Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 12:43

"But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not." — Matthew 12:43 (ASV)

Verse 43. When the unclean spirit, etc. The general sentiment which our Savior here teaches is much more easily understood than the illustration He uses.

The Jews had asked for a sign from heaven that would decisively prove He was the Messiah and satisfy their unbelief. He replies that even if He were to give them such a sign—a proof conclusive and satisfactory—and even if for a time they were to profess belief and apparently reform, yet such was the obstinacy of their unbelief and wickedness that they would soon return to these, and become worse and worse.

Infidelity and wickedness, like an evil spirit in a possessed man, were appropriately at home in them. If driven out, they would find no other place as comfortable and undisturbed as their bosoms. Everywhere else, they would be comparatively like an evil spirit going through deserts and lonely places and finding no place of rest. They would, therefore, return and dwell with them.

He walketh through dry places. That is, through deserts—regions of country unwatered, sandy, barren, desolate. That our Savior here speaks according to the ancient opinions of the Jews that evil spirits had their abodes in those desolate, uninhabited regions, there can be no doubt. Nor can there be any doubt that the Bible gives countenance to this opinion. Thus, Revelation 18:2: "Babylon—is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit;" that is, has become desolate—a place where evil spirits appropriately dwell. So, Isaiah 13:21: "And satyrs shall dance there;" i.e., according to the ancient Greek translation, "devils, or demons, shall dance there." See also Jeremiah 50:39. See Barnes on Isaiah 34:14.

See Barnes on Deuteronomy 32:17.

Seeking rest, and findeth none. Thus, desolate and dry regions are represented as uncomfortable habitations; so much so, that the dissatisfied spirit, better pleased with a dwelling in the bosoms of men as affording an opportunity of doing evil, seeks a return there.