Abraham's bosom (Hastings' Dictionary)
A term used of the abode of the riglileiius dead, defining it as a position of blessedness in huimate association with the father of the faithful, 'the friend of God.' In Scripture 18 ALRECH ABSALOM {,' it occurs only in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk 16,, '■"j, where it apiiears both in the singular (KiX^os 'A/Spact^) and in the plural [aiXiroi 'AjJpad/j.)
Taken from the practice of reclining at table, so that the hea,d of the guest leant back upon t he bosom of his neighbour, the place of distinction belonging to hirti who was seated in this way next the liost, the figure expresses the ideas of nearest rullowship and highest honour. In the Kabbin.
literature the phrase (i:"3k cn-cK Sc ip-n) was applied to tlie place reserved for the pious departed, into which they passed immediately after death, and in wliich they dwelt free from the woes of hell (cf. 4 Mac 13"). It was a Jewish belief that the intermediate state contained two distinct compart- ments— a place of relative prejiaratory rewara for the good, and a place of relative preparatory penalty for the evil (cf. Bk of Enoch 22, 2 Es •16ft. etc.)
Some of the Jewish books speak of certain receptacles (promptuaria) into which the souls of the faithful dead were taken (Apoc. of Bar 30-, 2 Es 4'- " 7" etc. ). And in the theology of the 3rd cent, and onwards it was taught that the circumcised should not be subject to hell. It was a saying of Rabbi Levi (of the 3rd cent.), that in the world to come Abraham would sit at the entrance to hell, and suffer no circumcised Isr. to pass into it.
It has been usually supposed, there- fore;, that in NT the phrase 'Abraiiam's bosom' refers to the intermed. state, and designates a division of the undenvorld, where the good enjoy a preliminary measure of blessedness. In this case it is identified with Paradise, the lower Paradise as dist. from the heavenly, or is taken to describe a condition of peculiar honour in the Hades- Paradise. It is uncertain, however, when this idea of two separate localities within the undervvorld came to revail.
It was the idea of the later and medioeval udaism. But whether it was in circulation so early as our Lord's time is doubtful. There seems reason to believe that the older Judaism spoke only of a Garden of Eden for the righteous dead, and a Gehinnom (Gehenna, Hell) for the wicked dead, identifying the latter with SAeo/. If so, 'Abraham's bosom in the parable would not be the name for a special compartment of Hades, or for an intermed.
condition of blessedness distinct from and pre- liminary to the final state of perfect felicity. And in the parable itself it is only the rich man that ia expressly described as 'in Hades.' LrrEBATUBB.— Wetst€in on Lk 1621 S3; Lifrhtfoot, Hot. Beb. p. 851, etc. ; Fritzsche u. Grimm, Ext'tj. Handb. zu den Apocry- phni, on 4 Mac 1316; Schiirer, UJt" II. ii. 180; Hamburger, HE; Weber, Syetem der altnyn. paUisl. Theol. p. S2S ; Meyer- Weisa, Kmn.i p. 543, etc ; S&lmoDd, Chritt. Doct.
qf Imnior- tality, p. 346. S. D. F. Salmond.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Abraham's bosom
Abraham's Bosom booz'-um (kolpos Abraam; kolpoi Abraam): Figurative. The expression occurs in Lu 16:22-23, in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, to denote the place of repose to which Lazarus was carried after his death. The figure is suggested by the practice of the guest at a feast reclining on the breast of his neighbor. Thus, John leaned on the breast of Jesus at supper (Joh 21:20). The rabbis divided the state after death (Sheol) into a place for the righteous and a place for the wicked (see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; SHEOL); but it is doubtful whether the figure of Jesus quite corresponds with this idea. "Abraham's bosom" is not spoken of as in "Hades," but rather as distinguished from it (Lu 16:23)--a place of blessedness by itself. There Abraham receives, as at a feast, the truly faithful, and admits them to closest intimacy. It may be regarded as equivalent to the "Paradise" of Lu 23:43. ⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia. See HADES; PARADISE. James Orr
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Abraham's bosom
In Roman times, their custom of reclining on Couches at meals prevailed among the Jews. Each leaned on his left arm, and so lay, as it were, in the bosom of the next below him. This position in the bosom of the master of the house was the place of honor (Joh 1:18; Joh 13:23). To lie in Abraham's bosom was thus a phrase for blessed repose in closest nearness to the father of the faithful in the feast of paradise (Mat 8:11; Luk 16:23).
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia