Luke 12:16 (KJV)

Passage

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

Nearby Context

Luke 12:14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Luke 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

Luke 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

Luke 12:18 And 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "spake", "parable", "saying", "ground", "certain", "rich", "brought", and "forth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "spake" and "parable", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And he said unto them Take heed..." into verse 17's "And he thought within himself saying What...", so "spake" and "parable" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "spake" and "parable" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.