Luke 12:20

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses the wealthy landowner immediately after the man declares his intention to store up goods for many years and live in self-indulgence.

The words — ἄφρων (aphrōn) translates literally to “Fool,” and ταύτῃ (tautē) means “this” or “very,” marking the precise, unextended timing of the coming death. Both terms are Greek.

The thread — The sudden termination of life and the futility of hoarded wealth recur in Job 27:8, Jeremiah 17:11, and 1 Timothy 6:7.

Why it lands — The text demands the reader acknowledge that life can end abruptly and that accumulated possessions will pass to others, requiring a focus on spiritual wealth rather than material accumulation.

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

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

Cross-references

Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
Jeremiah 17:11 Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”
1 Timothy 6:7 For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.
Psalms 39:6 Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
James 4:14 You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Job 27:16 Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
Psalms 49:17 For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.
Luke 16:22 One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.
Psalms 52:5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
Psalms 73:19 How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!