The Meaning of Luke 16:21 Explained

Luke 16:21

KJV: And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

YLT: and desiring to be filled from the crumbs that are falling from the table of the rich man; yea, also the dogs, coming, were licking his sores.

Darby: and desiring to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the table of the rich man; but the dogs also coming licked his sores.

ASV: and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table; yea, even the dogs come and licked his sores.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  desiring  to be fed  with  the crumbs  which  fell  from  the rich man's  table:  moreover  the dogs  came  and licked  his  sores. 

What does Luke 16:21 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 16:14-31 - A Look Into The Future
Here was a flagrant case of heartless indifference, amid luxuries of every kind, to the daily spectacle of abject need. Most of us have at least one Lazarus at the gates of our life. The charge against the rich man was, not that he had injured Lazarus, but that he had not helped him. Man condemns us for doing wrong, God for failing to do right.
Lazarus was translated to the realm of blessedness-the bosom of Abraham bespeaking nearness to him at the great feast-not because he had been so poor and miserable, but because, beggar though he was, he possessed the faith of heart and the purity of motive that characterized his great ancestor.
Notice that memory plays a conspicuous part in the sorrow of Gehenna; that Christ gives no hope of changing the soul's habitation; and that we have in the Scripture a more certain agent of spiritual renewal than would be provided by even the apparition of the dead. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 16

1  The parable of the unjust steward
14  Jesus reproves the hypocrisy of the covetous Pharisees
19  The parable of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar

Greek Commentary for Luke 16:21

With the crumbs that fell [απο των πιπτοντων]
From the things that fell from time to time. The language reminds one of Luke 15:16 (the prodigal son) and the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7:28). Only it does not follow that this beggar did not get the scraps from the rich man‘s table. Probably he did, though nothing more. Even the wild street dogs would get them also. [source]
Yea, even the dogs [αλλα και οι κυνες]
For αλλα και — alla kai see also Luke 12:7; Luke 24:22. Αλλα — Alla can mean “yea,” though it often means “but.” Here it depends on how one construes Luke‘s meaning. If he means that he was dependent on casual scraps and it was so bad that even the wild dogs moreover were his companions in misery, the climax came that he was able to drive away the dogs. The other view is that his hunger was unsatisfied, but even the dogs increased his misery.Licked his sores (επελειχον τα ελκη αυτου — epeleichon ta helkē autou). Imperfect active of επιλειχω — epileichō a late vernacular Koiné verb, to lick over the surface. It is not clear whether the licking of the sores by the dogs added to the misery of Lazarus or gave a measure of comfort, as he lay in his helpless condition. “Furrer speaks of witnessing dogs and lepers waiting together for the refuse” (Bruce). It was a scramble between the dogs and Lazarus. [source]
Licked his sores [επελειχον τα ελκη αυτου]
Imperfect active of επιλειχω — epileichō a late vernacular Koiné verb, to lick over the surface. It is not clear whether the licking of the sores by the dogs added to the misery of Lazarus or gave a measure of comfort, as he lay in his helpless condition. “Furrer speaks of witnessing dogs and lepers waiting together for the refuse” (Bruce). It was a scramble between the dogs and Lazarus. [source]
Desiring [ἐπιθυμῶν]
Eagerly, and not receiving what he desired. The same thing is implied in the story of the prodigal, where the same word is used, “he would fain have been filled” (Luke 15:16), but the pods did not satisfy his hunger. [source]
The crumbs that fell [τῶν πιπτόντων]
Lit., the things falling. The best texts omit ψιχίων , crumbs. [source]
Moreover [ἀλλὰ καὶ]
Lit., but even. “But (instead of finding compassion), even the dogs,” etc. [source]
Licked [ἐπέλειχον]
Only here in New Testament. Cyril, cited by Hobart, says: “The only attention, and, so to speak, medical dressing, which his sores received, was from the dogs who came and licked them.” [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 16:21

Luke 16:20 Lazar []
in English means one afflicted with a pestilential disease.Was laid (ebeblēto). Past perfect passive of the common verb Ελεαζαρος — ballō He had been flung there and was still there, “as if contemptuous roughness is implied” (Plummer).At his gate Right in front of the large portico or gateway, not necessarily a part of the grand house, porch in Matthew 26:71.Full of sores (βαλλω — heilkōmenos). Perfect passive participle of προς τον πυλωνα αυτου — helkoō to make sore, to ulcerate, from ειλκωμενος — helkos ulcer (Latin ulcus). See use of ελκοω — helkos in Luke 16:21. Common in Hippocrates and other medical writers. Here only in the N.T. [source]
Luke 16:20 At his gate [εβεβλητο]
Right in front of the large portico or gateway, not necessarily a part of the grand house, porch in Matthew 26:71.Full of sores (βαλλω — heilkōmenos). Perfect passive participle of προς τον πυλωνα αυτου — helkoō to make sore, to ulcerate, from ειλκωμενος — helkos ulcer (Latin ulcus). See use of ελκοω — helkos in Luke 16:21. Common in Hippocrates and other medical writers. Here only in the N.T. [source]
Luke 16:20 Full of sores [βαλλω]
Perfect passive participle of προς τον πυλωνα αυτου — helkoō to make sore, to ulcerate, from ειλκωμενος — helkos ulcer (Latin ulcus). See use of ελκοω — helkos in Luke 16:21. Common in Hippocrates and other medical writers. Here only in the N.T. [source]
Revelation 16:2 Into the earth [εις την γην]
This same use of εις — eis after εχεχεεν — execheen in Revelation 16:3, Revelation 16:4.It became (εγενετο — egeneto). “There came” (second aorist middle indicative of γινομαι — ginomai).A noisome and grievous sore “Bad and malignant sore.” ελκος — Helkos is old word for a suppurated wound (Latin ulcus), here, Revelation 16:11; Luke 16:21. See the sixth Egyptian plague (Exodus 9:10; Deuteronomy 28:27, Deuteronomy 28:35) and Job 2:7. The magicians were attacked in Egypt and the worshippers of Caesar here (Revelation 13:17; Revelation 14:9, Revelation 14:11; Revelation 19:20). [source]
Revelation 16:2 A noisome and grievous sore [ελκος κακον και πονηρον]
“Bad and malignant sore.” ελκος — Helkos is old word for a suppurated wound (Latin ulcus), here, Revelation 16:11; Luke 16:21. See the sixth Egyptian plague (Exodus 9:10; Deuteronomy 28:27, Deuteronomy 28:35) and Job 2:7. The magicians were attacked in Egypt and the worshippers of Caesar here (Revelation 13:17; Revelation 14:9, Revelation 14:11; Revelation 19:20). [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 16:21 mean?

and desiring to be fed from that falling the table of the rich man but even the dogs coming were licking the sores of him
καὶ ἐπιθυμῶν χορτασθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν πιπτόντων τῆς τραπέζης τοῦ πλουσίου ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ κύνες ἐρχόμενοι ἐπέλειχον τὰ ἕλκη αὐτοῦ

ἐπιθυμῶν  desiring 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἐπιθυμέω  
Sense: to turn upon a thing.
χορτασθῆναι  to  be  fed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Passive
Root: χορτάζω  
Sense: to feed with herbs, grass, hay, to fill, satisfy with food, to fatten.
τῶν  that 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πιπτόντων  falling 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: πίπτω 
Sense: to descend from a higher place to a lower.
τραπέζης  table 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: τράπεζα  
Sense: a table.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πλουσίου  rich  man 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: πλούσιος  
Sense: wealthy, abounding in material resources.
καὶ  even 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
κύνες  dogs 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: κύων  
Sense: a dog.
ἐρχόμενοι  coming 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
ἐπέλειχον  were  licking 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἀπολείχω 
Sense: to lick off, lick up.
ἕλκη  sores 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: ἕλκος  
Sense: a wound, esp.
αὐτοῦ  of  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.

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