Matthew 12:43–45
And it is quite fitting. Once someone has been freed from evils and is not made prudent, he will suffer things much harder than before. That is why he said the spirit “finds no rest” (Matthew 12:43–45): to show that the demons’ plot will certainly and of necessity seize such a person. Two things ought to have made them prudent — having suffered earlier, and having been released. There is even a third: the threat of suffering worse. Yet by none of these did they become better.
The wicked spirit lived in them even when they were slaves in Egypt and, living by Egyptian customs and laws, were full of every uncleanness. When they were ransomed through Moses and received the law as a guide calling them toward the light of true knowledge of God, the profane and unclean spirit was driven out. But because they have not believed in Christ, the demon settled in them again. It found their heart bare and idle of every piety, as if swept clean, and dwelt in them. Just as the Holy Spirit, when it sees a human heart idle of every uncleanness, lodges and dwells and rests in it, so the unclean spirit loves to inhabit the souls of the lawless.
Greek
Καὶ μάλα εἰκότως· ὅταν γὰρ ἅπαξ τις ἐλευθερωθεὶς τῶν κακῶν μὴ σωφρονισθῇ, πολλῷ χαλεπώτερα πείσεται τῶν προτέρων· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο εἶπεν· οὐχ εὑρίσκει ἀνάπαυσιν, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι πάντως καὶ ἐξ ἀνάγκης λήψεται τὸν τοιοῦτον ἡ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπιβουλή· καὶ γὰρ ἀπὸ δύο τούτων τὸν τοιοῦτον σωφρονισθῆναι ἔδει, ἀπό τε τοῦ παθεῖν πρό τερον, ἀπό τε τοῦ ἀπαλλαγῆναι. μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τρίτον πρόσεστιν ἡ τοῦ χείρονα πείσεσθαι ἀπειλή, ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐδενὶ τούτων ἐγένοντο βελτίους. ἦν μὲν αὐτοῖς ἔνοικον τὸ πονηρὸν πνεῦμα καὶ ὅτε ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐθήτευον καὶ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις διαζῶντες ἔθεσί τε καὶ νόμοις μεστοὶ ἦσαν πάσης ἀκα θαρσίας. ἐπειδὴ διὰ Μωσέως λελύτρωνται καὶ νόμον ἐσχήκασι παιδα γωγὸν πρὸς τὸ τῆς ἀληθοῦς θεογνωσίας καλοῦντα φῶς, ἀπελήλατο τὸ βέβηλον καὶ ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα. ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐ πεπιστεύκασιν εἰς Χριστόν, πάλιν αὐτοῖς ἐπεδήμησε τὸ δαιμόνιον· εὗρε γὰρ αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν γυμνὴν καὶ σχολάζουσαν ἀπὸ πάσης εὐσεβείας καὶ οἱονεὶ σεσαρω μένην καὶ κατῴκησεν ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὅταν ἴδῃ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου σχολάζουσαν ἀπὸ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας καὶ ἐναυ λίζεται καὶ κατοικεῖ καὶ ἐπαναπαύεται ἐν αὐτῷ, οὕτω καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀκάθαρτον ψυχαῖς ἀνόμων ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι φιλεῖ.
About this text
Catena fragments on Matthew (CPG 5206). Contents follow Matthew chapter and verse. Edition fragment numbers stay in About this text and under each passage.
English follows the named copy-text (Aegean/khazarzar Migne PG 72 extract). Other prints were checked as noted; no silent merge of recensions.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 72 Commentarii in Matthaeum (Aegean Digital Patrologia / khazarzar) (Greek · CPG 5206 catena fragments (290 parsed heads))
- Checked print matia.gr mirror of same Aegean extract (Greek · Byte-identical PDF; integrity check only)
- Checked print Internet Archive PG 72 volume OCR (bim … 1859_72) (Greek (OCR damaged) · Locus confirmation only; not used as reading text)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.