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Luke 12:18
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 is the continuative use of
the conjunction KAI, meaning “And then; And so.” This is followed by the third person singular
aorist active indicative from the verb EIPON, which means “to say: he said.”
The aorist tense is a constative/historical aorist, which views the action in its entirety as a
fact.
The active voice indicates that the rich man produced the action.
The indicative mood is declarative for a simple statement of fact.
Next we have the accusative direct object from the neuter singular demonstrative pronoun
HOUTOS, meaning “this.” With this we have the first person singular future active indicative
from the verb POIEW, which means “to do: I will do.”
The future tense is a predictive future, which affirms what will take place.
The active voice indicates that the rich farmer produced the action.
The indicative mood is declarative for a simple statement of fact.
“And then he said, ‘I will do this:”
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 is the first person singular future active indicative from
the verb KATHAIREW, which means “to take down, tear down, pull down, or demolish.”
The future tense is a predictive future, which affirms what will take place.
The active voice indicates that the rich farmer will produce the action.
The indicative mood is declarative for a simple statement of fact.
Then we have the possessive genitive from the first person singular personal pronoun EGW,
meaning “my” plus the accusative direct object from the feminine plural article and noun
APOTHĒKĒ, which means “barns.” Next we have the additive use of the conjunction KAI,
meaning “and” plus the accusative direct object from the feminine plural comparative use of the
adjective MEGAS, meaning “greater, larger, bigger ones.” Then we have the first person
singular future active indicative of the verb OIKODOMEW, which means “to build: I will
build.” The morphology of this verb is the same as the previous verb.
“I will tear down my barns and I will build larger ones,”
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 is the additive use of the conjunction KAI,
meaning “and,” followed by the first person singular future active indicative from the verb
SUNAGW, which means “to gather together.” The morphology of this verb is the same as the
previous two verbs. Then we have the adverb of place EKEI, meaning “there.” Next we have
the accusative direct object from the masculine singular adjective PAS plus the article and noun
SITOS, meaning “all the grain.” With this we have the additive use of the conjunction KAI,
meaning “and” plus the accusative direct object from the neuter plural article and adjective
AGATHOS plus the possessive genitive from the first person singular personal pronoun EGW,
which means “my goods, possessions, treasures.”
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Luke 12:18
“and there I will gather together all my grain and goods.”
Lk 12:18 corrected translation
“And then he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and I will build larger ones, and
there I will gather together all my grain and goods.”
Explanation:
1. “And then he said, ‘I will do this:”
a. After thinking for some unknown duration, the rich farmer comes to a decision as to
what he will do to solve his overabundance of crops problem. The man is of course talking to
himself, since the previous verse has informed us that he was “thinking to himself.”
b. The rich man figures out his plan and course of action before he reveals it to anyone
else. Notice the focus and emphasis the Lord maintains throughout this portion of the study: “I
will” is said four times in this sentence. The man is clearly pre-occupied with himself, and never
once thinks to himself “What would the Lord want me to do?”
c. At the very least the man should have said to himself, “If the Lord is willing and by
the grace of God I will do this, so that it may serve the Lord’s future purpose.”
2. “I will tear down my barns and I will build larger ones,”
a. Like Satan before him, this man demonstrates his arrogance with the same “I will.”
Satan said, “I will be like the Most High God.” This man said “I will” do such and such. The
same words came from the same arrogance of soul.
b. The rich man isn’t going to personally tear down his barns (notice the plural). He is
going to hire men to do that for him, or tell his employees to do it. This can be done in a few
days at most. It has to be done quickly to save the crop. Then the plan is to build even bigger
barns (again note the plural). The rich man has the money to invest in this expensive project.
Besides, he intends to make a great profit on his ‘corn futures’, but that won’t happen with a
huge harvest. Again he will hire the same people who tear down the old barns to build the new
ones. He can probably even use much of the old wood and mix it in with the new wood that is
needed. This part of the project will take more than a few days. Even though a community can
unite to raise a barn in one day or two, his plan calls for several barns, which means at least a
couple of weeks to complete. The man is counting on completing this project before the rains of
late fall come. It also means that he will probably miss attending the Festival of Tabernacles and
the Day of Atonement. “This festival, known variously as the Feast of Booths, (Lev 23:34; Dt
16:13), Tabernacles (2 Chr 8:13; Jn 7:2), or Ingathering (Ex 34:22), was one of the three major
feasts in which all Hebrew males were required to participate each year. It began on the fifteenth
day of the seventh month (Tishri), i.e., mid-October, five days after the Day of Atonement
(Tishri 10). It continued for one week.”1
3. “and there I will gather together all my grain and goods.”
a. After the barns are built the man then has to employ the field hands to harvest the
crop, if they have not already done so. Then they have to gather the entire crop (we are never
told exactly what the crop is, because it is not germane [relevant] to the story) and all the other
1
Harrison, R. K. (1979–1988). Booths, Feast of. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 1, p. 535). Wm. B. Eerdmans.
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Luke 12:18
rich man’s goods (whatever he previously had stored in his barns (horses, cattle, sheep, or other
crops).
b. Every form of agricultural wealth this man has is going to be gathered up and stored in
these new barns. It is that age old concept of putting all your eggs in one basket—not a good
idea.
c. There is a significant emphasis in this story on the phrase “my crops and goods.” We
know this by the constant emphasis on what the man will do, his preoccupation with self, and
now his preoccupation with what is his. The word MOU, meaning ‘my’ is the last word
mentioned by Jesus in this statement. It is there to have a lingering effect on the souls of those to
whom Jesus is speaking. Another way to express this emphasis in English would be to translate
“I will gather together all the grain and goods that belong to ME!”
4. Commentators’ comments.
a. “The man moves to solve his problem. Given that he does not have sufficient storage
space in his present barns, he develops a plan to expand his storage capability so that he will not
lose what he now has. He will replace his barns with larger ones. The word for these
storehouses is plural, showing the great success of his crop. Many new buildings are needed to
cover the yield. After this expansion, he would have the capability to care not only for grain but
for other goods as well. The parable pictures a man making prudent, efficient plans.”2
b. “The extent of this man’s wealth is suggested not only by Luke’s initial
characterization of him as ‘rich,’ and not only by his capacity to undertake a building program
without the benefit of the sale of this year’s produce, but also by his need to build bigger barns
both for his grain and for the rest of his ‘goods’. Given the subsistence economy of the peasant
population surrounding him, this need for increased personal storage space not directly related to
his agricultural activity must have seemed odd in the extreme, if not utterly monstrous.”3
c. “Archaeologists have found large grain silos on farms where wealthy absentee
landowners lived.”4
d. “Building new barns was logical and prudent. It was a good idea. But the danger lay
in what was missing. There was no thought of sharing, and no thought of stewardship. There
was no thought for the poor, the ill, and the naked who were all around him. The language in
verses 17–19 reveals an ingrained selfishness. In the Greek the personal pronoun ‘my’ occurs
four times and ‘I’ eight times.”5
2
Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke: 9:51–24:53 (Vol. 2, p. 1152). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Green, J. B. (1997). The Gospel of Luke (p. 490). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
4
Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Lk 12:16–18). Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press.
5
Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth (p. 48). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
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