Matthew 12:45

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Τότε πορεύεται, καὶ παραλαμβάνει μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ ἑπτὰ ἕτερα πνεύματα πονηρότερα ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ εἰσελθόντα κατοικεῖ ἐκεῖ: καὶ γίνεται τὰ ἔσχατα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου χείρονα τῶν πρώτων. Οὕτως ἔσται καὶ τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ τῇ πονηρᾷ.

Transliteration

Then poreuetai, and paralambanei with heautou seven hetera pneumata ponērotera heautou, and eiselthonta katoikei there: and ginetai the eschata of the anthrōpou ekinou cheirona than the prōtōn. Thus estai also to the genea tautē tē ponēra.

Grammar Details

• *poreuetai*: present indicative, middle, 3rd singular - goes/proceeds
• *paralambanei*: present indicative, 3rd singular - takes along/brings
• *heautou*: reflexive pronoun, genitive - of itself/himself
• *hepta*: numeral - seven
• *hetera*: neuter, plural, accusative - other/different
• *pneumata*: neuter, plural, accusative - spirits
• *ponērotera*: comparative adjective, neuter, plural, accusative - more evil/wicked
• *eiselthonta*: aorist participle, neuter, plural, nominative - having entered
• *katoikei*: present indicative, 3rd singular - dwells/inhabits
• *ginetai*: present indicative, middle, 3rd singular - becomes/happens
• *eschata*: neuter, plural, nominative - last states/conditions
• *anthrōpou*: masculine, singular, genitive - of man/person
• *ekinou*: demonstrative, masculine, singular, genitive - that/that one
• *cheirona*: comparative adjective, neuter, plural, nominative - worse
• *prōtōn*: adjective, neuter, plural, genitive - of the first/former
• *estai*: future indicative, 3rd singular - will be
• *genea*: feminine, singular, dative - generation
• *tautē*: demonstrative, feminine, singular, dative - this
• *ponēra*: adjective, feminine, singular, dative - evil/wicked

Word Meanings

• *poreuetai*: goes/proceeds/journeys
• *paralambanei*: takes along/brings with/takes in charge
• *hetera*: other/different/another kind of
• *pneumata*: spirits/breaths/winds
• *ponērotera*: more evil/wicked/malicious
• *eiselthonta*: having entered/gone in
• *katoikei*: dwells/inhabits/resides
• *ginetai*: becomes/happens/comes to be
• *eschata*: last states/final conditions/end
• *cheirona*: worse/more severe/more difficult
• *genea*: generation/race/age

Referenced Verses

• Heb 6:4-8 : 4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6 and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned.
• Heb 10:26-31 : 26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, 27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. 28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said,“Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again,“The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
• Mark 5:9 : 9 Jesus asked him,“What is your name?” And he said,“My name is Legion, for we are many.”
• Luke 11:26 : 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
• Luke 11:49-51 : 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said,‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that this generation may be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.
• Luke 19:41-44 : 41 Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying,“If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will demolish you– you and your children within your walls– and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
• John 15:22-24 : 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But they no longer have any excuse for their sin. 23 The one who hates me hates my Father too. 24 If I had not performed among them the miraculous deeds that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen the deeds and have hated both me and my Father.
• Matt 12:24 : 24 But when the Pharisees heard this they said,“He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons!”
• Matt 21:38-44 : 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves,‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him,“He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.” 42 Jesus said to them,“Have you never read in the scriptures:‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”
• Matt 23:15 : 15 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!
• Matt 23:24 : 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!
• Matt 23:32-39 : 32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 “For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things! 37 Judgment on Israel“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate! 39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say,‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
• Mark 16:9 : 9 The Longer Ending of Mark[[Early on the first day of the week, after he arose, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons.
• Eph 6:12 : 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
• 1 Thess 2:15-16 : 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us severely. They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people, 16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, but wrath has come upon them completely.
• Heb 10:39 : 39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls.
• 2 Pet 2:14-22 : 14 Their eyes, full of adultery, never stop sinning; they entice unstable people. They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children! 15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16 yet was rebuked for his own transgression(a dumb donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the prophet’s madness). 17 These men are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness have been reserved. 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and with debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error. 19 Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if after they have escaped the filthy things of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again get entangled in them and succumb to them, their last state has become worse for them than their first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 22 They are illustrations of this true proverb:“A dog returns to its own vomit,” and“A sow, after washing herself, wallows in the mire.”
• 1 John 5:16-17 : 16 If anyone sees his fellow Christian committing a sin not resulting in death, he should ask, and God will grant life to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death. There is a sin resulting in death. I do not say that he should ask about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin not resulting in death.
• Jude 1:10-13 : 10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. 11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These men are dangerous reefs at your love feasts, feasting without reverence, feeding only themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit– twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild sea waves, spewing out the foam of their shame; wayward stars for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness have been reserved.
• Rom 11:8-9 : 8 as it is written,“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day.” 9 And David says,“Let their table become a snare and trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and make their backs bend continually.”