The Bosom of Abraham

In the Holy Bible, the expression "the Bosom of Abraham" is found 
only in two verses of St. Luke's Gospel (xvi, 22, 23). It occurs 
in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus the imagery of which is 
plainly drawn from the popular representations of the unseen world 
of the dead which were current in Our Lord's time. According to 
the Jewish conceptions of that day, the souls of the dead were 
gathered into a general tarrying-place the Sheol of the Old 
Testament literature, and the Hades of the New Testament writings 
(cf. Luke, xvi, 22 in the Gr. xvi, 23). A local discrimination, 
however, existed among them, according to their deeds during their 
mortal life. In the unseen world of the dead the souls of the 
righteous occupied an abode or compartment of their own which was 
distinctly separated by a wall or a chasm from the abode or 
compartment to which the souls of the wicked were consigned. The 
latter was a place of torments usually spoken of as Gehenna (cf. 
Matt., v, 29, 30; xviii, 9- Mark, ix, 42 sqq. in the Latin 
Vulgate)- the other, a place of bliss and security known under the 
names of "Paradise" (cf. Luke, xxiii, 43) and "the Bosom of 
Abraham" (Luke, xvi, 22 23). And it is in harmony with these 
Jewish conceptions that Our Lord pictured the terrible fate of the 
selfish Rich Man, and on the contrary, the glorious reward of the 
patient Lazarus. In the next life Dives found himself in Gehenna, 
condemned to the most exeruciating tor ments, whereas Lazarus was 
carried by the angels into "the Bosom of Abraham", where the 
righteous dead shared in the repose and felicity of Abraham "the 
father of the faithful". But while commentators generally agree 
upon the meaning of the figurative expression "the Bosom of 
Abraham", as designating the blissful abode of the righteous souls 
after death, they are at variance with regard to the manner in 
which the phrase itself originated. Up to the time of Maldonatus 
(A.D. 1583), its origin was traced back to the universal custom of 
parents to take up into their arms, or place upon their knees, 
their children when they are fatigued, or return home, and to make 
them rest by their side during the night (cf. II Kings, xii, 2; 
III Kings, iii, 20; xvii, 19; Luke, xi, 7 sqq.), thus causing them 
to enjoy rest and security in the bosom of a loving parent. After 
the same manner was Abraham supposed to act towards his children 
after the fatigues and troubles of the present life, hence the 
metaphorical expression "to be in Abraham's Bosom" as meaning to 
be in repose and happiness with him. But according to Maldonatus 
(In Lucam, xvi, 22), whose theory has since been accepted by many 
scholars, the metaphor "to be in Abraham's Bosom" is derived from 
the custom of reclining on couches at table which prevailed among 
the Jews during and before the time of Christ. As at a feast each 
guest leaned on his left elbow so as to leave his right arm at 
liberty, and as two or more lay on the same couch, the head of one 
man was near the breast of the man who lay behind, and he was 
therefore said "to lie in the bosom" of the other. It was also 
considered by the Jews of old a mark of special honour and favour 
for one to be allowed to lie in the bosom of the master of the 
feast (cf. John 13:23). And it is by this illustration that they 
pictured the next world. They conceived of the reward of the 
righteous dead as a sharing in a banquet given by Abraham, "the 
father of the faithful" (cf. Matt., viii, 11 sqq.), and of the 
highest form of that reward as lying in "Abraham's Bosom". Since 
the coming of Our Lord, "the Bosom of Abraham" gradually ceased to 
designate a place of imperfect happiness, and it has become 
synonymous with Heaven itself. In their writings the Fathers of 
the Church mean by that expression sometimes the abode of the 
righteous dead before they were admitted to the Beatific Vision 
after the death of the Saviour, sometimes Heaven, into which the 
just of the New Law are immediately introduced upon their demise. 
When in her liturgy the Church solemnly prays that the angels may 
carry the soul of one of her departed children to "Abraham's 
Bosom", she employs the expression to designate Heaven and its 
endless bliss in company with the faithful of both Testaments, and 
in particular with Abraham, the father of them all. This passage 
of the expression "the Bosom of Abraham" from an imperfect and 
limited sense to one higher and fuller is a most natural one, and 
is in full harmony with the general character of the New Testament 
dispensation as a complement and fulfilment of the Old Testament 
revelation.

FRANCIS E. GIGOT Transcribed by Tomas Hancil