Matthew 12:43
New International Version
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

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

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

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

Berean Literal Bible
Now when the unclean spirit is gone out from the man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

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

New King James Version
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and 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.

NASB 1995
“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

NASB 1977
“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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But whenever a foul spirit goes out from a man, it wanders about in places without water in them, and it seeks 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,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth 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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it goes through dry places looking for a place to rest. But it doesn't find any.

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,

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.

Literal Standard Version
And when the unclean spirit may go forth from the man, it walks through dry places seeking rest and does not find;

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

New American Bible
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a person it roams through arid regions searching for rest but finds none.

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

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

New Heart English Bible
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the person, 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.

Weymouth 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.

World English Bible
“When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.

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;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
An Unclean Spirit Returns
42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here. 43 When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.…

Cross References
Matthew 12:44
Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.

Luke 11:24
When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'


Treasury of Scripture

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

when.

the unclean.

Luke 11:24
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

Acts 8:13
Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

he.

Job 1:7
And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Job 2:2
And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

dry.

Psalm 63:1
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Isaiah 35:6,7
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert…

Isaiah 41:18
I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

seeking.

Matthew 8:29
And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

Mark 5:7-13
And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not…

Luke 8:28-32
When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not…

Jump to Previous
Arid Dry Evil Find Findeth Finding Finds Forth Foul Getting Goes However Passes Passeth Places Rest Roams Seeking Sooner Spirit Unclean Walk Walketh Water Waterless
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Arid Dry Evil Find Findeth Finding Finds Forth Foul Getting Goes However Passes Passeth Places Rest Roams Seeking Sooner Spirit Unclean Walk Walketh Water Waterless
Matthew 12
1. Jesus reproves the blindness of the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath,
3. by scripture,
9. by reason,
13. and by a miracle.
22. He heals a man possessed that was blind and mute;
24. and confronting the absurd charge of casting out demons by Beelzebub,
32. he shows that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
36. Account shall be made of idle words.
38. He rebukes the unfaithful, who seek after a sign,
46. and shows who is his brother, sister, and mother.














(43) When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man.--The parable comes in abruptly, possibly because here, as elsewhere, we have a part and not the whole of a discourse, striking passages noted and put together, now in this order, now in that, while the links that joined them are missing. The inner connection of thought is, however, clear enough. How was it, it might be asked, that Israel had sunk to such a depth of evil? and the answer was found in the similitude which thus opens. The phenomena which furnish the comparison were probably familiar enough. So far as possession was identical in its phenomena, wholly or in part, with insanity, there might be sudden and violent relapses after intervals of calmness and apparent cure. The spirit of the man, under the influence of exorcisms, or prayers, or the sympathy of friends, might assert its freedom for a time, and then yield again to the oppressor. In the history of such a demoniac, which our Lord narrates in the language of the popular belief, He sees a parable of the history of the Jewish people.

Walketh through dry places.--The description reflects the popular idea that the parched deserts of Syria and Arabia and Egypt were haunted by demons, who thence came to invade the bodies and the souls of men. So in the book of Tobit (Tobit 8:3), the demon Asmodeus flees to the upper parts of Egypt.

Verses 43-45. - Parallel passage: Luke 11:24-26, almost verbally, but omitting the application at the end of our ver. 45. A solemn warning against a merely negative improvement. External preparation, mechanical religion, is insufficient; a definite acceptance of my teaching is required. Our Lord's primary thought Would appear to be the relation in which those to whom he was speaking stood to himself. But he frames his words so as to include the whole of that generation of Jews (vers. 39, 45) For his present hearers truly represented their contemporaries. Observe

(1) the close of this discourse resembles that of the sermon on the mount;

(2) the connexion of thought is the same in Luke, though there the passage comes immediately after our ver. 30; i.e. if you are not with me you are really against me; you are only swept and garnished, and the evil spirit returns. Verse 43. - When; but... when (Revised Version); ὅταν δέ. St. Matthew does not bring this forward as a separate utterance; he wishes the connexion between it and the preceding to be seen. There is a contrast between the behaviour of the Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba, and that of the Jews. The unclean spirit (Matthew 10:1, note) is gone out of a (the, Revised Version) man (τὸ πνεῦμα... τοῦ ἀνθρώπου). The first article is inserted for the sake of vividness; the second points back to the spirit; he leaves the man in whom he had dwelt. The two together make the saying parabolic instead of abstract. He walketh; passeth (Revised Version); διέρχεται. Perhaps merely "goes through," with the connotation of distance traversed (John 4:15; Acts 9:38), but probably "goes about," i.e. to different spots (cf. Luke 9:6; Acts 8:4, 40; Acts 20:25, and so of a rumour being spread abroad, Luke 5:15), in restless wandering. Through dry (waterless, Revised Version; δι ἀνύδρων) places. Which supplied nothing wherewith he might refresh himself (Psalm 63:1), and which would, of course, have no houses (Psalm 107:4-7, 33-36). Seeking rest (Matthew 11:28, 29, notes), and findeth none; and findeth it not (Revised Version).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
When
Ὅταν (Hotan)
Conjunction
Strong's 3752: When, whenever. From hote and an; whenever; also causatively inasmuch as.

an
τὸ (to)
Article - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

unclean
ἀκάθαρτον (akatharton)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 169: Unclean, impure. Impure (lewd) or specially, (demonic).

spirit
πνεῦμα (pneuma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4151: Wind, breath, spirit.

comes out
ἐξέλθῃ (exelthē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1831: To go out, come out. From ek and erchomai; to issue.

of
ἀπὸ (apo)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

a
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

man,
ἀνθρώπου (anthrōpou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.

it passes
διέρχεται (dierchetai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1330: To pass through, spread (as a report). From dia and erchomai; to traverse.

through
δι’ (di’)
Preposition
Strong's 1223: A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through.

arid
ἀνύδρων (anydrōn)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 504: Without water, dry; subst: dry places, desert. Waterless, i.e. Dry.

places
τόπων (topōn)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 5117: Apparently a primary word; a spot, i.e. Location; figuratively, condition, opportunity; specially, a scabbard.

seeking
ζητοῦν (zētoun)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2212: To seek, search for, desire, require, demand. Of uncertain affinity; to seek; specially, to worship, or to plot.

rest
ἀνάπαυσιν (anapausin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 372: Rest, cessation from labor, refreshment. From anapano; intermission; by implication, recreation.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

does not find [it].
εὑρίσκει (heuriskei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2147: A prolonged form of a primary heuro, which heureo is used for it in all the tenses except the present and imperfect to find.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 12:43 But the unclean spirit when he (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 12:42
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