Luke 12:20 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Shall be required of thee:— It is in the original απαιτουσιν, they shall require; which Elsner thinks alludes to the messengers sent to fetch away the soul; and he produces a remarkable and well-known passage from Plato to prove that Socrates thought this the office of a spirit superior to men. Others, to preserve the literal meaning of the words, suppose, that thieves broke into this man's house, and robbed him of his life, together with his riches; but it is most probable that, according to an use of the plural number very familiar in the Hebrew language, these words may signify no more than that his life should be taken away, without determining whether angels, as executioners of the divine decree, or men should take it away.