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Matthew 12:43
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41 aThe men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and bcondemn it, cbecause they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  
42 aThe queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  

An Unclean Spirit Returns

43 a“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, bhe goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  
44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; aand the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”  

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him

46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, abehold, His mother and bbrothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  
47 Then one said to Him, “Look, aYour mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”  
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
<< Matthew 12:42   Matthew 12:44 >>


Matthew 12:43

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 - ' . 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. , Celestial demons.

2. , Aerial.

3. , Aquatic.

4. , Terrestrial.

5. , 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.




Other Adam Clarke entries containing Matthew 12:43:

Luke 11:24
3 John 1:7

 

<< Matthew 12:42   Matthew 12:44 >>

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