What Does Luke 12:16 Mean in the King James?

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

Luke 12:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The land bears the abundance; the rich man receives it.

THE MEANING

The land is bringing forth abundance for a man already described as rich. The ground bears the increase, while the man is its named recipient. The story opens with plenty before it reveals what he will do with it.

THE ROOT

εὐφόρησεν

euphórēsen

GROWS FROM

φέρω

pherō

to bear, carry, or bring

“brought forth plentifully” in this verse is euphórēsen. Under “brought forth,” the root holds bearing, carrying, and bringing together. The land is the grammatical actor: abundance comes through what it bears, before the rich man decides how to hold it.

ALSO GROWS

phoreō: to carry or wear

φορέω

This branch keeps the sense of bearing something along, making the land’s yield an action rather than a static possession.

karpophoreō: to bear fruit

καρποφορέω

Here the same bearing family appears directly in fruit-bearing language, connecting abundance with what a living source brings forth.

THE PATTERN

Increase is borne through a source that human hands can tend but cannot produce by ownership alone.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Genesis 1:11 · KJVThe earth is given the action of bringing forth, with seed and fruit emerging from what it bears.

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

Mark 4:28 · KJVThe earth bears fruit through a process that unfolds from within its life.

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:6 · KJVHuman labor is present, yet the increase comes as something given beyond the labor itself.

THE THREAD

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:5 · KJV

“Bringeth forth” here uses ⁨φέρει⁩ (pherei), from the same ⁨φέρω⁩ (pherō) family as Luke’s “brought forth plentifully.” John makes the shared image relational: fruit is borne through abiding connection, sharpening the distinction between what the land bears and what the rich man owns.

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