Paragraph 16:27–31

16:27a–b

‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said: In this context the clause he said means that the rich man replied to Abraham. In some languages it may be natural to make the subject and object more explicit. For example:

The rich man replied ⌊to Abraham⌋

Then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then here introduces an alternative request. Since Abraham could not send Lazarus to him, the rich man asked him to send Lazarus somewhere else instead. Another way to translate this conjunction is:

If that is true
-or-
In that case

I beg you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I beg you introduces a request. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

I ask you (God’s Word)
-or-
please (New Century Version)

he said: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the phrase he said after the start of what the rich man said. In the Greek text, this phrase is at the beginning of the verse, before the quotation. Place it wherever it is natural in your language.

father…send Lazarus to my father’s house: The first time the word father occurs here, it refers to Abraham, but the second time, it refers to the rich man’s own father. In some languages this may be confusing. If this is so in your language, you can:

• Use a different term of respect for Abraham. For example:

honorable sir/ancestor

• Translate my father’s house in another way that is natural in your language. For example:

my parents’ house

my father’s house: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as my father’s house probably refers literally to the house that had been owned by the rich man’s father. It is possible that the father had died, since only the brothers are included in the warning in 16:28b. Probably the five brothers had not divided the property and they still lived together in that house.

Sometimes the phrase my father’s house was used to refer to the members of one’s family, even if they were not all still living in the same house. As the next verse part makes clear, the rich man was thinking of his brothers. If adult brothers do not live together in one home in your culture, you may wish to translate this as:

my family

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