Then he said, I will return into my house from where I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished.
Then he said, I will return into my house from where I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished.
Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Then he says, I will go back into my house from which I came out; and when he comes, he sees that there is no one in it, but that it has been made fair and clean.
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.
Then he says, 'I will return into my house from which I came out,' and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
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, σχολαζοντα, 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 σχολαζω 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, κεκοσμημενον, decorated, with the vain showy trifles of folly and fashion. This may comprise also smart speeches, cunning repartees, etc., for which many who have lost the life of God are very remarkable.
Then he saith, I will return into my house ... - The man is called his house, because the spirit had dwelt in him.
He findeth it empty ... - There is here a continuance of the reference to the dwelling of the spirit in people.
The man was called his "house." By the absence of the evil spirit the house is represented as unoccupied, or "empty, swept," and "garnished;" that is, while the evil spirit was away, the man was restored to his right mind, or was freed from the influence of the evil spirit.
Garnished - Adorned, put in order, furnished. Applied to the "man," it means that his mind was sane and regular when the evil spirit was gone, or he had a "lucid interval."
12:44 Whence he came out - He speaks as if he had come out of his own accord: See his pride! He findeth it empty - of God, of Christ, of his Spirit: Swept - from love, lowliness, meekness, and all the fruits of the Spirit: And garnished - With levity and security: so that there is nothing to keep him out, and much to invite him in.