20 "But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared - whose will they be?'
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Fool, this night they will demand thy soul from thee. The word soul carries an allusion. Formerly, the rich man addressed his soul as the seat of all the affections: but now, he speaks of the life itself, or the vital spirit. The words, they will demand, (apaitousin) though in the plural number, are used indefinitely, and mean nothing more than that the life of the rich man, which he imagined to be in his own power, was at the disposal of another. I advert to this, because some take occasion from them to make unfounded speculations about angels. The design of Christ is simply to show that the life of men, which they imagine to be strongly protected by the fortress of their riches, is every moment [1] taken away. The rich man is thus convicted of folly, in not knowing that his life depended on another.
1 - "Que d'heure en heure la vie est ostee aux hommes;" -- "that from hour to hour the life of man is taken away."
Thou fool - If there is any supreme folly, it is this. As though riches could prolong life, or avert for a moment the approach of pain and death.
This night - What an awful sentence to a man who, as he thought, had got just ready to live and enjoy himself! In a single moment all his hopes were blasted, and his soul summoned to the bar of his long-forgotten God. So, many are surprised as suddenly and as unprepared. They are snatched from their pleasures, and hurried to a world where there is no pleasure, and where all their wealth cannot purchase one moment's ease from the gnawings of the worm that never dies.
Shall be required of thee - Thou shalt be required to die, to go to God, and to give up your account.
Then whose - Whose they may be is of little consequence to the man that lost his soul to gain them; but they are often left to heirs that dissipate them much sooner than the father procured them, and thus they secure "their" ruin as well as his own. See Psalm 39:6; Ecclesiastes 2:18-19.
Thou fool! - To imagine that a man's comfort and peace can depend upon temporal things; or to suppose that these can satisfy the wishes of an immortal spirit!
This night - How awful was this saying! He had just made the necessary arrangements for the gratification of his sensual appetites; and, in the very night in which he had finally settled all his plans, his soul was called into the eternal world! What a dreadful awakening of a soul, long asleep in sin! He is now hurried into the presence of his Maker; none of his worldly goods can accompany him, and he has not a particle of heavenly treasure! There is a passage much like this in the book of Ecclesiasticus, 11:18, 19. There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and pinching, and this is the portion of his reward: Whereas he saith, I have found rest, and now will eat continually of my goods; and yet he knoweth not what time shall come upon him; and that he must leave those things to others, and die. We may easily see whence the above is borrowed.
But God said unto him,.... He determined within himself he should die that night; for the time of a man's death, as well as of his birth, is fixed by God; or he sent the messenger of death, some disease or another, the language of which was, immediate death, or death in a very short time; or spoke to his conscience, and impressed it on his mind, that he should die that night, and not live:
thou fool: as he appeared to be, throughout the whole of his conduct:
this night thy soul shall be required of thee: which is of God's immediate formation, is immortal, of more worth than a world, and its loss is irreparable; and for which a man is accountable to God, the Father of spirits; and which he requires at a man's hands at death, which is here designed; and shows, that a man has no power over it to retain it, but must give it up when it is called for, even that very instant, "this night" which may refer to the time when covetous persons are employing their thoughts about their worldly goods, or when epicures and sensual persons are indulging themselves in luxury and intemperance; and to the condition the soul is in, being in the night and in darkness, and knows not whither it is going; and denotes its immediate remove, and the suddenness of divine wrath and vengeance; the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions, agreeably to the Greek text, read the words, "this night do they require thy soul of thee"; or "out of thy body", as the Persic version reads: the Ethiopic version renders it, "they shall take thy soul from thee"; that is, the evil angels, the devils having a commission from God, shall demand thy soul; and as soon as ever it is separated from the body, shall seize upon it, and carry it to hell; just as the good angels carry the souls of the saints to heaven, Luke 16:22
Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? not his own, for he can carry nothing with him; nor does he know whose they will be, whether the persons he designed them for, or some others whom he abhorred, and would, if possible, have prevented their enjoyment of them; and should he have them for whom he intended them, he does not know how he will turn out, whether a wise man or a fool, or what use he will make of them.
this night, &c.--This sudden cutting short of his career is designed to express not only the folly of building securely upon the future, but of throwing one's whole soul into what may at any moment be gone. "Thy soul shall be required of thee" is put in opposition to his own treatment of it, "I will say to my soul, Soul," &c.
whose shall those things be, &c.--Compare Psalm 39:6, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them."
Thou fool. The still, small voice may have said this, as mortal disease attacked him. Men said that he was sagacious, wise; but God said, "Thou fool."
This night. Instead of having many years, this night he shall die, unprepared, and all his goods on which he set his heart be delivered over to others.
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself. He is guilty of folly in the eyes of God. Wisdom requires that we should lay up treasure in heaven.
Thou fool - To think of satisfying thy soul with earthly goods! To depend on living many years! Yea, one day! They - The messengers of death, commissioned by God, require thy soul of thee!
*More commentary available at chapter level.