Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth [it] empty, swept, and garnished.
44. empty ] Properly, at leisure. To have cast out a sin does not make a man safe from sin, there must be no leisure in the Christian life.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 44. Into my house] The soul of that person from whom he had been expelled by the power of Christ, and out of which he was to have been kept by continual prayer, faith, and watchfulness.
He findeth it empty] Unoccupied, , empty of the former inhabitant, and ready to receive a new one: denoting a soul that has lost the life and power of godliness, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
Swept and garnished.] As signifies to be idle, or unemployed, it may refer here to the person, as well as to his state. His affections and desires are no longer busied with the things of God, but gad about, like an idle person, among the vanities of a perishing world. Swept, from love, meekness, and all the fruits of the Spirit; and garnished, or adorned, , decorated, with the vain showy trifles of folly and fashion. This may comprise also smart speeches, cunning repartees, &c., for which many who have lost the life of God are very remarkable.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then he said, I will return into my house,…. Into the land of Judea, particularly into the Scribes and Pharisees, outward professors of religion; who, notwithstanding their outward reformation, and great pretensions to holiness, are Satan’s house still: he has a property in them, a claim upon them; and though he says,
from whence I came out, yet he never really and properly quitted it, only seemingly, and in appearance; and therefore his returning is only throwing off the guise, and reassuming his former character, as a vicious and unclean spirit.
And when he is come, he findeth it empty: not empty of sin: this puts me in mind of a passage in the Misna y, where it is said, that on a fast day,
“when they stand in prayer, they cause to descend, or go before the ark, an old man, who is used (to prayer,) whose children, , “and his house, are empty”, so that his heart is perfect in prayer,”
or entirely at leisure for it. The commentators z on that phrase, “his house is empty”, note, that he was empty of sin, and free from it, and one concerning whom an evil report had not gone forth from his youth: but such was not this house; it was empty of God, of the true knowledge of him, of the fear of him, and love to him; of Christ, of faith in him, affection for him, and hope on him; of the Spirit of God, and of his graces, and of spiritual, internal religion, and powerful godliness.
Swept; not with the Spirit of grace convincing of sin, righteousness, and judgment; but with the besom of an outward reformation:
and garnished; not with internal grace, which makes saints all glorious within; but with secret lusts and corruptions, which rendered it an agreeable habitation for this unclean spirit; and at most, with some show of morality, a little negative holiness, or abstinence from outward acts of sin, an observance of some external rites and ceremonies, and a few hypocritical performances of fasting and prayer; which Satan can very well bear with, so long as the heart is empty of spiritual grace, and till an opportunity offers of throwing off all appearance of good.
y Taanith, c. 2. sect. 2. z Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Into my house ( ). So the demon describes the man in whom he had dwelt. “The demon is ironically represented as implying that he left his victim voluntarily, as a man leaves his house to go for a walk” (McNeile). “Worse than the first” is a proverb.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Then he saith, I will return into my house,” (tote legei eis ton oikon mou epistrepso) “Then, at that point he says, I will return into my residence,” from which I left of my own volition, my own residence with which I became dissatisfied and abandoned, just walked away, Luk 11:26.
2) “From whence I came out;” (othen ekselthon) “Out from which I came,” some time ago, as he went wandering forth, perhaps like the Devil “seeking whom he might devour,” 1Pe 5:8-9.
3) “Arid when he is come, he findeth it empty,” (kai elthon heuriskei scholazonta) “And upon coming (to it) he finds it standing vacant,” empty, without occupancy, as he left it, when he went out. Emptiness is an enticement to evil occupancy in any heart.
4) “Swept, and garnished.” (kai sesaromenon kai kekosmemenon) “And the residence had been both swept and furnished,” cleaned up, Luk 11:35; Job 15:20-25. It was prepared for, open for, unguarded from pollution that follows.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
44. He findeth it empty Christ is unquestionably describing those who, being destitute of the Spirit of God, are prepared for receiving the devil; for believers, in whom the Spirit of God efficaciously dwells, are fortified on all sides, so that no opening is left for Satan. The metaphor of a house swept and embellished is taken from men who find pleasure in the cleanness and neatness of their apartments; for to Satan no sight is beautiful but deformity itself, and no smell is sweet but filth and nastiness. The meaning therefore is, that Satan never finds a more appropriate habitation within us, than when, having parted with Christ, we receive Satan as a guest. (147) His highest delight is in that emptiness by which the neglect of divine grace is followed. (148)
(147) “ Que quand, laissans Christ, et nous esloignans de luy, nous attirons c’est hoste a nous;” — “that when leaving Christ, and withdrawing from him, we entice this guest.”
(148) “ Ce qu’il aime donc le plus, et ou il prend un souverain plaisir, c’est ceste place vuide qui se fait quand l’homme ne tient conte de la grace de Dieu, et est nonchalant d’en bien user;” — “that which he loves most, and in which he takes a supreme pleasure, is the emptiness which is produced, when man sets no value on the grace of God, and is indifferent about making a good use of it.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(44) Empty, swept, and garnished.The words have a two-fold symbolism, as representing (1) the state of the possessed man, and (2) that of the nation of which he is made the type. The latter belongs to the interpretation of the parable as a whole. The former portrays the state of the man who has been delivered from the wildness of frenzy, but has been left to the routine of common life and conventional morality, with no higher spiritual influence to protect and guard him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
44. Return into my house The living human frame. Empty, swept The terms still describe the man under the figure of a house ready for the demon to enter. He is empty of the blessed Spirit now grieved away; swept of all past holy influences and impressions. Garnished Furnished; fitted up for his devilish tenant. The old word garnish, garniture, applies properly to all ornamental furnishing of a house or other object.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then he says, “I will return into my house from where I came out”, and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and furnished.’
So the spirit decides that it will try to repossess its house, and when it returns it finds it empty. The power of the Spirit which drove it out (Mat 12:28) is no longer present in the house. It is, however, unsuitable for habitation by the likes of an unclean spirit, for it is swept and scrubbed, (or furnished). It is clean. So it recognises that it will need reinforcements.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Ver. 44. He findeth it empty ] That is, idle and secure, swept of grace, garnished with vice, the devil’s fairest furniture. Otia dant vitia.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 12:44 . . . = untenanted and ready for a tenant, inviting by its clean, ornamented condition. The epithets simply describe in lively pictorial manner the risk of repossession. But naturally commentators seek spiritual equivalents for them. Ornamented how? With grace , say some (Hilary, Chrys., Godet), with sin , others (Orig., Jer., Euthy., Weiss, etc.). The ornamentation must be to the taste of the tenant. And what is that? Neither for sin nor for grace, but for sin counterfeiting grace; a form of godliness without the power; sanctity which is but a mask for iniquity. The house is decorated reputedly for God’s occupancy, really for the devil’s ; is condemned by Phryn.; “when you hear one say bid him say ”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
from whence = whence.
garnished = decorated.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 12:44. , my house) What the enemy had once occupied, he considers as a portion of his property.-, I came out) He speaks as if he had not been cast forth See the pride of the unclean spirit, which shows itself not merely in this word, but from his whole speech, as though it had been at his option either to come out or to return. Our Lord uses the same word without any particular emphasis in Mat 12:43. The same word may either have emphasis, or be without emphasis, in different speeches, according to the different condition and mind of the speaker.-, when he is come) for the sake of reconnoitering.-, …, he finds, etc.) Therefore, the house was not so before the enemy had been cast forth.-, vacant) Tranquillity, although in itself good, is not far distant from peril. The same verb occurs in the S. V. of Exo 5:8; Exo 5:17, for , to be idle.-, swept) i.e., cleared from evils.-, adorned) sc. with good things; see Mat 12:28. The enemy seeks especially clean places to rest in, not that they may remain clean, but that he may render them also unclean.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
my: Mat 12:29, Luk 11:21, Luk 11:22, Joh 13:27, Eph 2:2, 1Jo 4:4
he findeth: Mat 13:20-22, Psa 81:11, Psa 81:12, Hos 7:6, Joh 12:6, Joh 13:2, Act 5:1-3, Act 8:18-23, 1Co 11:19, 2Th 2:9-12, 1Ti 6:4, 1Ti 6:5, 1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:10, 1Jo 2:19, Jud 1:4, Jud 1:5, Rev 13:3, Rev 13:4, Rev 13:8, Rev 13:9
Reciprocal: Luk 11:25 – he findeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4-45
A man’s body is likened to a house and hence the clearing out of the demon is called the sweeping and cleaning of a house. The demon saw the place he had just been occupying in such an inviting condition that he wanted to share it with his special friends and took them with him. Logically, then, that man was in worse condition than he was the first time. Let the reader remember that Jesus is only using this notion of the Jews for an illustration, not that he endorses it, and it serves as a likening of what was to come to their race. The things used for the story existed only in the belief of the Jews, but the thing it was used to illustrate was to come as an actual experience upon the nation. The Jews at first accepted the Gospel and furnished many recruits, but the nation as a whole turned against it and became unbelievers. Their city was finally destroyed and they became the object of scorn in the eyes of the peoples of the world.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 12:44. My house, i.e., the demoniac.
He findeth it. Not in a state of moral purity, but empty of a good tenant; swept of all that would be forbidding to an evil spirit; and garnished, set in order, and adorned, but in a way inviting to the unclean spirit.