But God said unto him. — The bold anthropomorphic language seems intended to suggest the thought not only that death came suddenly, but that the man felt that it came from God as the chastisement of his folly.
Thy soul shall be required. — Literally, they require thy soul of thee. The idiom, as in Luke 12:48, and Luke 14:35, is impersonal, and does not require us to supply any definite nominative. We may compare “that when ye fail, they may receive you...” (Luke 16:9) as a possibly analogous instance; but see Note there.
Then whose shall those things be? — The words indicate one of the disturbing thoughts that vex the souls of the wealthy, “He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them” (Psalms 39:6).