Key passage
Luke 16:19-31
The rich man and Lazarus, the passage most often cited as a picture of conscious suffering after death.
The text
19“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. 20A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 23In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. 24He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish. 26Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’ 27“He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; 28for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ 29“But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30“He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31“He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
The immediate context
Jesus tells of a rich man and a beggar who both die. The beggar is carried to Abraham's side, the rich man is in torment in Hades, and the exchange turns on his request that his five brothers, who are still living, be warned.
Where it sits in the canon
The word used for the rich man's location is Hades, which is neither Gehenna nor the lake of fire. Revelation 20:13-14 has Hades give up its dead and then be thrown into the lake of fire, which places it before the final judgment rather than after it.
Why it matters
It is the only extended narrative in the Gospels of a person conscious and suffering after death, so it does more work in popular argument than almost any other passage.
How the passage is interpreted
The eternal conscious torment reading
Defenders of eternal conscious torment point out that Jesus depicts a man who is conscious, in pain, aware of his condition, able to speak and remember, with a great chasm fixed so that no one can cross. Whether or not the account is a parable, Jesus chose to describe the state of the unrighteous dead in exactly these terms, and nothing in the passage suggests the condition is temporary.
The conditionalist reading
Conditionalists agree that the man is conscious and suffering, and place him in Hades before the resurrection and the last judgment, since his brothers are still alive and can still be warned. The source document holds that the passage describes the intermediate state rather than the final one, that nothing in it says the rich man will live for ever, and that God sustains the unrighteous dead until the day of judgment.
Where the readings agree
- The rich man is conscious and genuinely suffering.
- The scene takes place while the rich man's five brothers are still alive.
- The word used for his location is Hades, not Gehenna.
- The chasm between the two men is fixed and cannot be crossed.
Where the disagreement lies
Whether the scene describes the final state of the unrighteous, or the intermediate state that precedes the resurrection and the last judgment.
Notes on the wording
- Some English versions render Hades, Sheol and Gehenna alike as hell, which flattens three distinct words into one.
Fuller treatment of the Greek and Hebrew words behind these notes is in the glossary and language notes.
Editorial notes
- The source document holds that the interpretation does not depend on whether this is a parable or a report of real people.
- The case treats continued existence in the intermediate state as God sustaining the dead until judgment rather than as evidence of an inherently immortal soul.
- The author observes that if the intermediate state already involves this suffering, the traditional view leaves the lake of fire adding nothing to it.
Where this passage appears in the case
- S05 The Rich Man and LazarusWhy this passage describes the intermediate state rather than final punishment, and why it therefore supports neither view directly.
- S09 Why Final Judgment Is DelayedWhy continued existence before judgment is evidence of God sustaining, not of inherent immortality.
- S13 What Fire Does in ScriptureThe ordinary function of fire in the biblical texts, the marked exceptions, and what fire paired with sulphur signifies.
- S33 What About Near-Death Experiences?A methodological argument about how experience relates to Scripture, kept separate from empirical claims about what such accounts contain.
Related passages
- Revelation 20:10-15The lake of fire, the great white throne, and the naming of the second death.
- 2 Peter 3:7-13The present order kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
- Matthew 13:24-43The parable of the weeds and its explanation, ending in a fiery furnace with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Sources consulted for this passage
- Phil Welch. My case for Conditional Immortality/Annihilation (CI) instead of Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT). Working document, revised through 2026. 2023-03-01 Details
- Joseph Dear. The Bible Teaches Annihilationism. 1st edition, PDF version. 2016. approximately 590 pages View original of The Bible Teaches Annihilationism (opens in a new tab) Details
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