Bible Strands
Luke 12:21
This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples immediately after recounting God’s declaration that a rich man’s life would be demanded that night. He delivers this statement as the concluding application of the parable.
The words — θησαυρίζων (thēsaurizōn) means “treasuring up,” and εἰς θεὸν (eis theon) literally reads “toward God.” These terms establish the structural contrast between self-directed accumulation and God-directed wealth.
The thread — The same warning appears in Matthew 6:19, which prohibits storing earthly treasure vulnerable to decay and theft, and Luke 12:33, which commands selling possessions to give to the poor. James 2:5 reinforces the contrast by noting God’s choice of the worldly poor to be rich in faith.
Why it lands — The text states that anyone who hoards wealth for personal security while lacking spiritual richness toward God will face the same fate as the rich fool. It requires a reader to audit whether their financial practices build self-sufficiency or advance God’s purposes.
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
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Cross-references
- Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
- Luke 12:33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
- James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- James 5:1 Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- 1 Timothy 6:18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,
- Revelation 2:9 I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
- Habakkuk 2:9 Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
- Hosea 10:1 Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.
- Luke 6:24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
- Luke 16:11 So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?