And he 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 tormented in this flame.
Read Chapter 16
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
And he cried—"cried" because his great punishment evoked a great cry. S. Chrysostom.
And said, Father Abraham. He calls Abraham father, because he was a Jew, and therefore a descendant of Abraham. He did not address Lazarus, says Theophylact, because he was ashamed, and moreover thought that Lazarus was still mindful of the evils he had suffered at his hands.
Send Lazarus. "0 miserable Prayer of Manasseh ," says S. Chrysostom, "thou art mistaken. Abraham can receive him, he cannot send him! Behold the rich man has now need of the poor man. So when death draws nigh, and the spectacle of life is over, when the marks of riches and of poverty are laid aside, all are judged according to their works, according as they are possessed of true riches, or are poor in the sight of God."
And again, by a sudden change—a change which is graphically described by the prophet (see Isaiah 65:13)—the rich man becomes the suppliant of the poor Prayer of Manasseh , and he who was wont to pass by Lazarus...
