Matthew 12 · Verse 43

Matthew 12:43

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Matthew 12:43, King James Version

Matthew 12:43 in other translations

BSBWhen an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
WEB“When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.
ASVBut the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not.
YLT‘And, when the unclean spirit may go forth from the man, it doth walk through dry places seeking rest, and doth not find;
DARBYBut when the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and does not find it.
BBEBut the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through dry places looking for rest, and getting it not.
WebsterWhen the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and he findeth none.

What does Matthew 12:43 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 12:43-45
43-45. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, &c.--On this important parable, in connection with the corresponding one (Mt 12:29) see on Lu 11:21-26. A charming little incident, given only in Lu 11:27, 28, seems to have its proper place here. Lu 11:27: And it came to pass, as He spake these things, a certain woman of the company--out of the crowd. lifted up her voice and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked--With true womanly feeling she envies the mother of such a wonderful Teacher. And a higher and better than she had said as much before her (see on Lu 1:28). How does our Lord, then, treat it? He is far from condemning it. He only holds up as "blessed rather" another class: Lu 11:28: But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it--in other words, the humblest real saint of God. How utterly alien is this sentiment from the teaching of the Church of Rome, which would doubtless excommunicate any one of its members that dared to talk in such a strain! His Mother and Brethren Seek to Speak with Him and the Answer (Mt 12:46-50).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verses 43-45. When the unclean spirit, etc. 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 them, 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 test. 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 out Saviour here speaks according to the ancient opinions 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 Rev 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 Isa 13:21: "And satyrs shall dance there ;" i.e., according to the ancient Greek translation, "devils, or demons, shall dance there." See also Jer 50:39. Isa 34:14. De 32:17.

Seeking rest, and findeth none, Thus 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 men, as affording an opportunity of doing evil, seeks a return there.

(r) "When the unclean" Lk 11:24 (s) "he walketh" Job 1:7, 1Pet 5:8

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 12:38-45

Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the…

Read the full comment on Matthew 12:38-45 →

Matthew 12:43 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ὍτανHotanWhenG3752
δὲdenowG1161
τὸtotheG3588
ἀκάθαρτονakathartonuncleanG169
πνεῦμαpneumaspiritG4151
ἐξέλθῃexelthēmay go outG1831
ἀπὸapofromG575
τοῦtoutheG3588
ἀνθρώπου,anthrōpouman,G444
διέρχεταιdierchetaiit passesG1330
δι᾽di᾽throughG1223
ἀνύδρωνanudrōnwaterlessG504
τόπωνtopōnplacesG5117
ζητοῦνzētounseekingG2212
ἀνάπαυσινanapausinrestG372
καὶkaiandG2532
οὐχouchnoneG3756
εὑρίσκει.heuriskeifinds.G2147

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 12:43

  • Luke 11:24-26

    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. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

  • 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. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. …

  • 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. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. …

  • Amos 8:11-13

    Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

  • 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. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

  • 1 Peter 5:8

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Ezekiel 47:8-12

    Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En–gedi even unto En–eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. …

  • Psalms 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;

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture 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.
Lu 11:24; Ac 8:13
he.
Job 1:7; 2:2; 1Pe 5:8
dry.
Ps 63:1; Isa 35:6,7; 41:18; Eze 47:8-12; Am 8:11-13
seeking.
8:29; Mr 5:7-13; Lu 8:28-32

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Matthew 12:42

    The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

  • Matthew 12:43

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

  • Matthew 12:44

    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.

Read all of Matthew 12

Matthew 12:43 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Cuando el espíritu inmundo ha salido del hombre, anda por lugares secos, buscando reposo, y no lo halla.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Or quand l’esprit immonde est sorti d’un homme, il va par des lieux secs, cherchant du repos, et il n’en trouve point.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn aber der unreine Geist von dem Menschen ausgefahren ist, so durchwandert er dürre Örter, Ruhe suchend, und findet sie nicht.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Cum autem immundus spiritus exierit ab homine, ambulat per loca arida, quærens requiem, et non invenit.