Lazarus is carried off by the angels to "Abraham's bosom", a phrase that never occurs in early Jewish literature but probably simply means that Lazarus has been brought to paradise to recline at table beside the great patriarch of Israel. The rich man, on the other hand, is buried and ends up in Hades. ... It is hard to know what to make of the physicality of both descriptions. Abraham has a "bosom", Lazarus has fingers, the rich man has a tongue and obviously a nervous system susceptible to torment by fire. ... Moreover, the respective fates of the two appear to be permanent. There is a vast chasm separating them.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Lazarus is carried off by the angels to "Abraham's bosom", a phrase that never occurs in early Jewish literature but probably simply means that Lazarus has been brought to paradise to recline at table beside the great patriarch of Israel. The rich man, on the other hand, is buried and ends up in Hades. ... It is hard to know what to make of the physicality of both descriptions. Abraham has a "bosom", Lazarus has fingers, the rich man has a tongue and obviously a nervous system susceptible to torment by fire. ... Moreover, the respective fates of the two appear to be permanent. There is a vast chasm separating them." in the context of "Bart D. Ehrman: Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife. Simon & Schuster, 2020." to mean that wisdom is timeless.