An Egyptian folk tale, to which attention was drawn by H[ugo] Gressmann, tells the story of an Egyptian who was reincarnated after his death as Si-Osiris, the miraculous son of a childless couple. When his ‘father’ one day remarked on how a rich man had had a sumptuous funeral while a poor man had been simply buried, Si-Osiris took him to Amnte, the land of the dead, where he was able to see the rich man in torment and the poor man in luxury. The explanation is added that the good deeds of the poor man had outweighed his evil deeds, but the opposite was true of the rich man. The general motif of this story found its way into Jewish lore, and it is attested in some seven versions, the earliest of which concerns a poor scholar and the rich publican, Bar Ma’jan... Because of his one good deed Bar Ma’jan had a great funeral, but the poor scholar had a simple burial. One of the scholar’s friends, however, had a dream in which he saw the poor man after his death in paradisial gardens beside flowing streams, while the publican was standing on the bank of the river but unable to reach the water. Thus the scholar receive no reward in this life, in order that he might have a full reward in the next, while the publican received his reward for his one good deed in this world, so that he might have no reward in the next. It is clear that Jesus’ parable bears some relation to this folk tale.
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: I. Howard Marshall
Keywords: Dives and Lazarus, After death, After life, Afterlife, Cast to hell, Cast down to hell, Chains of darkness, Damned go to hell, Death, Death state, Demon hell, Departing soul, Departing spirit, Destroyed in hell, Devil hell, Dieing, Dominion of the grave, Do the wicked go to hell, Eternal fire, Eternal judgment, Eternal judgement, Eternal punishment, Eternal torment, Eternal hell, Eternal pit, Everlasting fire, Everlasting judgment, Everlasting judgement, Everlasting hell, Everlasting hellfire, Everlasting hell fire, Everlasting pit, Everlasting punishment, Everlasting torment, Everlasting torture, Ever lasting fire, Ever lasting judgment, Ever lasting judgement, Ever lasting hell, Ever lasting hellfire, Ever lasting hell fire, Ever lasting pit, Ever lasting punishment, Ever lasting torment, Ever lasting torture, Eternal hellfire, Eternal hell fire, Eternal torture, Eternal soul, Fable hell, Fabled hell, Fiery hell, Fire not quenched, Fire unquenched, Gehenna, Gehena, Gehenna fire, Gehena fire, Go to hell, Going to heaven, Grave, Gravedom, Hell, Hele, Hellfire, Hell fire, Hell forever, Hell real, Hades, Hinnom, Immortal spirit, Immortal soul, Immortality of the soul, Immortality of the spirit, Kill the soul, Lake of fire, Life in hell, Lost souls in hell, Never ending fire, Never ending hell, Placed in hell, Punished in hell, Punished for eternity, Punished in hell for eternity, Reserved in hell, Rich man Lazarus, Rich man Lazaras, Roasting in hell, Satan hell, Send to hell, Sent to hell, Sheol, Sleeping in hell, Soul's immortality, Soul in hell, Soul punished in hell, Soul sleep, Soulsleep, Spirit in hell, Tartarus, There is no hell, Torment in hell, Tormented in hell, Underworld, Under world, Undieing worm, Undying worm, Unquenchable, Unquenchable fire, Waiting in hell, Wicked punished in hell, What happens when I die, What happens when we die, When the roll is called up yonder, Where is hell, Where do the lost go when they die, Where do the wicked go when they die, Where do we go when we die, Wicked hell, Worm does not die, Worm won't die, Worm will not die, Worm dieth not, Worm do not die, Bar Majan, Bar Mayan, Talmud, Talmud parable rich man, Talmud afterlife, Talmud after life, Egyptian parable, Egyptain afterlife, Egyptian after life, Abraham's bosom, pearly gates, eternal reward, reward in heaven, heavenly reward
Bible reference(s): Luke 16:19-31
Source: The New International Greek Testament Commentary — Commentary on Luke (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.