12:44a
Then it says: The pronoun it refers to the unclean spirit. Here the unclean spirit is talking to itself.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Then he says ⌊to himself⌋
I will return to the house I left: The phrase the house I left is a figure of speech. It refers to the person whom the unclean spirit had been possessing.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
• Keep the figure of speech. For example:
I will go back to my house. (Good News Translation)
If you follow this option, you may want to include a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:
The unclean spirit refers to the person he possessed/controlled as his “house.”
• Explain in the text that the house refers to the person. For example:
I will return to ⌊the person who was⌋ my house
-or-
I will go back to ⌊the person in whom⌋ I lived/resided
• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
I will return to the person I came from. (New Living Translation (2004))
12:44b
On its return: This clause means “when the unclean spirit returns to its house.”
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
When the unclean spirit comes back ⌊to its house⌋
-or-
When the evil spirit returns ⌊to the person whom he had left⌋
it finds: Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
it discovers
-or-
he sees that
the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order: This is a metaphor. In this metaphor, the person whom the unclean spirit had left is compared to a house that is vacant, clean, and put in order. The person and the house are similar in that both are ready for someone to come and live in them.
Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:
• Keep the metaphor. For example:
the place empty, clean, and fixed up (Contemporary English Version)
• Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:
⌊the person is like⌋ a house that is empty, swept, and put in order
• Change the metaphor to a simile and make explicit how the person and the house are similar. For example:
⌊the person is like⌋ a house that is empty, cleaned, arranged neatly ⌊and ready for someone to live there⌋
-or-
⌊no one is living in him.⌋ ⌊He is like a house that is ready to inhabit.⌋ It is empty, clean, and put in order.
vacant: The word vacant indicates that no one is living in the “house.” This word indicates that the person has not asked either a demon or Jesus to live in his inner being and be ruler in his life.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
no one is living there
-or-
vacant
swept clean: This word means to clean the floor by brushing it with a broom.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
swept (English Standard Version)
-or-
clean (Good News Translation)
put in order: This phrase indicates that the things in the house are in their right places. This is another way to describe that the house is ready for someone to live in.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
tidy (Revised English Bible)
-or-
made neat (New Century Version)
-or-
fixed up (God’s Word)
-or-
everything is in its proper place
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