Luke 12:20

20 But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?

Luke 12:20 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 12:20

But God said unto him
He determined within himself he should die that night; for the time of a man's death, as well as of his birth, is fixed by God; or he sent the messenger of death, some disease or another, the language of which was, immediate death, or death in a very short time; or spoke to his conscience, and impressed it on his mind, that he should die that night, and not live:

thou fool:
as he appeared to be, throughout the whole of his conduct:

this night thy soul shall be required of thee:
which is of God's immediate formation, is immortal, of more worth than a world, and its loss is irreparable; and for which a man is accountable to God, the Father of spirits; and which he requires at a man's hands at death, which is here designed; and shows, that a man has no power over it to retain it, but must give it up when it is called for, even that very instant, "this night" which may refer to the time when covetous persons are employing their thoughts about their worldly goods, or when epicures and sensual persons are indulging themselves in luxury and intemperance; and to the condition the soul is in, being in the night and in darkness, and knows not whither it is going; and denotes its immediate remove, and the suddenness of divine wrath and vengeance; the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions, agreeably to the Greek text, read the words, "this night do they require thy soul of thee"; or "out of thy body", as the Persic version reads: the Ethiopic version renders it, "they shall take thy soul from thee"; that is, the evil angels, the devils having a commission from God, shall demand thy soul; and as soon as ever it is separated from the body, shall seize upon it, and carry it to hell; just as the good angels carry the souls of the saints to heaven, ( Luke 16:22 )

Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
not his own, for he can carry nothing with him; nor does he know whose they will be, whether the persons he designed them for, or some others whom he abhorred, and would, if possible, have prevented their enjoyment of them; and should he have them for whom he intended them, he does not know how he will turn out, whether a wise man or a fool, or what use he will make of them.

Luke 12:20 In-Context

18 And he said, This will I do: I will take away my granaries and build greater, and there I will lay up all my produce and my good things;

19 and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid by for many years; repose thyself, eat, drink, be merry.

20 But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?

21 Thus is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

22 And he said to his disciples, For this cause I say unto you, Be not careful for life, what ye shall eat, nor for the body, what ye shall put on.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'they shall require:' see Note, ch. 6.38.