Lukas 12:15-21

12:15 Then ¹  he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from ²  all types of greed, ³  because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 12:16 He then ⁴  told them a parable: ⁵  “The land of a certain rich man produced ⁶  an abundant crop, 12:17 so ⁷  he thought to himself, ⁸  ‘What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ⁹  12:18 Then ¹⁰  he said, ‘I ¹¹  will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 12:19 And I will say to myself, ¹²  “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’ 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ¹³  will be demanded back from ¹⁴  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ¹⁵  12:21 So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, ¹⁶  but is not rich toward God.”

Lukas 16:22-23

16:22 “Now ¹⁷  the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. ¹⁸  The ¹⁹  rich man also died and was buried. ²⁰  16:23 And in hell, ²¹  as he was in torment, ²²  he looked up ²³  and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ 

[12:15]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:15]  ² tn See L&N 13.154 for this use of the middle voice of φυλάσσω (fulassw) in this verse.

[12:15]  ³ tn Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire to acquire more and more possessions and experiences.

[12:16]  ⁴ tn Grk “And he.” Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the connection to the preceding statement.

[12:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “a parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:16]  ⁶ tn Or “yielded a plentiful harvest.”

[12:17]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this is a result of the preceding statement.

[12:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “to himself, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:17]  ⁹ sn I have nowhere to store my crops. The thinking here is prudent in terms of recognizing the problem. The issue in the parable will be the rich man’s solution, particularly the arrogance reflected in v. 19.

[12:18]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:18]  ¹¹ sn Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.

[12:19]  ¹² tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[12:20]  ¹³ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ¹⁴ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:21]  ¹⁶ sn It is selfishness that is rebuked here, in the accumulation of riches for himself. Recall the emphasis on the first person pronouns throughout the parable.

[16:22]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Now it happened that the.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “to Abraham’s bosom.” The phrase “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” describes being gathered to the fathers and is a way to refer to heaven (Gen 15:15; 47:30; Deut 31:16).

[16:22]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:22]  ²⁰ sn The shorter description suggests a different fate, which is confirmed in the following verses.

[16:23]  ²¹ sn The Greek term Hades stands for the Hebrew concept of Sheol. It is what is called hell today. This is where the dead were gathered (Ps 16:10; 86:13). In the NT Hades has an additional negative force of awaiting judgment (Rev 20:13).

[16:23]  ²² sn Hades is a place of torment, especially as one knows that he is separated from God.

[16:23]  ²³ tn Grk “he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).

[16:23]  ²⁴ tn Grk “in his bosom,” the same phrase used in 16:22. This idiom refers to heaven and/or participation in the eschatological banquet. An appropriate modern equivalent is “at Abraham’s side.”