Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus continues his teaching to the crowds and Pharisees about the spiritual condition of those who experience outward change without inner transformation. He speaks this moment as he concludes a parable illustrating the danger of leaving a person spiritually vacant after deliverance.
The words — The text highlights οἶκόν (oikon), meaning "house," and ἐπιστρέψω (epistrepsō), meaning "I will return." These terms frame the spirit's intention to reclaim the abandoned space it previously occupied.
The thread — The motif of returning to an abandoned place echoes the warning in Psalms 81:11 that God's people refuse to listen to Him. The contrast between inner spiritual presence and external emptiness also resonates with the New Testament emphasis on indwelling divine power in 1 John 4:4.
Why it lands — The verse demands a reader to examine whether personal reform has replaced genuine spiritual occupancy. It requires immediate action to fill any vacant space with committed obedience rather than leaving it open to further corruption.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 1 John 4:4 You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- Psalms 81:11 But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- 1 Corinthians 11:19 And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved.
- 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.
- Jude 1:4 For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 13:8 And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.
- Hosea 7:6 For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
- Matthew 12:29 Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
- Matthew 13:20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
- Luke 11:21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.