Luke 16:30 kjv
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luke 16:30 nkjv
And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
Luke 16:30 niv
"?'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Luke 16:30 esv
And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
Luke 16:30 nlt
"The rich man replied, 'No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.'
Luke 16 30 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lk 16:29 | Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ | Sufficiency of Scripture for salvation. |
| Lk 16:31 | He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.’ | Direct answer to the rich man, highlights willful unbelief. |
| Jn 5:39-40 | You search the Scriptures... it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me... | Scripture testifies of Christ, yet unbelief persists. |
| Jn 5:46-47 | For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me... But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? | Interconnectedness of Old Testament with Christ, disbelief of Moses leads to disbelief of Christ. |
| Deut 18:15 | The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me... him you shall listen. | Prophecy of a coming Prophet (Jesus), whose word should be heeded. |
| Deut 18:19 | Whoever will not listen to My words that he shall speak in My name, I myself will require it of him. | Consequences of ignoring God's prophetic word. |
| 2 Tim 3:16-17 | All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching... so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped... | The divine origin and comprehensive sufficiency of Scripture. |
| Rom 10:17 | Consequently, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. | Faith is primarily cultivated through the revealed Word. |
| Acts 17:11 | Now these Jews were more noble... for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily... | The Beroeans demonstrated true readiness to receive God's Word. |
| 2 Pet 1:19 | And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed... | The reliability and authority of the prophetic (Biblical) word. |
| Heb 4:12 | For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword... | The power and penetrative ability of God's Word. |
| Lk 11:29-30 | This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. | Rejection of demands for signs; Jonah signifies resurrection. |
| Matt 12:38-40 | Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”... except the sign of the prophet Jonah. | Parallel teaching by Jesus on the insufficiency of signs for those seeking them. |
| Jn 4:48 | So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." | Jesus addresses a tendency to rely on miracles for faith. |
| Jn 20:29 | Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” | Blessedness of faith apart from physical sight of resurrection. |
| 1 Cor 1:22-24 | For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified... | Highlights the worldly desire for signs versus the message of the cross. |
| Acts 2:38 | And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you..." | Call to repentance in response to God's word and deeds. |
| Acts 3:19 | Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out... | The command and purpose of repentance. |
| Acts 17:30 | The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent... | God's universal command for repentance in the new dispensation. |
| Rom 2:4 | Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? | God's goodness designed to draw people to repentance. |
| 2 Pet 3:9 | The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. | God's patience as a call to repentance for salvation. |
| Lk 24:10-11 | But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. | The initial disbelief even among followers regarding Jesus' resurrection. |
| Acts 17:32 | Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed... | Negative reaction to the preaching of the resurrection. |
Luke 16 verses
Luke 16 30 Meaning
This verse contains the rich man's plea to Abraham within the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man desperately asks that Lazarus be sent back from the dead to warn his five brothers, believing that such a spectacular event would undeniably convince them to repent and avoid his dire fate. It expresses his conviction that the current revelation (Moses and the Prophets) is insufficient and that a supernatural sign is necessary for true conversion.
Luke 16 30 Context
Luke 16:30 is part of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31), a vivid narrative often seen as both a parable and a revelation of the afterlife. This particular verse takes place during the dialogue between the tormented rich man, suffering in Hades, and Abraham. The rich man has already pleaded for personal relief and now shifts his concern to his five brothers who are still alive, residing on earth. He believes they need a more dramatic warning than the Mosaic Law or the words of the Prophets could provide. This parable directly precedes Jesus' teachings about unforgiveness and the power of faith (Lk 17:1-10), and subtly rebukes the Pharisees' materialism and their rejection of God's Word, as they were described as "lovers of money" just prior (Lk 16:14).
Luke 16 30 Word analysis
- And he said (καὶ εἶπεν, kai eipen): Introduces the rich man's persistent and desperate counter-argument, showing his continued self-willed determination to dictate the terms of divine action even from his place of torment.
- ‘No’ (Οὐχί, Ouchi): An emphatic negation, meaning "absolutely not" or "by no means." This demonstrates the rich man's utter disbelief in the sufficiency of "Moses and the Prophets" as a means for his brothers' repentance, challenging Abraham's divine wisdom.
- father Abraham (πάτερ Ἀβραάμ, pater Abraam): The rich man maintains this address, seeking to leverage their shared lineage for compassion, even though his life displayed no fruit worthy of Abraham's spiritual heritage of faith and obedience. He acknowledges Abraham's authority but presumes to know a better way.
- but if (ἀλλ᾽ ἐάν, all' ean): Introduces a strong conditional clause, positing his preferred solution for securing his brothers' repentance, implicitly rejecting the adequacy of current divine revelation.
- someone goes (τις πορευθῇ, tis poreuthē): "Someone" specifically refers to Lazarus in this context, someone identifiable who would testify with irrefutable proof, having crossed the boundary of death. "Goes" suggests a mission, a supernatural journey to deliver a message.
- to them (πρὸς αὐτούς, pros autous): Referring directly to his five living brothers on earth, implying that they are on a similar path to destruction unless drastic intervention occurs.
- from the dead (ἐκ νεκρῶν, ek nekrōn): A common New Testament phrase denoting resurrection or a return from the realm of the deceased. This signifies a profound, miraculous event that the rich man assumes would bypass all disbelief.
- they will repent (μετανοήσουσιν, metanoēsousin): Future indicative active verb, meaning "they will certainly change their mind" or "they will truly turn from their sins." The rich man posits this outcome as an undeniable certainty if only such a sign were given, wrongly attributing repentance solely to dramatic external evidence.
- "No, father Abraham": This opening phrase starkly reveals the rich man's audacity. Despite being in eternal torment and addressing Abraham, his spiritual father, he adamantly contradicts Abraham's declaration of God's perfect provision (Moses and the Prophets). It highlights a deep-seated spiritual blindness and an arrogant conviction in his own wisdom over divine revelation.
- "but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent": This phrase encapsulates the core misguided assumption: that dramatic, undeniable evidence, a 'sign from heaven' via resurrection, is the missing key to repentance. It assumes a deficiency in God's revealed Word and fails to grasp that true spiritual understanding and repentance are matters of the heart and will, not solely the intellect swayed by overwhelming proof. The irony is profound as Jesus Himself would later rise from the dead, yet many still did not repent.
Luke 16 30 Bonus section
- Prophetic Foreshadowing: This verse deeply foreshadows the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The rich man's confident assertion that a messenger from the dead would cause repentance proves ironically untrue, as even after Jesus rose, many (including religious leaders) scoffed and refused to believe (Lk 24:10-11, Acts 17:32, Jn 12:37). This emphasizes that genuine faith and repentance are rooted in the heart's willingness to respond to God's truth, not merely in being overwhelmed by evidence.
- Nature of Unbelief: The dialogue highlights that unbelief is fundamentally a moral problem, a matter of the will, rather than an intellectual deficit. Those who refuse to "hear" (obey and believe) God's accessible word (Moses and the Prophets) have a hardened heart that even a resurrection could not penetrate.
- The Rich Man's Limited Empathy: While the rich man's concern for his brothers might seem redeeming, it is telling that this concern only arises after he is suffering the consequences of his own choices. It doesn't stem from a life of active care or righteousness but from a fear that his family might share his fate, reflecting a self-focused, even if vicarious, concern.
Luke 16 30 Commentary
Luke 16:30 reveals the rich man's persistent unbelief, extending his flawed understanding into eternity. He mistakenly believes that an extraordinary, miraculous sign – specifically, a person returning from the dead – is the necessary catalyst for repentance. This directly challenges Abraham's (and thus Jesus') assertion in the preceding verse that God's already-given Word (Moses and the Prophets) is perfectly sufficient. The rich man represents those who prioritize sensationalism over submission to truth, demonstrating that a heart unwilling to believe God's Word will likely remain unconvinced even by the most spectacular events. This verse serves as a crucial setup for Abraham's definitive rebuttal in verse 31, underscoring that spiritual stubbornness, not a lack of evidence, is the root of unbelief.