📖 Biblical Definition
Abraham's Bosom is Christ's phrase in Luke 16:22 for the place of the righteous dead before the resurrection: the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. In second-temple Jewish thought (and apparently in Christ's usage) it named the place of comfort where the patriarch's righteous descendants awaited resurrection, distinct from the torment of the unrighteous (Hades). After Christ's resurrection, many traditions hold the saints now go directly to be with Christ (2 Cor 5:8).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Luke 16:22.) Christ's phrase for the place of the righteous dead before the resurrection.
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The phrase appears once in the New Testament (Lk 16:22-23). The Lazarus-and-the-rich-man parable distinguishes Abraham's bosom (place of comfort, with Lazarus) from the place of torment (where the rich man is, in Hades), with a great gulf fixed between.
Theological readings: (1) literal description of the intermediate state before Christ's death-and-resurrection emptied paradise (Eph 4:8-9 sometimes cited); (2) Christ's use of accepted Jewish imagery for didactic purposes; (3) parable not requiring metaphysical literalism. Most agree the saints now ‘depart and be with Christ’ (Phil 1:23) directly.
📖 Key Scripture
Luke 16:22 — "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried."
Luke 16:23 — "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."
Luke 23:43 — "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
2 Corinthians 5:8 — "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often skips intermediate-state vocabulary entirely; Scripture preserves a category for the believer's state between death and resurrection.
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Luke 16 is parable in genre but operates within an assumed cosmology. Christ's use of Abraham's bosom suggests it was a real category in His teaching, not pure invention. Whether literal place or symbolic comfort, the parable's logic depends on a real intermediate state.
After Christ's resurrection, the New Testament's standard description of the believer's death is ‘to depart and be with Christ’ (Phil 1:23) or ‘present with the Lord’ (2 Cor 5:8). Whether this is the same place as Abraham's bosom or supersedes it is debated; the saints' comfort in death is not.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek ho kolpos Abraam.
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Greek kolpos — bosom, lap; the place of intimate fellowship at the dinner couch.
Note: the Greek dinner-couch posture explains the imagery — the favored guest reclined at the host's bosom (Jn 13:23, John on Christ's).
Usage
"Place of comfort for the righteous dead."
"The favored guest reclined at the host's bosom."
"Saints now depart and are with Christ."