the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

wealth. 27 At that time, this imported linen which India’s elite and certain Egyptian priests
wore, was rare and very expensive, in addition, the use of purple dye was limited even among
elites, because of the difficulty of obtaining the purple shellfish used to dye the material. 28
The rich man dressed with purple and fine linen threw a splendid feast every day that is
reminiscent of guests participating in a celebration. Here, Bailey goes so far as to claim that
he violates the Sabbath’s observation and never gives his servants a day of rest. 29 However,
the rich man is at no point portrayed as wicked or dishonorable, particularly in relation to
acquiring his wealth. 30
In short, he is simply depicted as taking what is already his and
spending it on his own pleasures.
The poor man is the only one named: ‘Lazarus’ means “the one whom God helps”, as a
31
shortened form of the Hebrew . Is this the man whom God helps? Rather, he seems to
be abandoned by God. How in the world has God helped him? 32 Conceivably, if the audience
in the parable was aware of the meaning of the name, it would probably have led the audience
to expect an intervention. As the story proceeds, it will become clear. Lazarus, full of sores,
was laid down at the rich man’s gate by the community so that he could be helped by the rich
man. Even though it is possible to imagine his physical condition encompassing several
diseases such as being a paralytic, a blind man, except for a leper, 33
it is best to view him as
one who is crippled or bedridden on account of chronic illness, in congruence with the usages
27. Cf. Luke 7:25. “What then did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are
gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.”
28. Herzog, Parables as Subversive Speech, 117-18; Marshall, Luke, 635; Bailey, “The New Testament Job: The
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man An Exercise in Middle Eastern New Testament Studies,” 22; Kilgallen,
The Twenty Parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, 124-25.
29. Bailey, “The New Testament Job: The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man An Exercise in Middle Eastern
New Testament Studies,” 22.
30. See Dieter H. Reinstorf, “The rich, the poor, and the law,” HTS 60 (2004), 329-48, 330-32; B.J. Malina and
R.L. Rohrbaugh, Social-science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992); B.J.
Malina, The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox
Press, 1993).
31. There are those who try to find the derivation of the name in Egyptian folk-tales, other folk-tales, Gen. 15:2-
4 and Jon. 11, but none of them are convincing. see Grobel, ‘“… Whose Name Was Neves,’” 381; Bauckham,
“The Rich Man and Lazarus: The Parable and The Parallels,” 224; Dunkerley, “Lazarus,” 321-27; Derrett,
“Fresh Light on St. Luke XVI. II. Dives and Lazarus and the Preceding Sayings,” 371-72; Cave, “Lazarus and
the Lukan Deuteronomy,” 319-25.
32. Bailey, “The New Testament Job, The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man An Exercise in Middle Eastern
New Testament Studies,” 22.
33. Manson’s suggestion is rightly rejected by Marshall, who says that a leper would not beg everyday in public.
See Manson, The Sayings of Jesus, 298; Marshall, Luke, 635. For a paralytic, a lame and a blind man as Lazarus’
physical condition, see Jeremias, Parables, 183; Forbes, The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the
Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 186; Kilgallen, The Twenty Parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, 125.
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