complete verse (Matthew 12:44)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 12:44:

  • Uma: “He returned to the person he had left the other day [lit., yesterday], he saw that there was no-one dwelling-in him. That person was like a house that was uninhabited, swept clean, neat/orderly its appearance.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then he says in his thinking/to himself, ‘I will go back to the place where I stayed before.’ When he arrives back there he sees that there is nobody living there and it is swept and ready.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “he says, ‘I better go back where I was living.’ And he goes back and he sees the place where he was living. It is empty and the things in it are put away, and it is thoroughly cleaned.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “it says in its mind, ‘I’ll just (lit. even-if I) return to the house I came from.’ And it returns and finds that no one is staying (there) and it is already cleaned and nicer than before.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “he will say, ‘I’ll go back again to that one I was possessing.’ And then on his arrival, he finds that no-one else has yet replaced him, although (the person) is like a house that is clean and tidy now.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “‘I am going to return to my house which I left,’ he will say. When he has returned he will find the heart of the person without anyone living in it, just like a house cleaned out very good and swept.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 12:44

Says must be given the meaning “says to itself” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “thinks.” This sentence can also be in indirect speech; for example, “Then it decides to return to the house it came from.”

My house from which I came can be “my former home” or “the place that I left.”

Comes in this context can also be “arrives there” or “returns.”

Finds should not be translated with the sense of finding something that was lost. It means here that the spirit discovers or sees that now this home is empty.

Empty, swept, and put in order is translated “vacant, clean, and all in order” by Moffatt and “unoccupied, cleaned, and all in order” by An American Translation.

Empty translates a participle derived from a verb which, when used of a place or a house, means “empty,” “vacant,” “unoccupied.” As stated earlier, this information is not found in the Lukan parallel.

Swept (Good News Translation “clean,” New English Bible “swept clean”) translates a participle made from a verb meaning “sweep.” Elsewhere in the New Testament the verb occurs only in Luke 15.8.

Put in order (Good News Translation “all fixed up”) translates a participle made from a verb which may mean either “put in order” or “decorate.” Evidently most translations prefer the meaning adopted by Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible.

Swept and put in order are both passives, and this may be a problem in some languages where agents are required. Swept could possibly be “clean.” Another way is to supply an agent and use an active sentence, as in “(He saw that) someone had swept it out and put everything in the proper place.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 12:44

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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