And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
a certain.
Luke 18:35-43 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: …
1 Samuel 2:8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.
James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
Lazarus.
John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
was laid.
Acts 3:2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
full.
Luke 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
lay at his gate
The "gate" refers to the entrance of a wealthy man's home, indicating a place of potential charity and assistance. In ancient times, city gates were places of judgment and commerce, but here it symbolizes the boundary between wealth and poverty. The placement of Lazarus at the gate underscores the proximity of the rich man's opportunity to show compassion, yet his failure to do so. This setting reflects the cultural norms of hospitality and almsgiving in Jewish society, where the expectation was to care for the needy, as instructed in Deuteronomy 15:7-11.
covered with sores
The description of Lazarus being "covered with sores" emphasizes his physical suffering and social ostracism. In biblical times, skin diseases often led to ritual impurity and exclusion from community life, as outlined in Leviticus 13. This imagery evokes the plight of Job, who also suffered from sores and was marginalized (Job 2:7-8). The sores symbolize not only physical affliction but also the spiritual and social neglect experienced by the poor. This condition contrasts with the rich man's opulence, highlighting the reversal of fortunes that will occur in the afterlife, as seen in the Beatitudes (Luke 6:20-21).
• This simple conjunction links directly back to the description of the wealthy man who “feasted sumptuously every day” (Luke 16:19), setting a sharp contrast between luxury and lack.
• Scripture often pairs such contrasts to expose the heart (cf. Luke 12:16-21; 1 Timothy 6:17-19). The Spirit draws our attention to what follows so we grasp God’s perspective on earthly success versus eternal values.
• Unlike the unnamed rich man, the poor man receives a personal name—“Lazarus,” meaning “God has helped.” God knows and honors the lowly (Psalm 72:12-13; James 2:5).
• Jesus presents Lazarus as a real individual, underscoring that every person matters before God. This reflects the Lord’s pattern of singling out the overlooked (Luke 1:48; John 10:3).
• The name itself hints at the coming reversal: though society ignores him, the Lord is his helper (Psalm 146:5-8).
• Lazarus is placed right at the rich man’s doorstep—close enough for daily notice, leaving the wealthy man without excuse (Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 1 John 3:17).
• Gates in Scripture can symbolize opportunity and responsibility (Acts 3:2-6). Here, the rich man’s gate becomes a test of compassion he consistently fails (Luke 14:12-14).
• The scene reminds believers that stewardship begins with the needs literally set before us, not merely with distant causes (Proverbs 3:27-28).
• His open wounds picture extreme vulnerability and uncleanness (Job 2:7; Isaiah 1:6). Humanly speaking, Lazarus has nothing to offer—he embodies the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40).
• The description signals his total dependence on mercy, foreshadowing the gospel truth that everyone is spiritually bankrupt apart from Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5).
• While dogs later lick his sores (Luke 16:21), the rich man withholds even minimal relief, exposing a loveless heart (1 Corinthians 13:3).
Luke 16:20 paints a vivid, literal snapshot of a destitute man known and valued by God, placed purposefully at the gate of a self-indulgent rich man. The verse confronts us with God’s upside-down kingdom values: He exalts the lowly, holds the prosperous accountable for visible need, and reveals true riches as compassion and faithful stewardship.
(20) And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus.--The word for "beggar," it may be noted, is the same as the "poor" of Luke 6:20. The occurrence in this one solitary instance of a personal name in our Lord's parables, suggests the question, What was meant by it? Three answers present themselves, each of which is more or less compatible with the other two. (1) There may have been an actual beggar of that name known both to the disciples and the Pharisees. (2) The significance of the name, the current Greek form of Eleazar (="God is the helper"), may have been meant to symbolise the outward wretchedness of one who had no other help. (3) As that which seems most probable, the name may have been intended as a warning to Lazarus of Bethany. He was certainly rich. We have seen some reason to identify him with the young ruler that had great possessions. (See Notes on Matthew 19:18.) In any case he was exposed to the temptations that wealth brings with it. What more effectual warning could be given him than to hear his own name brought into a parable, as belonging to the beggar who was carried into Abraham's bosom, while his own actual life corresponded more or less closely to that of the rich man who passed into the torments of Hades? Was he not taught in this way, what all else failed to teach him, that if he wished for eternal life he must strip himself of the wealth which made it impossible for him to enter the Kingdom of God? It may be noted that almost every harmonised arrangement of the Gospel history places the parable almost immediately before the death and raising of Lazarus (see Note on John 11:1), while in some of them the question of the young ruler comes between the two. The combination, in either case, suggests the thought of a continuous process of spiritual education, by which the things that were "impossible with men" were shown to be "possible with God" (Matthew 19:26). First the picture of the unseen world drawn in symbolic imagery, so as to force itself upon his notice, then an actual experience of the realities of that life; this was what he needed, and this was given him.Laid at his gate, full of sores, . . .--Literally, at his porch, or gateway. The Greek word for "full of sores" is somewhat more technical than the English one; literally, ulcerated, one which a medical writer like St. Luke would use to express a generally ulcerous state of the whole body. The description led, in course of time, to the application of the leper's name to those who suffered from leprosy, as producing an analogous condition, and so we get the terms, lazar, lazar-house, lazaretto. In the Italian lazzaroni the idea of the beggary is prominent without that of the sores.
Verses 20, 21. - And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. In striking contrast to the life of the rich man, the Master, with a few touches, paints the life of the beggar Lazarus. This giving a name to a personage in the parable occurs nowhere else in the evangelists' reports of our Lord's parabolic teaching. It probably was done in this case just to give us a hint, for it is nothing more, of the personal character of the poor sufferer who in the end was so blessed. The object of the parable, as we shall see, did not include any detailed account of the beggar-man's inner life; just this name is given him to show us why, when he died, he found himself at once in bliss. Among the Jews the name very often describes the character of him who bears it. The Greek name Lazarus is derived from two Hebrew words, El-ezer ("God-help"), shortened by the rabbis into Leazar, whence Lazarus. He was, then, one of those happy ones whose confidence, in all his grief and misery, was in God alone. Well was his trust, as we shall see, justified. The gate at which he was daily laid was a stately portal (πυλών). Lazarus is represented as utterly unable to win his bread. He was a constant sufferer, covered with sores, wasting under the dominion of a loathsome, incurable disease. This representative of human suffering has taken a strange hold on the imagination of men. In many of the languages of Europe the name of the beggar of the parable appears in the terms "lazar," "lazar-house," and "lazaretto," "lazzaroni." Unable himself to walk, some pitying friend or friends among the poor - the poor are never backward in helping others poorer than themselves, thus setting a noble example to the rich - brought him and laid him daily close by the splendid gates of the palace of Dives. The crumbs signify the broken fragments which the servants of the rich man would contemptuously, perhaps pityingly, toss to the poor helpless beggar-man as he lay by the gate. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. These were the wild, homeless pariah dogs so common in all Eastern cities, who act as the street-scavengers, and are regarded as unclean. This mention of the dogs clustering round him does not suggest any contrast between the pitying animals and pitiless men, but simply adds additional colour to the picture of the utter helplessness of the diseased sufferer; there he lay, and as he lay, the rough homeless dogs would lick his unbandaged wounds as they passed on the forage.