Luke 12:16 (YLT)

Passage

And he spake a simile unto them, saying, `Of a certain rich man the field brought forth well;

Nearby Context

Luke 12:14 And he said to him, `Man, who set me a judge or a divider over you?'

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, `Observe, and beware of the covetousness, because not in the abundance of one's goods is his life.'

Luke 12:16 And he spake a simile unto them, saying, `Of a certain rich man the field brought forth well;

Luke 12:17 and he was reasoning within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where I shall gather together my fruits?

Luke 12:18 and he said, This I will do, I will take down my storehouses, and greater ones I will build, and I will gather together there all my products and my good things,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "spake", "simile", "saying", "certain", "rich", "field", "brought", and "forth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "spake" and "simile", 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 Observe and..." into verse 17's "and he was reasoning within himself saying...", so "spake" and "simile" 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 "simile" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.