Luke Chapter 12 verse 17 Holy Bible
and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits?
read chapter 12 in ASV
And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit.
read chapter 12 in BBE
And he reasoned within himself saying, What shall I do? for I have not [a place] where I shall lay up my fruits.
read chapter 12 in DARBY
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
read chapter 12 in KJV
read chapter 12 in WBT
He reasoned within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I don't have room to store my crops?'
read chapter 12 in WEB
and he was reasoning within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where I shall gather together my fruits?
read chapter 12 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 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 deduction, "God desires not that thou shouldest lose thy riches, but that thou shouldest change their place" ('Serm.,' 36:9). The Greek word rendered "barns" (ἀποθήκας - whence our word "apothecary") has a broader signification than merely barns; it signifies store or warehouses of all kinds, thus suggesting that the hero of the story was more than a mere wealthy farmer - he was probably also a trader. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. As he grew richer, he grew more covetous. Absolutely no care or thought for anything save his loved possessions seems to have crossed the threshold of that poor mistaken heart of his. This strange hunger after riches for riches' sake is, alas! a very usual form of soul-disease. Can it be cured? Alas! it is one of the most hopeless of soul-maladies. This unhappy love in countless cases becomes a passion, and twines itself round the heart, and so destroys all the affections and higher aspirations.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) And he thought within himself.--The parable, like that of the Good Samaritan, is more than a similitude, and reads like an actual history. There is an almost dramatic vividness in the rich man's soliloquy. It was the very "superfluity" of the man's goods that became a new cause of anxiety. In such a case half was more than the whole. So far as life depended on property, it would have been better had the property been less.
