And in hell {i} he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

(i) Heavenly and spiritual things are expressed and set forth using language fit for our senses.

People's New Testament

16:23 In hell. The abode of departed spirits, and to the wicked, a place of punishment.

Being in torments. His wealth has failed him; his good things have departed.

Seeth Abraham... and Lazarus. A proof of recognition beyond the grave.

Afar off. Widely apart in condition, character, and space.

Wesley's Notes

16:23 He seeth Abraham afar off - And yet knew him at that distance: and shall not Abraham's children, when they are together in paradise, know each other!

Scofield Reference Notes

[1] hell

Gr. hades, "the unseen world," is revealed as the place of departed human spirits between death and resurrection. The word occurs, Mt 11:23 16:18 Lk 10:15 Acts 2:27,31 Rev 1:18 6:8 20:13,14 and is the equivalent of the O.T. "sheol." See Scofield Note: "Hab 2:5". The Septuagint invariably renders sheol by hades.

Summary:

(1) Hades before the ascension of Christ. The passages in which the word occurs make it clear that hades was formerly in two divisions, the abodes respectively of the saved and of the lost. The former was called "paradise" and "Abraham's bosom." Both designations were Talmudic, but adopted by Christ in Lk 16:22 23:43. The blessed dead were with Abraham, they were conscious and were "comforted" Lk 16:25. The believing malefactor was to be, that day, with Christ in "paradise." The lost were separated from the saved by a "great gulf fixed" Lk 16:26. The representative man of the lost who are now in hades is the rich man of Lk 16:19-31. He was alive, conscious, in the full exercise of his faculties, memory, etc., and in torment.

(2) Hades since the ascension of Christ. Song far as the unsaved dead are concerned, no change of their place or condition is revealed in Scripture. At the judgment of the great white throne, hades will give them up, they will be judged, and will pass into the lake of fire Rev 20:13,14. But a change has taken place which affects paradise. Paul was "caught up to the third heaven. . .into paradise" 2Cor 12:1-4. Paradise, therefore, is now in the immediate presence of God. It is believed that Eph 4:8-10 indicates the time of the change. "When he ascended up on high he led a multitude of captives." It is immediately added that He had previously "descended first into the lower parts of the earth," i.e. the paradise division of Hades. During the present church-age the saved who died are "absent from the body, at home with the Lord." The wicked dead in hades, and the righteous dead "at home with the Lord," alike await the resurrection Job 19:25 1Cor 15:52. See Scofield Note: "Mt 5:22".

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

23. in hell-not the final place of the lost (for which another word is used), but as we say "the unseen world." But as the object here is certainly to depict the whole torment of the one and the perfect bliss of the other, it comes in this case to much the same.

seeth Abraham-not God, to whom therefore he cannot cry [Bengel].

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:19-31 Here the spiritual things are represented, in a description of the different state of good and bad, in this world and in the other. We are not told that the rich man got his estate by fraud, or oppression; but Christ shows, that a man may have a great deal of the wealth, pomp, and pleasure of this world, yet perish for ever under God's wrath and curse. The sin of this rich man was his providing for himself only. Here is a godly man, and one that will hereafter be happy for ever, in the depth of adversity and distress. It is often the lot of some of the dearest of God's saints and servants to be greatly afflicted in this world. We are not told that the rich man did him any harm, but we do not find that he had any care for him. Here is the different condition of this godly poor man, and this wicked rich man, at and after death. The rich man in hell lifted up his eyes, being in torment. It is not probable that there are discourses between glorified saints and damned sinners, but this dialogue shows the hopeless misery and fruitless desires, to which condemned spirits are brought. There is a day coming, when those who now hate and despise the people of God, would gladly receive kindness from them. But the damned in hell shall not have the least abatement of their torment. Sinners are now called upon to remember; but they do not, they will not, they find ways to avoid it. As wicked people have good things only in this life, and at death are for ever separated from all good, so godly people have evil things only in this life, and at death they are for ever put from them. In this world, blessed be God, there is no gulf between a state of nature and grace, we may pass from sin to God; but if we die in our sins, there is no coming out. The rich man had five brethren, and would have them stopped in their sinful course; their coming to that place of torment, would make his misery the worse, who had helped to show them the way thither. How many would now desire to recall or to undo what they have written or done! Those who would make the rich man's praying to Abraham justify praying to saints departed, go far to seek for proofs, when the mistake of a damned sinner is all they can find for an example. And surely there is no encouragement to follow the example, when all his prayers were made in vain. A messenger from the dead could say no more than what is said in the Scriptures. The same strength of corruption that breaks through the convictions of the written word, would triumph over a witness from the dead. Let us seek to the law and to the testimony, Isa 8:19,20, for that is the sure word of prophecy, upon which we may rest, 2Pe 1:19. Circumstances in every age show that no terrors, or arguments, can give true repentance without the special grace of God renewing the sinner's heart.