Luke Chapter 23, Verse 43
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43: και ειπεν αυτω ο ιησους αμην λεγω σοι σημερον μετ εμου εση εν τω παραδεισω
43: And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt
thou be with me in paradise.
43: And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee: This day thou shalt be
with me in paradise.
Today, &c. It is not probable that the dying thief expected that his
prayer would be so soon answeyed. It is rather to be supposed that he
looked to some future period when the Messiah would rise or would
return; but Jesus told him that his prayer would be answered that very
day, implying, evidently, that it would be immediately at death. This
is the more remarkable, as those who were crucified commonly lingered
for several days on the cross before they died; but Jesus foresaw that
measures would be taken to hasten their death, and assured him that
that day he should receive an answer to his prayer and be with him in
his kingdom.
Paradise. This is a word of Persian origin, and means a garden, particularly a garden of pleasure, filled with trees, and shrubs, and fountains, and flowers. In hot climates such gardens were peculiarly pleasant, and hence they were attached to the mansions of the rich and to the palaces of princes. The word came thus to denote any place of happiness, and was used particularly to denotes the abodes of the blessed in another world. The Romans spoke of their Elysium, and the Greeks of the gardens of Hesperides, where the trees bore golden fruit. The garden of Eden means, also, the garden of pleasure, and in Gen 2:8 the Septuagint renders the word Eden by Paradise. Hence this name in the Scriptures comes to denote the abodes of the blessed in the other world. See "2Cor 12:4".
The Jews supposed that the souls of the righteous would be received into such a place, and those of the wicked cast down to Gehenna until the time of the judgment. They had many fables about this state which it is unnecessary to repeat. The plain meaning of the passage is,
"To-day thou shalt be made happy, or be received to a state of blessedness with me after death."
