Matius 12:22-25

Jesus and Beelzebul

12:22 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus ¹  healed him so that he could speak and see. ²  12:23 All the crowds were amazed and said, “Could this one be the Son of David?” 12:24 But when the Pharisees ³  heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, ⁴  the ruler ⁵  of demons!” 12:25 Now when Jesus ⁶  realized what they were thinking, he said to them, ⁷  “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, ⁸  and no town or house divided against itself will stand.

Matius 12:38-45

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ⁹  along with some Pharisees ¹⁰  answered him, ¹¹  “Teacher, we want to see a sign ¹²  from you.” 12:39 But he answered them, ¹³  “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ¹⁴  for three days and three nights, ¹⁵  so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 12:41 The people ¹⁶  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ¹⁷  – and now, ¹⁸  something greater than Jonah is here! 12:42 The queen of the South ¹⁹  will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ²⁰  something greater than Solomon is here!

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

12:43 “When ²¹  an unclean spirit ²²  goes out of a person, ²³  it passes through waterless places ²⁴  looking for rest but ²⁵  does not find it. 12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ²⁶  When it returns, ²⁷  it finds the house ²⁸  empty, swept clean, and put in order. ²⁹  12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ³⁰  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

[12:22]  ¹ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:22]  ² tn Grk “demoniac, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”

[12:24]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “except by Beelzebul.”

[12:24]  sn Beelzebul is another name for Satan. So some people recognized Jesus’ work as supernatural, but called it diabolical.

[12:24]  ⁵ tn Or “prince.”

[12:25]  ⁶ tc The majority of mss read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), which clarifies who is the subject of the sentence. Although the shorter text is attested in far fewer witnesses (̲¹ א B D 892* sy^s,c sa bo), both the pedigree of the mss and the strong internal evidence (viz., scribes were not prone to intentionally delete the name of Jesus) argue for the omission of Jesus’ name. The name has been included in the translation, however, for clarity.

[12:25]  ⁷ sn Jesus here demonstrated the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. He first teaches (vv. 25-28) that if he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. He then teaches (v. 29) about tying up the strong man to prove that he does not need to align himself with the devil because he is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (4:1-11) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 12:31-32).

[12:25]  ⁸ tn Or “is left in ruins.”

[12:38]  ⁹ tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[12:38]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.

[12:38]  sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:38]  ¹¹ tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.

[12:38]  ¹² sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

[12:39]  ¹³ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[12:40]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “large sea creature.”

[12:40]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.

[12:41]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.a, 2).

[12:41]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[12:41]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “behold.”

[12:42]  ¹⁹ sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.

[12:42]  ²⁰ tn Grk “behold.”

[12:43]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:43]  ²² sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[12:43]  ²³ tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females. This same use occurs in v. 45.

[12:43]  ²⁴ sn The background for the reference to waterless places is not entirely clear, though some Jewish texts suggest spirits must have a place to dwell, but not with water (Luke 8:29-31; Tob 8:3). Some suggest that the image of the desert or deserted cities as the places demons dwell is where this idea started (Isa 13:21; 34:14).

[12:43]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[12:44]  ²⁶ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[12:44]  ²⁷ tn Grk “comes.”

[12:44]  ²⁸ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[12:44]  ²⁹ sn The image of the house empty, swept clean, and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.

[12:45]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.