This article concerns the Biblical character Lazarus. For other uses of the name, see Lazarus (disambiguation).

Lazarus is the name applied to two separate characters who appear in the New Testament. One is the Lazarus of Jesus' parable which appears solely in Luke (16.19–31). The other is the Lazarus of the miracle recounted in John (11.41–44). The name, with its connotation of one miraculously raised from the dead, as with Lazarus taxon organisms that reappear after being considered extinct, has also appeared in modern-day literature and science fiction.

The parable of Lazarus

Main article Lazarus and Dives.

In the Gospel of Luke 16:19-31, Lazarus is the beggar at the rich man's table, who receives his reward in the Hereafter, in Abraham's bosom at the everlasting banquet, while the rich man craves a drop of water from Lazarus' finger. Lazarus is the only person in a New Testament parable given a name. However, the rich man of the parable has been named Dives by tradition, although the name does not appear in Luke.

For the last century, "Catholic exegetes now commonly accept the story as a parable" (CE 1910, "Lazarus") "The purpose of the parable is to teach us the evil result of the unwise neglect of one's opportunities. Lazarus was rewarded, not because he was poor, but for his virtuous acceptance of poverty; the rich man was punished, not because he was rich, but for vicious neglect of the opportunities given him by his wealth." (ibid).

The miracle of Lazarus

Lazarus is also a man who lived in the town of Bethany ("Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha" John 11.1). The sisters are immediately identified: "Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill." So the sisters sent word to Jesus that the one he loved was ill. Jesus tarried where he was, with the result that, when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days, and Martha reproached him. When Jesus assured her Lazarus would rise, she took his meaning for the resurrection on Judgment Day, to which he replied "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." (11.25–26) In the presence of a crowd of Jewish mourners, Jesus had the stone rolled away from the tomb and bid Lazarus to come out, and so he did, still wrapped in his grave-cloths.

The miracle, the longest coherent narrative in John aside from the Passion, is the climax of John's "signs" and leads directly to the decision of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus.

According to this gospel, many Jews visited Lazarus after this and believed in Jesus in part because of Lazarus' resurrection. The Gospel says no more of Lazarus.

The name "Lazarus"

The name "Lazarus" is a Latinized form of the Greek Lazaros, a contraction Eleazaros or אֶלְעָזָר ("God has helped"), in Standard Hebrew Elʿazar and in Tiberian Hebrew ʾElʿāzār. In Hebrew, the Egyptian god Osiris (whose name in demotic/hieroglyphics is thought to have been pronounced Aser) is also translated Elaser (from

The developed Lazarus legend

According to Christian teaching recorded in the 13th century Golden Legend, Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary Magdalene, a Pharisee, but because of the rumoured plots fled for his life to Cyprus. There he later became the first bishop of Kittim, appointed directly by Paul and Barnabas, and lived another thirty years. Further establishing the apostolic nature of Lazarus' appointment was the story that the bishop's pallium was presented to Lazarus by the Virgin Mary, who had woven it herself. Such apostolic connections were central to the claims to autocephaly made by the bishops of Kittim—subject to the patriarch of Jerusalem—during the period 325–413. The church of Kittim was declared (or confirmed) self-governing in 413. Stories say that he would always include something sweet in every meal, but that he was only known to laugh once in that time. That was when he observed someone stealing a clay pot, causing him to smile and say with a laugh, "clay stealing clay".

Medieval tradition also sent Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to France after the Crucifixion. Provencal tradition, in particular, held Lazarus as the first bishop of Marseilles, while Martha purportedly went on to tame a terrible beast in nearby Tarascon. Pilgrims visited their tombs at the abbey of Vézelay in Burgundy. In the Abbey of the Trinity at Vendôme, a phylactery was said to contain a tear shed by Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus. The cathedral of Autun, not far away, is dedicated to Lazarus as Saint Lazaire.

In the section In paradisum, which often appears embedded in the Requiem, the deceased is wished to Paradise—In paradisum deducant te Angeli— with Lazarus, who once was poor (cum Lazaro quondam paupere), reminds us how often the Lazarus of John, who possessed a rock-cut tomb and was resurrected, has been conflated with the beggar Lazarus of Luke.

The Legenda Aurea records the grand lifestyle imagined for Lazarus and his sisters in the 14th century:

Mary Magdalene had her surname of Magdalo, a castle, and was born of right noble lineage and parents, which were descended of the lineage of kings. And her father was named Cyrus, and her mother Eucharis. She with her brother Lazarus, and her sister Martha, possessed the castle of Magdalo, which is two miles from Nazareth, and Bethany, the castle which is nigh to Jerusalem, and also a great part of Jerusalem, which, all these things they departed among them. In such wise that Mary had the castle Magdalo, whereof she had her name Magdalene. And Lazarus had the part of the city of Jerusalem, and Martha had to her part Bethany. And when Mary gave herself to all delights of the body, and Lazarus entended all to knighthood, Martha, which was wise, governed nobly her brother's part and also her sister's, and also her own, and administered to knights, and her servants, and to poor men, such necessities as they needed. Nevertheless, after the ascension of our Lord, they sold all these things.. — Legenda Aurea, Book iv, "Of Mary Magdalene".

Tombs of Lazarus

The first tomb in Bethany is a place of pilgrimage today. Lazarus' tomb

The relics from Constantinople were transferred to France in 1204 as part of the booty of the Fourth Crusade.

Main article: Order of Saint Lazarus.

The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem is a religious/military order, purportedly dating back to the First Crusade. The Order is run by two distinct channels of authority, referred to as the Malta Obedience and the Paris Obedience.

Modern age

Today Lazarus is honored as a saint by Christians who honor saints. In Cuba, a major festival is dedicated to San Lázaro (syncrenised with Babalu Ayé), but on December 17. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Saturday before Palm Sunday is remembered as "Lazarus Saturday", and the scripture readings and hymns focus on Lazarus as a promise of the resurrection of all. In Christian funerals, the idea of the deceased being raised by the Lord as Lazarus was raised is expressed in prayer.

In entertainment

The biblical Lazarus

• In the motion picture The Last Temptation of Christ, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead but Lazarus is subsequently murdered by Jewish zealots who seek to discredit Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah.
• The Star Trek episode "Requiem for Methuselah" an immortal man known as "Flint", born in the year 3834 BC, and gifted with immortality through instant tissue regeneration. He claims to be a number of historical figures, including Lazarus.
• The novel A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. has a narrative spread across 1800 years. Throughout it, one seemingly immortal character makes occasional appearances. In one chapter, the character claims to be waiting for a man who told him to "come forth", and in another (set centuries later) he directly says his name is Lazarus.
• The film O Brother Where Art Thou begins with a group of prisoners singing a song about Lazarus.
• Lazarus appears as a character in Midnight Nation, a religious-themed comic book by J. Michael Straczynski.
• The play Lazarus Laughed appeared in 1925 by Eugene O'Neill; it features a confrontation between Lazarus of Bethany and the Emperor Caligula.
• In the song "Neverwhere" by the Swedish death metal band At The Gates, Lazarus appears as this entity of who we all wait, but who will never come.
• The novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky has a reading of the Bible passage about the raising of Lazarus.
• The song "Go Where Love Goes", sung by Andrea Bocelli and Holly Stell on his 2004 album Andrea, also has references to Lazarus due to its use in the upcoming move The Lazarus Child.

Other characters named Lazarus

• A Star Trek character named Lazarus, unrelated to the Biblical Lazarus, was portrayed in "The Alternative Factor" as an insane scientist bent on destroying the universe.
• Robert A. Heinlein has a series of novels that feature someone named Lazarus Long, who possesses an unnaturally long life span.
• An episode of the War of the Worlds TV series titled "The Raising of Lazarus" revolves around an alien found in a state of suspended animation that wakes to wreak havoc.
• A first season Stargate SG-1 episode is titled "Cold Lazarus", the title of an earlier futuristic television drama by Dennis Potter, concerning resurrection.
• The Lazarus Child is a book by Robert Mawson, subsequently released as an independent film in 2004, which tells the tale of a young girl rescued from a comatose state by a doctor depicted as caring and wise, yet maligned and mistrusted because of her unorthodox methods. Of note is a scene in the story where the doctor brings one of her doubters around by similarly reviving another child.
• In the Batman series of comic books, the criminal mastermind Ra's al Ghul (Arabic for "The Demon's Head") relies on his "Lazarus Pits" to maintain his youth, as well as to heal him when injured. According to Batman canon, Ra's Al Ghul has been using these pits for centuries, since his birth in the middle ages. The comic series X-Men also includes a reference to Lazarus. The evil mutant Apocalypse uses his "Lazarus Chamber" to rejuvenate, similar to the Batman villain.
• Also notable is an episode of the Nickelodeon television series The Adventures of Pete & Pete. The episode "Field of Pete" revolves around a mysterious frosty drink known as the "Orange Lazarus," which causes a brain freeze so intense it almost kills whomever drinks it. This episode also makes numerous other biblical references.
• In the TV show Charmed the Lazarus Demon (played by the rapper Coolio) is a demon which comes back to life repeatedly after being vanquished, unless buried in a cemetery.
• Robert Browning's poem, "An Epistle Containing the Strange Medical Experience of Karshish, the Arab Physician," (1855) tells of an Arab doctor's medical curiosity toward the resurrection of a Jew named Lazarus with whom he visits and speaks, long after Christ's crucifixion.
• The poem "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath is about her returning to life after two suicide attempts.
• Luigi Pirandello wrote a play entitled "Lazzaro" (Italian for Lazarus) in which the protagonist Diego is brought back from the dead, an act which shatters his previous faith in God

Unrelated uses of the name

• Lazarus is the name of the trio fronted by ex-Fairport Convention fiddler Dave Swarbrick, along with guitarist Kevin Dempsey and multi-instrumentalist Maartin Allcock. Dave Swarbrick read his own (premature)obituary in 1999 and received a double lung transplant in 2004, hence the name of the band.
• Lazarus is also the name of a single released by Liverpool band the Boo Radleys.
• Lazarus is also the name of a single released by progressive rock band Porcupine Tree in 2005.
• Lazarus is also the name of a song released as a b-side on the single 'Streetcar' by Funeral for a Friend. Its full title is 'Lazarus (In the Wilderness).
• Lazarus is also a name of a song by the band Fozzy that was featured on their third album, All That Remains.
• Lazarus is also a favorite song performed by the rock oriented "jamband" moe.
• Program Project of Open Source software called "Lazarus", to be an open rad development
• Lazarus is also the title of a song by Cleveland metallers Chimaira which appears at the end of their self-titled 2005 release, Roadrunner Records.
• In the 1996 computer game Diablo, Lazarus is a priest who was corrupted by Diablo, the lord of Terror, and compelled to release diablo from the Soulstone in which he was encased.
• An episode of The X-Files entitled "Hollywood, AD" deals with a case Muler and Scully investigated concerning a piece of pottery called "The Lazarus Bowl" that had an incantation to raise the dead recorded into its clay grooves just as music is recorded into vinyl. It was said to have been created by an old woman spinning a clay bowl on a wheel nearby as Jesus commanded Lazarus to rise from the dead.
• Dr. Lazarus is a professor of meteorology at Florida Tech.

See also

• Eleazar
• Saint Sarah
• Lazarus taxon
• Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem
• Ultima V: Lazarus

Lazar Lazarus Lazare לזרוס Lazarus Łazarz (postać biblijna) ラザロ Lazarus Lasaros