verse Analysis

The account is best studied verse by verse. Follow along in your own Bible. First, verses 19-21. These set the stage by describing the parable’s two principal characters. One is wealthy and the other pitifully poor and miserable. One of the purposes of the parable is to demonstrate that Lazarus is a type of all gentile Christians, who become Abraham’s children upon conversion. Read Galatians 3:7 and 29.

Luke 16:22: Both Lazarus and the rich man die. Most conclude that Lazarus immediately arrives in heaven and the rich man in an ever-burning hell. The account says neither of these things! Try to find these terms. They are simply not there.

This verse states that Lazarus arrives at “Abraham’s bosom.” The rich man is “buried.” That is all. Lazarus’ presence at Abraham’s bosom depicts a very close, loving relationship, with no reference to either time or place.

John 8:52-53 twice states, “Abraham is dead.” At that point, Abraham had been dead for nearly 2,000 years. He is still dead! He is not waiting in heaven for people to come immediately after death and recline on his bosom. The meek inherit the Earth in the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5:5)! Abraham and Lazarus will be resurrected into the Kingdom of God together. This is the meaning here.

A key rule of Bible study is found in II Peter 1:20. It cautions that “no…scripture is of any private interpretation.” Compare Daniel 7:18, 22, 27; Jude 14-15 and Revelation 5:10 with many other verses and it is obvious that the saints reign on the Earth with the Father and Christ. Then notice that Matthew 25:31 shows that Christ returns with “the holy angels.” Recall that Lazarus was “carried by the angels” to Abraham’s bosom. Finally, compare this with Matthew 24:31 for further proof of the angels’ role in this way. (For more, read our booklet Do the Saved Go to Heaven?)

Critical Greek Words

Luke 16:23: The rich man is in hell. However, the word translated “hell” here is hades, meaning the grave. This makes sense because we read that the rich man had been “buried.” There is no mystery here. The phrase “he lift up his eyes” also makes sense as no more than a reference to a resurrection described in John 5:29.

The rich man was also in “torments.” The Greek word is basanos. It means “a touchstone, having to do with touching pure gold, against the particular stone, to test its purity and validity…to be under a severe trial, torture.” We will see that the rich man was, in fact, mentally tortured and in a severe trial. He was facing the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8)!

The popular teaching of an ever-burning hell is a corruption of the Bible truth that the unrepentant wicked are permanently burned up in a lake of fire. (To learn more, read The Truth About Hell.) Try to imagine a more serious trial than this. The rich man had missed out on salvation and could clearly see Abraham and Lazarus in the Kingdom of God.

Luke 16:24: The rich man requests that Lazarus “cool his tongue” with a tiny amount of water—no more than a few drops on the tip of a finger. Think. If you were roasting in a condition involving walls of fire all around you, would you merely ask for a few drops of water? Would you not rather ask for a whole pool to be dumped on you? The rich man is again described as “tormented.” Understanding this word is the key to explaining his condition. This time, it is not basanos.

The word here translated “tormented” is odunao. It means, “to grieve, sorrow, torment, duress, distress, strain.” No reference to roasting or burning is included in its definition. The rich man is in mental torment because he is facing permanent death. Fear has seized him and given him the condition commonly referred to as cotton mouth. The rich man was hoping for Lazarus to moisten his tongue. (We might also ask the following question of all those who believe in the immortality of the soul and who wish to take this parable literally. Do immortal souls have tongues? Ponder this.)

The phrase “in this flame” is mistranslated. The actual meaning in the Greek is “by reason of this flame.” This critical mistranslation entirely changes the scenario. The rich man was not yet in the flame but was tormented by fear because he saw it coming.

Drawing Conclusions

Now Luke 16:25: This verse reinforces the element of the passing of time to properly understand the parable. Abraham answers the rich man by saying, “Son, remember that you in your lifetime…” What would be the point of using the word “remember” if the rich man’s lifetime had ended just a few seconds prior to this conversation? The passing of much time since the rich man’s death is confirmed at the end of the verse, when Abraham says, “but now he [Lazarus] is comforted.” It is apparent that the two words remember and now are contrasted because significant time has passed. Both men had been in the grave for a great while, until the time of their resurrections.

Verse 26: This verse describes what is called “a great gulf fixed” between where Abraham and Lazarus were and where the rich man was. Some believe this is a picture of a great physical distance between the locations of heaven and hell. It certainly does not say that. What exactly is this “great gulf fixed?”

Notice: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities [sins] have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2).

Sin cuts people off from God! God is holy—He does not have contact with sin. The rich man’s sins had cut him off from God. This is why Abraham said that no one on either side of this “gulf” was able to cross to the other side. It was impossible.

Luke 16:27-28: These two verses can be taken together because they both describe the rich man’s request to send Lazarus to warn his brothers. The rich man would have been unaware of how much time had passed.

Verse 29: Abraham’s answer to this question is extremely important because it reveals what everyone alive today should do in their own lives. He warns that the five brothers should listen to “Moses and the prophets”—in other words, read and believe the Bible. Abraham is emphatic—“let them hear them.” This is Christ’s instruction to an entire world that ignores the Bible in general and the words of Moses and the Old Testament prophets in particular.

Verses 30-31: These verses demonstrate that people who are determined not to obey God would not even be moved to action by a well-known person resurrected “from the dead.” What a stunning indictment of human nature in the face of the plain truths of God. These verses contain a warning. Will you hear it?

The rich man had been given his opportunity in his lifetime. He realized that he had missed out on salvation. He also recognized that Lazarus had been resurrected. The entire account of this parable was used by Christ to teach the resurrection of the dead. This account was never intended to teach the idea of immediately going to heaven or hell upon death.

To learn more, read Just What Is Salvation?