The word, according to Harper, 'links this revelation more closely to this New Testament passage than has previously been noticed.'ĭives isn't a disease or a reference to swimming around in a hellish lake. 'He shall, with Dives, lift up his eyes in hell'? Instead of 'the wicked,' the early manuscripts say 'Dives.' Harper emphasized the words 'the wicked' when he quoted the revelation because these words are not in the three earliest manuscripts of Joseph Smith's revelation. 'Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment' (Doctrine and Covenants 104: 18, emphasis added). 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' (Luke 16:23-24).ĭoctrine and Covenants 104:18 'obviously draws on the New Testament story,' wrote Harper, an editor on the Joseph Smith Papers Project. 'And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. The rich man, now in hell, is a beggar to Lazarus. Lazarus is in 'Abraham's bosom' or paradise. Harper in a recent BYU Studies.Ĭhrist's story tells about a 'beggar named Lazarus' who was neglected by an unnamed 'rich man.' After both die, their positions reverse. Early manuscripts of Doctrine and Covenants 104 shows that the revelation has a close tie to Christ's parable of the rich man and Lazarus, according to an article by Steven C.

Bible story of lazarus in hell