{Neither will they be persuaded} (oud' peisth(8873)ontai).
First future passive of peith(935c). Gressmann calls attention to
the fact that Jesus is saying this in the conclusion of the
parable. It is a sharp discouragement against efforts today to
communicate with the dead. "Saul was not led to repentance when
he saw Samuel at Endor nor were the Pharisees when they saw
Lazarus come forth from the tomb. The Pharisees tried to put
Lazarus to death and to explain away the resurrection of Jesus"
(Plummer). Alford comments on the curious fact that Lazarus was
the name of the one who did rise from the dead but whose return
from the dead "was the immediate exciting cause of their
(Pharisees) crowning act of unbelief."