Matthew 12:21-50

12:21 And in his name the Gentiles ¹  will hope.” ² 

Jesus and Beelzebul

12:22 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus ³  healed him so that he could speak and see. ⁴  12:23 All the crowds were amazed and said, “Could this one be the Son of David?” 12:24 But when the Pharisees ⁵  heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, ⁶  the ruler ⁷  of demons!” 12:25 Now when Jesus ⁸  realized what they were thinking, he said to them, ⁹  “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, ¹⁰  and no town or house divided against itself will stand. 12:26 So if ¹¹  Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 12:27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons ¹²  cast them ¹³  out? For this reason they will be your judges. 12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God ¹⁴  has already overtaken ¹⁵  you. 12:29 How ¹⁶  else can someone enter a strong man’s ¹⁷  house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can thoroughly plunder the house. ¹⁸  12:30 Whoever is not with me is against me, ¹⁹  and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ²⁰  12:31 For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, ²¹  but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 12:32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. ²²  But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, ²³  either in this age or in the age to come.

Trees and Their Fruit

12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad ²⁴  and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 12:34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. 12:35 The good person ²⁵  brings good things out of his ²⁶  good treasury, ²⁷  and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury. 12:36 I ²⁸  tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak. 12:37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ²⁹  along with some Pharisees ³⁰  answered him, ³¹  “Teacher, we want to see a sign ³²  from you.” 12:39 But he answered them, ³³  “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 ³⁴  for three days and three nights, ³⁵  so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 12:41 The people ³⁶  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ³⁷  – and now, ³⁸  something greater than Jonah is here! 12:42 The queen of the South ³⁹  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, ⁴⁰  something greater than Solomon is here!

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

12:43 “When ⁴¹  an unclean spirit ⁴²  goes out of a person, ⁴³  it passes through waterless places ⁴⁴  looking for rest but ⁴⁵  does not find it. 12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ⁴⁶  When it returns, ⁴⁷  it finds the house ⁴⁸  empty, swept clean, and put in order. ⁴⁹  12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ⁵⁰  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Jesus’ True Family

12:46 While Jesus ⁵¹  was still speaking to the crowds, ⁵²  his mother and brothers ⁵³  came and ⁵⁴  stood outside, asking ⁵⁵  to speak to him. 12:47 ⁵⁶  Someone ⁵⁷  told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting ⁵⁸  to speak to you.” 12:48 To the one who had said this, Jesus ⁵⁹  replied, ⁶⁰  “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 12:49 And pointing ⁶¹  toward his disciples he said, “Here ⁶²  are my mother and my brothers! 12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is ⁶³  my brother and sister and mother.”

[12:21]  ¹ tn Or “the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[12:21]  ² sn Verses 18-21 are a quotation from Isa 42:1-4.

[12:22]  ³ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:22]  ⁴ tn Grk “demoniac, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”

[12:24]  ⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:24]  ⁶ tn Grk “except by Beelzebul.”

[12:24]  ⁷ tn Or “prince.”

[12:25]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “is left in ruins.”

[12:26]  ¹¹ tn This first class condition, the first of three “if” clauses in the following verses, presents the example vividly as if it were so. In fact, all three conditions in these verses are first class. The examples are made totally parallel. The expected answer is that Satan’s kingdom will not stand, so the suggestion makes no sense. Satan would not seek to heal.

[12:27]  ¹² sn Most read your sons as a reference to Jewish exorcists (cf. “your followers,” L&N 9.4), but more likely this is a reference to the disciples of Jesus themselves, who are also Jewish and have been healing as well (R. J. Shirock, “Whose Exorcists are they? The Referents of οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν at Matthew 12:27/Luke 11:19,” JSNT 46 [1992]: 41-51). If this is a reference to the disciples, then Jesus’ point is that it is not only him, but those associated with him whose power the hearers must assess. The following reference to judging also favors this reading.

[12:27]  ¹³ tn The pronoun “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[12:28]  ¹⁴ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.

[12:28]  ¹⁵ tn The phrase ἔφθασεν ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (efqasen ef’ Juma") is quite important. Does it mean merely “approach” (which would be reflected in a translation like “has come near to you”) or actually “come upon” (as in the translation given above, “has already overtaken you,” which has the added connotation of suddenness)? Is the arrival of the kingdom merely anticipated or already in process? Two factors favor arrival over anticipation here. First, the prepositional phrase ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (ef’ Jumas, “upon you”) in the Greek text suggests arrival (Dan 4:24, 28 Theodotion). Second, the following illustration in v. 29 looks at the healing as portraying Satan being overrun. So the presence of God’s authority has arrived. See also L&N 13.123 for the translation of φθάνω (fqanw) as “to happen to already, to come upon, to come upon already.”

[12:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Or how can.”

[12:29]  ¹⁷ sn The strong man here pictures Satan.

[12:29]  ¹⁸ sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.

[12:30]  ¹⁹ sn Whoever is not with me is against me. The call here is to join the victor. Failure to do so means that one is being destructive. Responding to Jesus is the issue.

[12:30]  ²⁰ sn For the image of scattering, see Pss. Sol. 17:18.

[12:31]  ²¹ tn Grk “every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men.”

[12:32]  ²² tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”

[12:32]  ²³ tn Grk “it will not be forgiven him.”

[12:33]  ²⁴ tn Grk “rotten.” The word σαπρός, modifying both “tree” and “fruit,” can also mean “diseased” (L&N 65.28).

[12:35]  ²⁵ tn The Greek text reads here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos). The term is generic referring to any person.

[12:35]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the”; the Greek article has been translated here and in the following clause (“his evil treasury”) as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[12:35]  ²⁷ sn The treasury here is a metaphorical reference to a person’s heart (cf. BDAG 456 s.v. θησαυρός 1.b and the parallel passage in Luke 6:45).

[12:36]  ²⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:38]  ²⁹ tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[12:38]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.

[12:38]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[12:40]  ³⁴ tn Grk “large sea creature.”

[12:40]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.

[12:41]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[12:41]  ³⁸ tn Grk “behold.”

[12:42]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “behold.”

[12:43]  ⁴¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:43]  ⁴² sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[12:43]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[12:44]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[12:44]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “comes.”

[12:44]  ⁴⁸ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[12:44]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[12:46]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:46]  ⁵² tn Grk “crowds, behold, his mother.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[12:46]  ⁵³ sn The issue of whether Jesus had brothers (siblings) has had a long history in the church. Epiphanius, in the 4th century, argued that Mary was a perpetual virgin and had no offspring other than Jesus. Others argued that these brothers were really cousins. Nothing in the text suggests any of this. See also John 7:3.

[12:46]  ⁵⁴ tn “His mother and brothers came and” is a translation of “behold, his mother and brothers came.”

[12:46]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “seeking.”

[12:47]  ⁵⁶ tc A few ancient mss and versions lack this verse (א* B L Γ pc ff¹ k sy^s,c sa). The witness of א and B is especially strong, but internal considerations override this external evidence. Both v. 46 and 47 end with the word λαλῆσαι (“to speak”), so early scribes probably omitted the verse through homoioteleuton. The following verses make little sense without v. 47; its omission is too hard a reading. Thus v. 47 was most likely part of the original text.

[12:47]  ⁵⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “seeking.”

[12:48]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:48]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “And answering, he said to the one who had said this.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) at the beginning of the clause has not been translated.

[12:49]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “extending his hand.”

[12:49]  ⁶² tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.”

[12:50]  ⁶³ tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.