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Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:1-59

The Lord , after leaving the Pharisee ' s house , speaks at great length to a numerous crowd waiting for him , addressing his words principally to his own disciples. The foregoing scene ( Luke 11:1-54 .), when the Master addressed his bitter reproaches to the learned and cultivated of the great Pharisee party, took place in a private house belonging to an apparently wealthy member of this, the dominant class. The name of the large village or provincial town where all this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:13-21

A warning against covetousness. Amid the important teaching of our Lord there comes an interlude by reason of a brother, who had been wronged out of his share of the inheritance, appealing for redress to Christ. He wanted our Lord to play the part of a small attorney and get conveyed to him some share. This our Lord deliberately declines to do, indicating that he has come into the world for higher work than worldly arbitration. This aspect of the subject has been well handled by Robertson... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:13-31

Worldliness. To the earnest teacher nothing can be more irritating than a half-attentive attitude or a remark which indicates preoccupation of mind with other and inferior things. Think of Christ, towards the close of a day of controversy with the Pharisees, and in the midst of solemn speech as to the duty of a true man, invited on a sudden to decide in a family quarrel, to settle a dispute about some money or some acres of soil. We know nothing about the person who appealed to him ( Luke... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:16

The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. The unhappy subject of the Lord's story was a common figure in Palestine in an ordinarily prosperous time. We have the portrait of a landowner whose farms do not seem to have been acquired by any unjust means. This man, after years of successful industry, having acquired great wealth, wholly devotes himself to it and to its further increase. He does not give himself up to excess or profligacy, but simply, body and soul, becomes... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:17-18

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater . "No place to bestow my fruits." Well answers St. Ambrose," Thou hast barns—the bosoms of the needy, the houses of the widows, the mouths of orphans and of infants." Some might argue, from the sequel of the story, that God looks with disfavour on riches as riches. St. Augustine replies to such a mistaken... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Luke 12:16

A parable - See the notes at Matthew 13:3.Plentifully - His land was fertile, and produced even beyond his expectations, and beyond what he had provided for. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Luke 12:17

He thought within himself - He reasoned or inquired. He was anxious and perplexed. Riches increase thought and perplexity. Indeed, this is almost their only effect - to engross the thoughts and steal the heart away from better things, in order to take care of the useless wealth.No room - Everything was full.To bestow - To place, to hoard, to collect.My fruits - Our word “fruits” is not applied to “grain;” but the Greek word is applied to all the produce of the earth - not only “fruit,” but also... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Luke 12:18

I will pull down my barns - The word “barns” here, properly means, “granaries,” or places exclusively designed to put wheat, barley, etc. They were commonly made, by the ancients, “underground,” where grain could be kept a long time more safe from thieves and from vermin. If it be asked why he did not let the old ones remain and build new ones, it may be answered that it would be easier to “enlarge” those already excavated in the earth than to dig new ones. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Luke 12:16-20

Luke 12:16-20. To illustrate his admonition, and give it the greater weight, our Lord here delivers an important parable. The ground of a rich man brought forth plentifully This man, it appears, became rich, not by unjust gains, but by the produce of his own land, the most innocent method possible of making or increasing an estate. Nor did his covetousness consist in heaping up wealth without end, even by a method so innocent as that of agriculture: no; the extraordinary fruitfulness of one... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Luke 12:4-21

63. Concern about safety and security (Luke 12:4-21)Some teaching that Jesus gave to the twelve apostles is repeated in other parts of the Gospels. This may have been given to the followers of Jesus in general, particularly those instructions and warnings that concerned putting loyalty to Jesus before the desire for personal safety (Luke 12:4-12; see notes on Matthew 10:28-33 above).On one occasion when a crowd was listening to such teaching from Jesus, there was one person who showed no... read more

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