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Luke

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Who Are the Sons of Light in Jesus’ Teaching and the Dead Sea Scrolls?

The Manager and the Use of Wealth

Chapter 16

1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’

3 “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg. 4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied, ‘100 measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write 50.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied, ‘100 measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light.⁠ 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon,⁠ so that when it runs out, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.⁠

10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much,⁠ and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?⁠ 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters,⁠ for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”⁠

The Pharisees and the Torah

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and ridiculed him.

15 But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.

16 “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void.

18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.⁠ 20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.⁠ The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.⁠

24 “So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in anguish in this fire.’⁠

25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’⁠

27 “So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house 28 —for I have five brothers—to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’

29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’

30 “Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

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Texts in conversation

Compare Luke 16:19 and Jerusalem Chagigah 2:2

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

In Luke 16, Jesus tells the parable of a rich man and Lazarus, contrasting their fates after death with reversal. A similar parable in the Jerusalem Talmud describes a Torah teacher and a tax collector who receive similarly contrasting fates after death.

Passages

Luke 16:19

New Testament
19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.24 “So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in anguish in this fire.’25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’
75–95 CE Read in Luke

Jerusalem Chagigah 2:2

Rabbinic · Jerusalem Talmud
What happened in Ascalon supports the one who said, Simeon ben Sheṭaḥ was President. Two pious men were in Ascalon. They ate together, drank together, and studied Torah together. One of them died, and nobody attended his funeral. The son of Maʿyan the publican died; the entire city stopped working to attend his funeral. The other pious man began to weep and said, alas, do the haters of Israel have no hope? In a dream he was told, do not denigrate your Master’s children. This one committed one sin and died with it, the other one did one good deed and died with it. What sin did this pious man commit? Far be it from him to have committed a sin, but once he put on his head phylacteries before his arm phylacteries. What good deed did the son of Maʿyan the publican do? Far be it from him ever to have done a good deed, but once he prepared a breakfast for the city council but they did not come to eat it. He said, let the poor eat it, so it should not go to waste. Some say, he was walking in the street when a loaf fell down from him and a poor person picked it up. He did not say anything in order not to embarrass him. Some days later this pious man saw his pious comrade walking in gardens, in orchards, at water sources, and he saw the son of Maʿyan the publican with his tongue out on the river bank trying in vain to reach the water. He also saw Miriam, Onion-leaf’s daughter. Rabbi Eleazar bar Yose said, she was hanging on her breast nipples. Rabbi Yose ben Ḥanina said, the hinge of Hell’s door was fixed in her ear. He asked them, why? They told him, because she fasted and made herself famous. Some say, she fasted one day and was dissolute two. He asked them, how long will she be in this state? They told him, until Simeon ben Shetah comes, when we will remove it from her ear and put it in his ear. He asked them, and why? They told him, because he said, if I am made Patriarch, I will kill the sorcerers. But now he was made Patriarch and he did not kill them. In fact, there are eighty women sorcerers in the cave of Ascalon who are harming the world. Go and tell him! He told them, I am afraid that since he is Patriarch he will not believe me. They told him, if he believes you, good. If he does not believe you, perform a sign before him: put your hand on an eye and take it out, put it back and it will be back. He went and told him. He wanted to perform the miracle before him, but he told him, I know that you are a pious person; you could do even more than that. In fact, I never said it aloud, though I intended it in my thoughts. Immediately Simeon ben Shetaḥ went on a stormy day and took with him eighty select men. He gave them eighty clean garments, put them in eighty new amphoras, and put them on them upside down. He told them, when I whistle once, put on your garments. When I whistle a second time, all of you come in together. When you enter, each of you shall choose one and lift her from the ground, since sorcery of this kind can do nothing once it is separated from the earth. He went and stood at the entrance to the cave. He said אוים, אוים, open for me, I am one of yours. They asked, how did you come here on such a day? He said, I was walking between the raindrops. They asked him, what do you want to do here? He said, to learn and to teach. Each one should do what he can. One of them said what she said and produced bread. One of them said what she said and produced meat. One of them said what she said and produced dishes. One said what she said and produced wine. They asked him, what can you do? He told them, when I whistle twice, I shall bring here eighty select men for your pleasure and entertainment. They told him, that is what we desire. When he whistled the first time, they put on their garments; when he whistled for the second time, they all entered together. He said, let each one who comes choose his partner. They lifted them, took them away, and crucified them. That is what we have stated: “It happened that Simeon ben Shetaḥ hanged women in Ascalon. They said, he hanged eighty women but one does not try two on the same day.” But the hour required it.
375–425 CE Read in Jerusalem Chagigah

References

"... According to Gressmann, the Jews of Alexandria brought the tale to Palestine where it was repeated in several variations in rabbinic teaching. The earliest one of these is found in the Palestinian Talmud in two practically identical versions (Jerusalem Sanhedrin 6:6 23c, 30–41; 42–43 / Jerusalem Chagigah 2:2 77d, 42–54; 54–57) that tell about two Torah scholars and a tax-collector, Bar-Ma’yan. One scholar dies un-mourned, without due respect proportionate to his piety, but the whole town ceases from working in order to bury the tax-collector. The other scholar grieves over the injustice of the funerals but is consoled by a dream. In it, the deceased scholar explains that his cursory burial was a punishment for the only sin he had committed in his life and likewise, the splendid burial of the tax-collector was a reward for his only good deed in life. The sin of the scholar was that once he bound the phylactery of the head before that of the hand. The only good deed of the tax-collector was to invite the poor of the town to enjoy the meal he had arranged for the town councilors who did not come. (The apparent correspondence between this account and the parable of the great banquet (Luke 14:16-24 / Matthew 22:1-10) convinced Jeremias that Jesus was familiar with the Jewish story and utilized a part of it in two of his parables) ..."
Outi Lehtipuu, The Afterlife Imagery in Luke’s Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 11–18.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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