Luke 12:15

And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses a crowd in the moment after declining to act as judge in a brotherly inheritance dispute (Luke 12:14). He seizes the occasion to issue a warning about the underlying desire that produced the dispute.

The words — φυλάσσεσθε (phulassesthe), "do keep yourselves," is a present imperative from phulassō (to guard, to station as a watchman), pairing with ὁρᾶτε (horate), "do watch," to form a sustained command rather than a one-time act.

The thread — The same contentment-versus-covetousness axis runs through Hebrews 13:5 ("keep your lives free from the love of money"), 1 Timothy 6:6 ("godliness with contentment is great gain"), and Psalms 119:36 ("not to covetous gain").

Why it lands — It asks the reader to stop treating possessions as the measure of a life that is actually sustained, and to recognize that the desire to accumulate is the root problem, not the amount held.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Cross-references

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
1 Timothy 6:6 Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
Psalms 119:36 Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.
Proverbs 15:16 Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
Proverbs 16:16 How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
Luke 16:14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
Luke 8:14 The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.
2 Timothy 3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,