Matthew 12:43

Amplified Bible

"Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless (dry, arid) places in search of rest, but it does not find it.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn’t find any.

King James Version (1611)
When the vncleane spirit is gone out of a man, hee walketh thorow dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

King James Version
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

English Standard Version
"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.

New American Standard Bible
"Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

New Century Version
"When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest, but it doesn't find it.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Nowe when the vncleane spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh throughout drie places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

Legacy Standard Bible
"Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

Berean Standard Bible
When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

Contemporary English Version
When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the desert, looking for a place to rest. But when the demon doesn't find a place,

Complete Jewish Bible
"When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest and does not find it.

Darby Translation
But when the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and does not find [it].

Easy-to-Read Version
"When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places looking for a place to rest, but it finds none.

George Lamsa Translation
When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it travels in places where there is no water, and seeks rest, and does not find it.

Good News Translation
"When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one,

Lexham English Bible
"Now whenever an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it travels through waterless places searching for rest, and does not find it.

Literal Translation
But when the unclean spirit goes from a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest and does not find it .

American Standard Version
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not.

Bible in Basic English
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through dry places looking for rest, and getting it not.

Hebrew Names Version
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn't find it.

International Standard Version
"Whenever an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through waterless places looking for a place to rest but finds none.Job 1:1:7; Luke 11:24; 1 Peter 5:8;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
When the unclean spirit shall have gone forth from a child of man, he wandereth through places that have no waters in them, and seeketh repose, but findeth (it) not.

Murdock Translation
And when an unclean spirit goeth out of a man, it wandereth in places where is no water, and seeketh comfort and findeth [fn] not.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
When the vncleane spirite is gone out of a man, he walketh throughout drye places, sekyng rest, and fyndeth none.

English Revised Version
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not.

World English Bible
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn't find it.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh thro' dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

Weymouth's New Testament
"No sooner however has the foul spirit gone out of the man, then he roams about in places where there is no water, seeking rest but finding none.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whanne an vnclene spirit goith out fro a man, he goith bi drie places, `and sekith rest, and fyndith not.

Update Bible Version
But the unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it.

Webster's Bible Translation
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and he findeth none.

New English Translation
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but does not find it.

New King James Version
Luke 11:24-26">[xr] "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

New Living Translation
"When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none.

New Life Bible
"When a demon is gone out of a man, it goes through dry places to find rest. It finds none.

New Revised Standard
"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, when the impure spirit goeth out of the man, it passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, - and findeth it not.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none.

Revised Standard Version
"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, but he finds none.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
When the vnclene sprite is gone out of a man he walketh throughout dry places seking reest and fyndeth none.

Young's Literal Translation
`And, when the unclean spirit may go forth from the man, it doth walk through dry places seeking rest, and doth not find;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whan the vncleane sprete is gone out of man, he walketh thorow dry places, sekinge rest, & fyndeth none.

Mace New Testament (1729)
When an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he roams about the deserts, seeking rest, and findeth none.

THE MESSAGE
"When a defiling evil spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn't find anyone, it says, ‘I'll go back to my old haunt.' On return it finds the person spotlessly clean, but vacant. It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits more evil than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse off than if he'd never gotten cleaned up in the first place. "That's what this generation is like: You may think you have cleaned out the junk from your lives and gotten ready for God, but you weren't hospitable to my kingdom message, and now all the devils are moving back in."

Simplified Cowboy Version
"When I chase the wolf out of your henhouse, it goes out and searches for another place to eat.

Contextual Overview

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign (attesting miracle) from You [proving that You are what You claim to be]." ³⁹But He replied and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation [that is morally unfaithful to God] craves and demands a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah; ⁴⁰for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹"The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now, something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²"The Queen of the South (Sheba) will stand up [as a witness] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and now, something greater than Solomon is here. ⁴³"Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless (dry, arid) places in search of rest, but it does not find it.⁴⁴"Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵"Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it also be with this wicked generation."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

when: Had there been no reality in demoniacal possessions, as some have supposed, our Lord would scarcely have appealed to a case of this kind here, to point out the real state of the Jewish people, and their approaching desolation. Had this been only a vulgar error, of the nonsense of which the learned scribes and wise Pharisees must have been convinced, the case, not being in point, because not true, must have been treated with contempt by the very people for whose conviction it was designed.

the unclean: Luke 11:24, Acts 8:13

he: Job 1:7, Job 2:2, 1 Peter 5:8

dry: Psalms 63:1, Isaiah 35:6, Isaiah 35:7, Isaiah 41:18, Ezekiel 47:8-12, Amos 8:11-13

seeking: Matthew 8:29, Mark 5:7-13, Luke 8:28-32

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 16:23 - Saul 1 Samuel 19:10 - sought Proverbs 2:13 - leave Isaiah 44:3 - dry ground Jeremiah 34:11 - General Ezekiel 3:20 - and his Ezekiel 18:24 - and doeth Zechariah 13:2 - unclean Matthew 7:27 - General Matthew 22:1 - General Mark 1:23 - a man Luke 6:49 - immediately Ephesians 2:2 - the spirit Hebrews 10:26 - if Hebrews 10:38 - but 2 Peter 2:20 - after

Gill's Notes on the Bible

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,.... By "the unclean" spirit, is meant Satan, the old serpent, the devil; who by the Jews, is wont to be called as here, רוח מסאבא, "the unclean spirit" x; and that, because he is by sin become so, though he was not so originally; is the cause of uncleanness in men, and delights in unclean persons, places, and things: his "going out of a man", is not to be understood of his being dispossessed of the bodies of men; nor of the ejection of him, and his going by force, through the power of divine grace, out of the souls of men; but either of his leaving the Jews for a while, in some sort, whilst Christ and the Gospel continued among them; and of his going out of the Scribes and Pharisees; not really, but putting on another form, appearing as an angel of light, and under the guise of holiness and righteousness: and so he may be said to go out of men, when any outward reformation is made in them; and they take up a profession of religion, though destitute of the grace of God:

he walketh through dry places; referring to a prevailing notion, that unclean spirits walk in, and haunt, desert and desolate places; and may have regard to the Gentiles, among whom Satan might go, seeking rest and satisfaction among them, in their idolatries and other wickedness, till he was there also disturbed by the Gospel sent among them: or by these "dry places" may be meant the saints, whom he takes his walks among, in order, by tempting, to distress them, being secure of pharisaical persons: and these may be so called, not for what they are in themselves; not because the sun of righteousness shines upon them: or because thirsty and desirous of divine and spiritual things; much less as if they had no moisture, since they have a well of living water in them, and are watered by the Lord; or were unfruitful, as dry places usually are; but for what they were to the unclean spirit, there being nothing in their grace, and the exercise of it, and in their spiritual performances, grateful to him; nothing to quench his thirst, and satisfy his sinful appetite; nor were there in them the mire and dirt of iniquity to roll in, as in unregenerate persons: wherefore he is represented as

seeking rest, and findeth none: his view in walking in these places, or among such persons, is rest; not the rest of the saints, he seeks their disturbance, but his own rest; which is to do all the mischief he can, by stirring up corruption, tempting to sin, and discouraging the exercise of grace; but is not able to do so much mischief as he would, and so cannot find the rest he seeks for, nor satisfy his envious, spiteful, and malicious temper: and this being the case, it follows,

x Zohar in Gen. fol. 77. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When the unclean spirit ... - The “general sentiment” which our Saviour here teaches is much more easily understood than the illustration which he uses. The Jews had asked a sign from heaven that should decisively prove that he was the Messiah, and satisfy their unbelief. He replies that, though he should give them such a sign a proof conclusive and satisfactory, and though for a time they should profess to believe and apparently reform, yet such was the obstinacy of their unbelief and wickedness, that they would soon return to their former course. and become worse and worse. Infidelity and wickedness, like an evil spirit in a possessed man, were appropriately at “home” in them. If driven out, they would find no other place so comfortable and undisturbed as their bosoms. Everywhere they would be, comparatively, like an evil spirit going through deserts and lonely places, and finding no place of rest. They would return, therefore, and dwell with them.

He walketh through dry places - That is, through deserts - regions of country unwatered, sandy, barren, desolate. That our Saviour here speaks according to the ancient belief of the Jews that evil spirits had their abodes in those desolate, uninhabited regions, there can be no doubt; nor can there be any doubt that the Bible gives countenance to the opinion. Thus Revelation 18:2; “Babylon - is become the habitation of “devils” and the hold of “every foul spirit;” that is, has become “desolate - a place where evil spirits appropriately dwell. So Isaiah 13:21; “And satyrs shall dance there:” “i. e.” according to the ancient Greek translation, “devils or demons shall dance there.” See also Jeremiah 50:39. Compare the Isaiah 34:4 note; Deuteronomy 32:17 note.

Seeking rest, and findeth none - These desolate and dry regions are represented as uncomfortable habitations; so much so, that the dissatisfied spirit, better pleased with a dwelling in the bosoms of people, as affording an opportunity of doing evil, seeks a return there.

Matthew 12:44

Then he saith, I will return into my house ... - The man is called his house, because the spirit had dwelt in him.

He findeth it empty ... - There is here a continuance of the reference to the dwelling of the spirit in people.

The man was called his “house.” By the absence of the evil spirit the house is represented as unoccupied, or “empty, swept,” and “garnished;” that is, while the evil spirit was away, the man was restored to his right mind, or was freed from the influence of the evil spirit.

Garnished - Adorned, put in order, furnished. Applied to the “man,” it means that his mind was sane and regular when the evil spirit was gone, or he had a “lucid interval.”

Matthew 12:45

Then goeth he ... - Seeing the state of the man; dissatisfied with a lonely dwelling in the desert where he could do no evil; envious of the happiness of the individual, and supremely bent on wickedness, he resolved to increase his power of malignant influences and to return.

He is therefore represented as taking seven other spirits still worse than himself, and returning to his former habitation. Seven denotes a large but indefinite number. It was a favorite number with the Jews, and was used to denote “completeness” or “perfection,” or any “finished” or “complete” number. See 1 Samuel 2:5. Compare Revelation 1:4. Here it means a sufficient number completely to occupy and harass his soul.

Even so shall it be with this generations - This shows the scope and design of this illustration. The state of that man was a representation of that generation of people. Much might be done to cure their unbelief, much to reform them externally; but such was the firm hold which the principles of infidelity and wickedness had taken of their minds “as their proper habitation,” that they would return, after all the means used to reform them, and they would be worse and worse. And this was literally accomplished. After all the instructions and miracles of the Saviour and his apostles; after all that had been done for them by holy people and prophets, and by the judgments and mercies of God; and after all their external temporary reformations - like the temporary departure of an evil spirit from a man possessed - yet such was their love of wickedness that the nation became worse and worse. They increased in crime, like the seven-fold misery and wretchedness of the man into whose bosom the seven additional evil spirits came. They rejected God’s messengers, abused his mercies, crucified his Son, and God gave their temple, and capital, and nation into the hands of the Romans. and thousands of the people to destruction.

It is not “proved” by this passage that evil spirits actually “dwell” in deserts It is proved only that such was the opinion of the Jews; that that opinion was drawn from some expressions in the Bible; and that “such expressions were sufficiently clear to justify the Saviour in drawing an argument from them to confound those who firmly believed that such was the case.” Nor is there any absurdity in the opinion; for,

1. There are evil spirits. See the notes at Matthew 8:33.
2. They must exist in “some place.”
3. There is as much propriety that they should be located about our earth as anywhere.
4. The clear doctrine of the Bible is, that many of them have much to do with our world.
5. It is as reasonable that they should dwell commonly in desolate and uninhabited regions as anywhere else.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 43. When the unclean spirit — If there had been no reality in demoniacal possessions, our Lord would have scarcely appealed to a case of this kind here, to point out the real state of the Jewish people, and the desolation which was coming upon them. Had this been only a vulgar error, of the nonsense of which the learned scribes and the wise Pharisees must have been convinced, the case not being one in point, because not true, must have been treated by that very people with contempt for whose conviction it was alone designed.

He walketh through dry places — Δι' ανυδρων τοπων. There seems to be a reference here to the Orphic demonology, in which evil spirits were divided into various classes, according to the different regions of their abode, or places in which they delighted. These classes were five:

1. Δαιμονες ουρανιοι, Celestial demons.

2. Δαιμονες ηεριοι, Aerial.

3. Δαιμονες ενυδριοι, Aquatic.

4. Δαιμονες χθονιοι, Terrestrial.

5. Και δαιμονες υποχθονιοι, And subterranean demons.

See Orph. ad Mus. ap. Schott. The Platonists, the followers of Zoroaster, and the primitive Jews, made nearly the same distinctions.

Seeking rest — Or refreshment. Strange! a fallen corrupt spirit can have no rest but in the polluted human heart: the corruption of the one is suited to the pollution of the other, and thus like cleaves to like.