Luke 16:19
New International Version
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

New Living Translation
Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury.

English Standard Version
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

Berean Standard Bible
Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

Berean Literal Bible
And there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, making good cheer in splendor every day.

King James Bible
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

New King James Version
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.

New American Standard Bible
“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day.

NASB 1995
“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

NASB 1977
“Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

Amplified Bible
“Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day.

Christian Standard Bible
“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day.

American Standard Version
Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“There was a certain rich man, and he wore fine white linen and purple and everyday he celebrated luxuriously.”

Contemporary English Version
There was once a rich man who wore expensive clothes and every day ate the best food.

Douay-Rheims Bible
There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen; and feasted sumptuously every day.

English Revised Version
Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"There was a rich man who wore expensive clothes. Every day was like a party to him.

Good News Translation
"There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day.

International Standard Version
"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day.

Literal Standard Version
And—a certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, making merry sumptuously every day,

Majority Standard Bible
Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

New American Bible
“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day.

NET Bible
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

New Revised Standard Version
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

New Heart English Bible
"Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.

Webster's Bible Translation
There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Weymouth New Testament
"There was once a rich man who habitually arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, and enjoyed a splendid banquet every day,

World English Bible
“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.

Young's Literal Translation
'And -- a certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, making merry sumptuously every day,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Rich Man and Lazarus
18Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. 20And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores…

Cross References
Proverbs 31:22
She makes coverings for her bed; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Ezekiel 16:49
Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.

Luke 16:18
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Luke 16:20
And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

James 5:5
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.


Treasury of Scripture

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

river.

Luke 12:16-21
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: …

Luke 18:24,25
And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! …

James 5:1-5
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you

clothed.

Luke 16:1
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

Luke 15:13
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

Job 21:11-15
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance…

purple.

Judges 8:26
And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.

Esther 8:15
And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

Ezekiel 16:13
Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

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Arrayed Banquet Cheer Clothed Clothing Delicate Dressed Enjoyed Fair Fared Faring Feasted Fine Glad Good Great Habitually Joyously Linen Making Merry Once Purple Rich Shining Splendid Splendor Splendour Wealth
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Arrayed Banquet Cheer Clothed Clothing Delicate Dressed Enjoyed Fair Fared Faring Feasted Fine Glad Good Great Habitually Joyously Linen Making Merry Once Purple Rich Shining Splendid Splendor Splendour Wealth
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.














(19) There was a certain rich man . . .--Here, also, there is a certain appearance of abruptness. But the sneer of Luke 16:14 explains the sequence of thought. On the one side, among those who listened to our Lord, were the Pharisees, living in the love of money and of the enjoyments which money purchased; on the other, were the disciples, who had left all to follow their Master, poor with the poverty of beggars. The former had mocked at the counsel that they should make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, who should receive them into everlasting habitations. They are now taught, and the disciples are taught also, what comes of the other friendship that men for the most part secure with money. It is clear that the section of Pharisees for whom the parable was specially designed, were such as those described as being "in king's houses and in soft raiment, and living delicately" (see Notes on Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:25)--the scribes, i.e., who had attached themselves to the court of Herod Antipas, the Herodians, or those who, while differing from them politically, were ready to coalesce with them (Matthew 22:16; Mark 3:6), and reproduced their mode of life. In the rich man himself we find, generic as the description is, some features which must at least have reminded those who heard the parable, of the luxurious self-indulgence of the Tetrarch himself. There is the "purple garment," rich with the dyes of Tyre, which was hardly worn, except by kings and princes and generals (see Notes on Matthew 27:28; Mark 15:17); the byssus, or fine linen of Egypt, coupled with purple in Revelation 18:12; Revelation 18:16, itself not unfrequently of the same colour. The "faring sumptuously" reminds us of the stately pomp of Herod's feasts. (See Notes on Matthew 14:6; Mark 6:14; Mark 6:21, and the quotation from Persius cited in the latter.) If we assume that there is this sketch, as it were, of the Tetrarch's character, it is obvious that the teaching of the parable receives a fresh significance. This, then, was what the scribes, even those that were not avowedly of the Herodian school, who should have been teachers of righteousness, were striving after. This was their highest ideal of happiness, and for this they were content to sacrifice their true calling here and their hopes of eternal life hereafter. It was meet that they should learn what was the outcome of such a life when it passed "behind the veil." We may add, too, that this view enables us to trace a sequence of thought where all at first seems unconnected. The reference to the teaching of the scribes as to divorce (Luke 16:18), naturally suggested the most prominent and most recent instance in which their lax casuistry had shown itself most criminally compliant with the vices of an adulterous and incestuous prince. . . . Verse 19. - There was a certain rich man. He is thus introduced by the Lord without any details respecting his age or place of residence - nameless, too! Seems he not to have been reading from that book where he found the name of the poor man written, but found not the name of the rich; for that book is the book of life?" (Sermon 178. 3 of St. Augustine). Tradition says his name was Nimeusis, but it is simply a baseless tradition. Which was clothed in purple and fine linen. The words which describe the life of Dives were chosen with rare skill; they are few, but enough to show us that the worldly hero of the story lived a life of royal magnificence and boundless luxury. His ordinary apparel seems to have been purple and fine linen. This purple, the true sea purple, was a most precious and rare dye, and the purple garment so dyed was a royal gift, and was scarcely used save by princes and nobles of very high degree. In it the idol-images were sometimes arrayed. The fine linen (byssus) was worth twice its weight in gold. It was in hue dazzlingly white. And fared sumptuously every day. With this princely rich man banquets were a matter of daily occurrence. Luther renders the Greek here, "lebte herrlich und in Freuden." Thus with all the accompaniments of grandeur this nameless mighty one lived, his halls ever filled with noble guests, his antechambers with servants. Everything with him that could make life splendid and joyous was in profusion. Some have suspected that our Lord took, as the model for his picture here, the life of the tetrarch Herod Antipas. The court of that magnificent and luxurious prince would certainly have well served as the original of the picture; but Herod was still living, and it is more likely that Jesus was describing the earth-life of one who had already been" dismissed" from his earthly stewardship, and who, when he spoke the parable, was in the world to come.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Now
δέ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

there was
ἦν (ēn)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

a
τις (tis)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5100: Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object.

rich
πλούσιος (plousios)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4145: Rich, abounding in, wealthy; subst: a rich man. From ploutos; wealthy; figuratively, abounding with.

man
Ἄνθρωπος (Anthrōpos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.

dressed in
ἐνεδιδύσκετο (enedidysketo)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1737: (somewhat rare) (of clothing: I put on another); mid: I put on (myself). A prolonged form of enduo; to invest.

purple
πορφύραν (porphyran)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4209: Of Latin origin; the 'purple' mussel, i.e. the red-blue color itself, and finally a garment dyed with it.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

fine linen,
βύσσον (bysson)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1040: Fine linen, cotton. Of Hebrew origin; white linen.

who lived each day in joyous
εὐφραινόμενος (euphrainomenos)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2165: From eu and phren; to put in a good frame of mind, i.e. Rejoice.

splendor.
λαμπρῶς (lamprōs)
Adverb
Strong's 2988: Magnificently, sumptuously, splendidly. Adverb from lampros; brilliantly, i.e. Figuratively, luxuriously.


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NT Gospels: Luke 16:19 Now there was a certain rich man (Luke Lu Lk)
Luke 16:18
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