Luke 12:18-20

12:18 Then ¹  he said, ‘I ²  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, ³  “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 ⁴  will be demanded back from ⁵  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ⁶ 

Luke 12:33

12:33 Sell your possessions ⁷  and give to the poor. ⁸  Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out – a treasure in heaven ⁹  that never decreases, ¹⁰  where no thief approaches and no moth ¹¹  destroys.

[12:18]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:18]  ² sn Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.

[12:19]  ³ tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[12:20]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:33]  ⁷ sn The call to sell your possessions is a call to a lack of attachment to the earth and a generosity as a result.

[12:33]  ⁸ tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today.

[12:33]  ⁹ tn Grk “in the heavens.”

[12:33]  ¹⁰ tn Or “an unfailing treasure in heaven,” or “an inexhaustible treasure in heaven.”

[12:33]  ¹¹ tn The term σής (shs) refers to moths in general. It is specifically the larvae of moths that destroy clothing by eating holes in it (L&N 4.49; BDAG 922 s.v.). See Jas 5:2, which mentions “moth-eaten” clothing.