Discovery BoxLuke 12:18-20 
Context12:18 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
Context12:33 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.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 sn Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.
3 tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.
4 tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.
5 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).
6 tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
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.
8 tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today.
9 tn Grk “in the heavens.”
10 tn Or “an unfailing treasure in heaven,” or “an inexhaustible treasure in heaven.”
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.
