LAZARUS (abridged form of the He brew name Eleazar, • God has helped"), name of two persons in the New Testament. 1. Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Martha and J Mary, and a friend of esus. John xi, xii, narrates the miracle of esus raising Lazarus from the dead after he • ad lain four days in the tomb. Beyond the mention of Lazarus' presence at the banquet which Simon the Leper gave Jesus (Matthew xxvi, 6-16; Mark xiv, 3-11; Luke x, 40; John xii, 1-11) there is no further reference to him or the miracle of his raising from the dead. The miracle is stated in John xii, 1-11, to have produced a great effect upon the Jews, converting many to a belief in Jesus and thereby caused the high priests to seek the death of Lazarus as well as of Jesus. There has been a wide controversy concerning the authenticity of the miracle, grounded in part upon the failure of the other Synoptists to mention it despite its significance.
Supporters of the actuality of the miracle are inclined to consider•doubts cast upon it as evi dences of enmity to Christianity. (2) The beg gar in the parable "Lazarus and Dives° (Luke vi, 20), this constituting the only occurrence of a proper name in a parable, and used prob ably merely as characterization, and not with any thought of connecting the beggar with Lazarus of Bethany. The description of the beggar at the gate of the wealthy Dives, covered with sores and longing vainly for the crumbs from the table, doubtless gave rise to the assumption that he was a leper, an un founded belief which nevertheless became widespread and the name passed into many languages as identified with leprosy. The story appears only in the gospel of Luke.