Discovery BoxLuke 12:15 
Context12:15 Then 1 he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from 2 all types of greed, 3 because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:33
Context12:33 Sell your possessions 4 and give to the poor. 5 Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out – a treasure in heaven 6 that never decreases, 7 where no thief approaches and no moth 8 destroys.
1 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 tn See L&N 13.154 for this use of the middle voice of φυλάσσω (fulassw) in this verse.
3 tn Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire to acquire more and more possessions and experiences.
4 sn The call to sell your possessions is a call to a lack of attachment to the earth and a generosity as a result.
5 tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today.
6 tn Grk “in the heavens.”
7 tn Or “an unfailing treasure in heaven,” or “an inexhaustible treasure in heaven.”
8 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.
