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The rich fool

Luke 12:16–21 · Journey to Jerusalem

Scripture

Luke 12:16–21

nd he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

King James Version · public domain

Lluka 12:16–21

dhe u tha atyre një paravoli, dyke thënë, Një njeriu të-pasurë i erdhë mbarë aratë; 17Edhe mendonej ndë vetëhet të ti, dyke thënë, Ç’të bënj? se s’kam ku të mbleth pemët e mia. 18Pastaj tha, Këtë kam për të bërë; dotë prish grunarët’ e mi, edhe dot’i bënj më të-mëdhenj, edhe dotë mbleth atje gjithë drithëtë t’im, edhe të-mirat’ e mia; 19Edhe dot’i them shpirtit t’im, O shpirt, ke shumë të-mira që gjendenë për shumë vjet; prëhu, e ha, e pi, e gëzohu. 20Po Perëndia i tha, I-marrë, këtë natë dotë lypnënjë prej teje shpirtinë t’ënt; edhe sa bëre gati, të kujt dotë jenë? 21Kështu dotë jetë ay që mbleth thesarë për vetëhen’ e ti, e nuk’ bënetë i-pasurë mbë Perëndinë.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

Summary

The man who tears down his barns to build bigger ones, and then hears "this night your soul is required of you," is the Fathers' great warning against greed and against trusting in possessions. The Fathers notice first that his land "brought forth plentifully": the harvest was God's gift, not the fruit of his own wisdom, yet in his long deliberation he speaks only to himself, never to God and never to the poor. St. Cyril of Alexandria draws out this folly, observing that the rich man takes counsel with no one but himself; so the very abundance that should have made him grateful makes him anxious and alone.

St. Basil's homily I Will Tear Down My Barns is the classic treatment. The surplus the rich man hoards is not his own but is owed to the poor, and to withhold it is a kind of robbery; the true storehouses, the Fathers say, are the bellies of the hungry and the homes of the needy, where what is given is kept safe forever. St. John Chrysostom presses the same point: riches are a trust, not a possession, and the man who clutches them as his own has misread both the gift and the Giver.

The word "fool" falls on him not for being rich but for his blindness: he plans for many years and is not granted one night. The soul he thought he could feast and fatten is "required" of him, asked back like a loan that was never his to keep, and the goods he stored pass to others. To be "rich toward God" is therefore to lay up treasure in heaven through mercy, to make the poor the keepers of one's wealth, and to hold all as a steward who must soon give account.

The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16–21)

Public-Domain Patristic Commentary

A rich man's ground brings forth plentifully, and he asks himself what to do, having no room for his fruits. He decides to pull down his barns and build greater, and to say to his soul, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But God says to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" The Lord closes: "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." The parable comes in answer to a man asking Christ to settle an inheritance, and against "all kinds of greed." It is found only in Luke.

This parable is the subject of one of Basil the Great's most famous homilies, and his words stand at the head below, gathered with Cyril, Chrysostom, Athanasius, Theophylact, Gregory the Great, Ambrose, and Bede in the Catena Aurea on Luke (St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841). All texts are quoted verbatim from public-domain translations.

St. Basil the Great (c. 330–379)

From his homily on Luke 12:18 ("I will pull down my barns"), as preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the barns that are already the home of the poor, and the question "what is your own?":

Your barns, if you will, are the home of the poor. But you will say, Whom do I wrong by keeping what is my own? ... Tell me what is yours, from whence did you get it and bring it into life? As he who anticipates the public games, injures those who are coming by appropriating to himself what is appointed for the common use, so likewise the rich who regard as their own the common things which they have forestalled. For if every one receiving what is sufficient for his own necessity would leave what remains to the needy, there would be no rich or poor.

On wealth as a stewardship received from God:

But if you confess that those things have come to you from God, is God then unjust in distributing to us unequally?

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On barns that decay, and a life reckoned too long:

The rich man then builds barns which last not, but decay, and what is still more foolish, reckons for himself upon a long life; for it follows, "And I will say to my Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years." But, O rich man, you have indeed fruits in your barns, but as for many years whence can you obtain them?

On the folly of calling the harvest his own:

Observe also in another respect the folly of his words, when he says, "I will gather all my fruits," as if he thought that he had not obtained them from God, but that they were the fruits of his own labors.

St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the rich man's error in calling indifferent things good:

But in this he errs, that he thinks those things good which are indifferent. For there are some things good, some evil, some between the two. The good are chastity, and humility, and the like, which when a man chooses he becomes good. But opposed to these are the evil, which when a man chooses he becomes bad; and there are the neutral, as riches, which at one time indeed are directed to good, as to almsgiving, at other times to evil, as to covetousness. And in like manner poverty at one time leads to blasphemy, at another to wisdom, according to the disposition of the user.

On delights that fatten the body but starve the soul:

Now it behoves us not to indulge in delights which fattening the body make lean the soul, and bring a heavy burden upon it, and spread darkness over it, and a thick covering, because in pleasure our governing part which is the soul becomes the slave, but the subject part, namely the body, rules.

On the soul required at death, and its need of a guide:

They shall require of you, for perhaps certain dread powers were sent to require it, since if when going from city to city we want a guide, much more will the soul when released from the body, and passing to a future life, need direction.

On leaving all behind, carrying only a load of sins:

For here shall you leave those things, and not only reap no advantage from them, but carry a load of sins upon your own shoulders.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On living daily mindful of death, against the rich man's presumption:

Now if any one lives so as to die daily, seeing that our life is naturally uncertain, he will not sin, for the greater fear destroys very much pleasure: but the rich man on the contrary, promising to himself length of life, seeks after pleasures, for he says, "Rest," that is, from toil, "eat, drink, and be merry."

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1055–after 1107)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the covetous who hoard as if they would live forever:

This our Lord says to rebuke the motives of the covetous, who seem to heap up riches as if they were going to live for a long time. But will wealth ever make you long lived? Why then dost thou manifestly undergo evils for the sake of an uncertain rest? For it is doubtful whether you ought to attain to an old age, for the sake of which you are collecting treasures.

St. Gregory the Great (c. 540–604)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On prosperity that becomes a burden:

O adversity, the child of plenty. For saying, What shall I do, he surely betokens, that, oppressed by the success of his wishes, he labors as it were under a load of goods.

On the man taken away the very night he looked far ahead:

The same night he was taken away, who had expected many years, that he indeed who had in gathering stores for himself looked a long time forward.

St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On wealth that cannot be taken with us, and mercy that follows us:

For in vain he amasses wealth who knows not how to use it. Neither are these things ours which we cannot take away with us. Virtue alone is the companion of the dead, mercy alone follows us, which gains for the dead an everlasting habitation.

St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673–735)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the one who would be rich toward God:

For such a one is a fool, and will be taken off in the night. He then who wishes to be rich toward God, will not lay up treasures for himself, but distribute his possessions to the poor.

Note on sources and other Fathers

The Eastern Fathers gather around a single point: the folly is not in the harvest but in the heart that calls it "my own" and presumes upon "many years." Basil presses hardest, turning the parable into a question of justice: the surplus grain is not the rich man's possession but the poor man's due, "for if every one receiving what is sufficient for his own necessity would leave what remains to the needy, there would be no rich or poor." This passage comes from Basil's celebrated homily on this very verse, sometimes titled "I Will Tear Down My Barns," which develops the theme at length; only the portion preserved in the Catena is quoted here. Cyril notes the absurdity of building barns that "decay" while reckoning on a long life, and of claiming the fruits as "his own labors" rather than God's gift. Chrysostom diagnoses the deeper error — treating "indifferent" riches as though they were good in themselves — and warns of delights that "fatten the body" but "make lean the soul," and of the dread reckoning when the soul is required and "shall leave those things" behind, carrying only "a load of sins." Athanasius and Theophylact both turn to the uncertainty of life: the wise man "lives so as to die daily," while the covetous "heap up riches as if they were going to live for a long time."

The parable was also expounded in the Latin West, received in the East: Gregory the Great sees prosperity itself become "a load of goods," and the man "taken away" the very night he had "looked a long time forward"; Ambrose teaches that "virtue alone is the companion of the dead, mercy alone follows us"; and Bede draws the conclusion that he who would be rich toward God will "distribute his possessions to the poor." The Catena on this passage also preserves words of Theophylact's opening and other connectors not quoted here.

Patristic sources