The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Luke11:24–26

An Unclean Spirit Returns

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Luke 11:24–26 — An Unclean Spirit Returns. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

24

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Hotan to akatharton pneuma exelthē apo tou anthrōpou dierchetai di’ anydrōn topōn zētoun anapausin kai mē heuriskon tote legei Hypostrepsō eis mou ton oikon hothen exēlthon

Word by word26 · parsed
ὍτανHotanWhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
Indefinite temporal conjunction: “whenever,” making the saying a rule, not a single anecdote.
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
ἀκάθαρτονakathartonan uncleanG169
√ ἀκάθαρτος — impure (ceremonially, morally (lewd) or specially, (demonic))AdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
akathartos: impure, ceremonially or morally; of demons Luke’s regular term for demonic spirits (Luke 4:33; 8:29). The word joins moral filth and ritual impurity: the spirit is the opposite of the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives to those who ask (Luke 11:13, a few verses earlier).
πνεῦμαpneumaspiritG4151
√ πνεῦμα — a current of air, iNounNominative Neuter Singular
pneuma: wind, breath, spirit Neuter, so the participles that follow are neuter (“seeking,” “finding”): the grammar keeps the spirit an it, not a person with a name.
ἐξέλθῃexelthēcomes outG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
exerchomai: to go out Aorist subjunctive after hotan. The verb does not say it was cast out by a stronger one (contrast vv. 21 to 22); the scenario allows a departure that is real but not a conquest.
ἀπὸapoofG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀνθρώπουanthrōpoua manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounGenitive Masculine Singular
διέρχεταιdierchetaiit passesG1330
√ διέρχομαι — to traverse (literally)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
dierchomai: to traverse Present middle: it keeps roaming. The restlessness is ongoing, not a single trip.
δι’di’throughG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
ἀνύδρωνanydrōnaridG504
√ ἄνυδρος — waterless, iAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
anydros: waterless Rare (4 verses). The desert was the traditional haunt of evil (compare Luke 4:1, where Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted, as Cambridge notes); here it is the spirit’s exile.
τόπωνtopōnplacesG5117
√ τόπος — a spot (general in space, but limited by occupancyNounGenitive Masculine Plural
ζητοῦνzētounseekingG2212
√ ζητέω — to seek (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Neuter Singular
zēteō: to seek Present participle, continuous seeking; the same verb Jesus has just used in v. 9 to 10 (“seek and you will find”), now turned inside out: this seeker does not find.
ἀνάπαυσινanapausinrestG372
√ ἀνάπαυσις — intermissionNounAccusative Feminine Singular
anapausis: rest, intermission A rare noun (5 verses). Its other Gospel use is Matthew 11:29, “you will find rest for your souls.” Cambridge: for these spirits not to possess a human soul “is (for them) to be in torment.” Revelation 14:11 uses the same word of the damned who have no rest day or night.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
εὑρίσκονheuriskondoes not find [it]G2147
√ εὑρίσκω — to find (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Neuter Singular
heuriskō: to find Negated present participle (mē heuriskon). In the parable’s logic, failing to find rest outside drives the spirit back to the place it once found it.
τότεtoteThenG5119
√ τότε — the when, iAdverb
λέγειlegeiit saysG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὙποστρέψωHypostrepsōI will returnG5290
√ ὑποστρέφω — to turn under (behind), iVerbFuture Indicative Active1st Person Singular
hypostrephō: to turn back, return Future indicative, first person: a statement of intent, not a wish. A favorite Lukan verb (used far more by Luke than by any other NT writer), here placed in the mouth of the returning enemy.
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
μουmou[the]G1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
First person possessive: “my” house. The claim of ownership is the hinge of the parable.
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
οἶκόνoikonhouseG3624
√ οἶκος — a dwelling (more or less extensive, literal or figurative)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
oikos: dwelling, household The house picks up vv. 17 and 21: a divided house falls, and the strong man guards his own palace. The person is pictured as a dwelling whose question is always who lives there.
ὅθενhothenvvvG3606
√ ὅθεν — from which place or source or cause (adverb or conjunction)Adverb
Rare adverb (15 verses): “whence,” the precise point of departure.
ἐξῆλθονexēlthonI leftG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active1st Person Singular
Aorist indicative of the same verb as index 4: the spirit narrates its own exit.
25

On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai elthon heuriskei sesarōmenon kai kekosmēmenon

Word by word6 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐλθὸνelthonOn its returnG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Neuter Singular
Aorist participle “having come”: the return is accomplished before the inspection.
εὑρίσκειheuriskeiit finds [the house]G2147
√ εὑρίσκω — to find (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
heuriskō: to find Present tense, vivid narration: the finding is the turn of the parable.
σεσαρωμένονsesarōmenonswept cleanG4563
√ σαρόω — akin to G4951 (σύρω))VerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Singular
saroō: to sweep Only 3 NT verses. The perfect passive names a cleaning done to the house, which leaves it clean but unguarded. Its one other Lukan use (15:8) is a sweeping that seeks and finds something precious; here the sweeping only makes room.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κεκοσμημένονkekosmēmenonput in orderG2885
√ κοσμέω — to put in proper order, iVerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Singular
kosmeō: to put in proper order, adorn 10 NT verses: used of trimmed lamps (Matthew 25:7), of adorned tombs of the prophets (Matthew 23:29), of foundations adorned with jewels (Revelation 21:19), and of women’s adornment (1 Timothy 2:9; 1 Peter 3:5). Order and ornament without an occupant: Cambridge says it has not “tested the expulsive power of holy affections.”
26

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

tote poreuetai kai paralambanei hepta hetera pneumata ponērotera heautou kai eiselthonta katoikei ekei kai ta eschata ekeinou tou anthrōpou ginetai cheirona tōn prōtōn

Word by word23 · parsed
τότεtoteThenG5119
√ τότε — the when, iAdverb
πορεύεταιporeuetaiit goesG4198
√ πορεύομαι — to traverse, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
poreuomai: to go Present: the narrative quickens.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
παραλαμβάνειparalambaneibringsG3880
√ παραλαμβάνω — to receive near, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
paralambanō: to take alongside The same verb used of Jesus taking disciples aside (Luke 9:10, 28; 18:31). Here it describes an unholy fellowship, a mirror of discipleship.
ἑπτάheptasevenG2033
√ ἑπτά — sevenAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
hepta: seven Cambridge: “figurative of complete wickedness and (in this case) final possession.” Compare Mary Magdalene, “from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:2), cited by Cambridge, Gill and Pulpit.
ἕτεραheteraotherG2087
√ ἕτερος — (an-, the) other or differentAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
πνεύματαpneumataspiritsG4151
√ πνεῦμα — a current of air, iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
Plural of the same noun as v. 24: one spirit becomes eight.
πονηρότεραponēroteramore wickedG4190
√ πονηρός — hurtful, iAdjectiveAccusative Neuter PluralComparative
ponēros: evil, malignant Comparative: “more wicked than itself.” Gill infers “degrees of wickedness among the devils.” The comparison echoes v. 13, where hearers are called ponēroi who yet give good gifts.
ἑαυτοῦheautouthan itselfG1438
√ ἑαυτοῦ — him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etcReflexive PronounGenitive Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Reflexive genitive of comparison: measured against the first spirit itself.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἰσελθόνταeiselthontathey go inG1525
√ εἰσέρχομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Neuter Plural
κατοικεῖkatoikei[and] dwellG2730
√ κατοικέω — to house permanently, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
katoikeō: to house permanently 41 NT verses. Paul prays that Christ may katoikēsai in believers’ hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17; Verifier: shared G2730). The parable’s danger is answered there: a house is safe not when it is empty and clean but when it is inhabited by Christ.
ἐκεῖekeithereG1563
√ ἐκεῖ — thereAdverb
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τὰtatheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Plural
ἔσχαταeschatafinal [plight]G2078
√ ἔσχατος — farthest, final (of place or time)AdjectiveNominative Neuter Plural
eschatos: last, final Neuter plural “the last things” of the man. The word carries no explicit eschatological claim here, but it fixes the end state of a life.
ἐκείνουekeinouof thatG1565
√ ἐκεῖνος — that one (or (neuter) thing)Demonstrative PronounGenitive Masculine Singular
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀνθρώπουanthrōpoumanG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounGenitive Masculine Singular
γίνεταιginetaiisG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
Present middle of ginomai: “becomes.”
χείροναcheironaworseG5501
√ χείρων — from an obsolete equivalent (of uncertain derivation)AdjectiveNominative Neuter PluralComparative
cheirōn: worse Rare (11 verses). The same comparative is in John 5:14 (“lest something worse happen to you”), 2 Timothy 3:13 (“evil men … will go from bad to worse”) and 2 Peter 2:20.
τῶνtōnthan theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Plural
πρώτωνprōtōnfirstG4413
√ πρῶτος — foremost (in time, place, order or importance)AdjectiveGenitive Neuter Plural
prōtos: first Neuter plural: the man’s first condition, before the spirit left.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The restless exile — Luke 11:24

The saying follows directly on the strong man and the stronger man (vv. 21 to 22) and the stark line of v. 23: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me.” Jesus now tells what happens whenever (Ὅταν) an unclean spirit goes out of a man. It roams “waterless places” (ἀνύδρων), the desert haunts that Cambridge and Pulpit connect with Jewish tradition (Tobit 8:3; Berachoth 3a). It seeks ἀνάπαυσιν, rest, and finds none; Cambridge sharpens this: “Not to be in possession of some human soul, is (for them) to be in torment.” Then it speaks: “I will return to my house.” Poole draws the moral: the devil, cast out in any degree, is unquiet till he has recovered “as full a power over and possession of men and women as he ever had.”

ii. Swept, adorned, and empty — Luke 11:25

Two perfect passive participles describe the house: σεσαρωμένον (swept) and κεκοσμημένον (adorned). Something has been done to it and stays done. Luke does not say “empty” as Matthew does (Ellicott), but the picture implies it. Henry’s reading is the classic Puritan one: “The house is swept, but it is not washed; the heart is not made holy.” Cambridge names the point positively: the danger is that the soul “is not occupied by a New Indweller. It has not tested the expulsive power of holy affections.” Gill, following his reading of the whole parable as about Israel, says the house was found “empty of all goodness, notwithstanding all the sweeping and garnish of an outward reformation.”

iii. Sevenfold return and the worse end — Luke 11:26

The spirit παραλαμβάνει (takes along) seven others “more wicked than itself,” and they κατοικεῖ, settle in to stay. Cambridge reads seven as “complete wickedness and (in this case) final possession,” and links Luke 8:2. The closing line, τὰ ἔσχατα … χείρονα τῶν πρώτων, is almost exactly the wording of 2 Peter 2:20, which Cambridge calls “the most striking comment on the verse,” together with Hebrews 6:4 to 6 and John 5:14. Two applications run through the commentators. Henry and Poole apply it to the individual hypocrite or the merely restrained sinner. Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit also apply it to the Jewish nation of Jesus’ day, though Pulpit concedes the explicit national application (“this wicked generation”) “belongs to St. Matthew.” Geneva gives the sharpest one-line summary: he that does not continue is “in a worse case, than he that never began.”

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read within Luke 11 itself, the parable is the warning attached to v. 23. Jesus has just shown that He is the stronger man who overpowers Satan by “the finger of God” (v. 20). The parable then shows what neutrality produces: a person who is relieved of an evil, even improved and orderly, but who has not been taken into Christ’s house and is not indwelt by Him, has not become safe. He has become vacant. Luke places this right after the promise that the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask (v. 13), and right before “blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (v. 28). In that setting the remedy the parable implies is not more sweeping but a new occupant: the Spirit given by the Father, and the word heard and kept. This tool offers that reading as fallible and asks that it be tested against the text: Luke does not here say how a person may know whether his own house is occupied, and the parable should not be used to unsettle those who trust Christ; it targets reformation that stops short of Christ.

A swept house is not a safe house; only an occupied one is.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The Matthean parallel: same saying, different setting verbal / quotation: confirmed

Matthew 12:43 to 45 gives the same saying with near-identical wording: the spirit passes through waterless places (διέρχεται δι’ ἀνύδρων τόπων), seeks rest, and returns to the house “from where” (ὅθεν) it came out. Matthew adds that the house is empty and applies it to “this wicked generation” (Ellicott). Pulpit thinks Matthew may record a separate occasion; that is a commentator’s judgment, not a textual datum.

Matthew 12:43 · Matthew 12:44 · Matthew 12:45

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3606 ὅθεν (in 15 vv), G1330 διέρχομαι (in 41 vv), G2212 ζητέω (in 114 vv), G1831 ἐξέρχομαι; synoptic parallel of the same saying

“Worse than the first”: Peter’s echo verbal / quotation: confirmed

2 Peter 2:20 says of those who escaped the world’s defilements through knowing Christ and were again entangled: gegonen autois ta eschata cheirona tōn prōtōn, the same phrase as Luke 11:26. Cambridge calls it “the most striking comment on the verse,” and Poole cites the same text. Whether Peter consciously alludes to the saying cannot be proven, but the wording overlaps closely around the rare comparative χείρων.

2 Peter 2:20 · 2 Peter 2:21 · Hebrews 6:4 · John 5:14

basis: Verifier: shared lexemes G5501 χείρων (in 11 vv), G2078 ἔσχατος (in 48 vv), G4413 πρῶτος (in 92 vv) in the same phrase; a verbal echo, not a marked quotation. Hebrews 6:4 and John 5:14 are listed by Cambridge as thematic parallels only.

Rest sought and not found, rest offered and found structural / thematic: confirmed

The noun ἀνάπαυσις occurs in only 5 NT verses. The unclean spirit seeks it and does not find it (mē heuriskon); Jesus promises “you will find (heurēsete) rest for your souls” to those who take His yoke (Matthew 11:29). Revelation 14:11 uses the word negatively of those with “no rest day or night.” ⚙ The contrast is this tool’s observation; no commentator in the brief draws it.

Matthew 11:29 · Revelation 14:11

basis: Verifier: shared rare lexeme G372 ἀνάπαυσις (in 5 vv) with G2147 εὑρίσκω; real verbal link, but the contrast is a thematic reading, so tier held at structural

Waterless: the false teachers’ word structural / thematic: confirmed

ἄνυδρος appears in only 4 NT verses: the spirit’s “waterless places” (Luke 11:24; Matthew 12:43) and the false teachers described as “springs without water” (2 Peter 2:17) and “clouds without water” (Jude 12). Peter and Jude use it of people who promise life and have none. The same chapter of 2 Peter then gives the “worse than the first” verdict (2:20), so the two lexical links meet in one passage.

2 Peter 2:17 · Jude 1:12

basis: Verifier: shared rare lexeme G504 ἄνυδρος (in 4 vv); same word in a shared motif of spiritual barrenness, no quotation claim

The swept house in Luke 15 structural / thematic: confirmed

σαρόω appears in only 3 NT verses. In Luke 15:8 the woman lights a lamp and sweeps the house, seeking until she finds the lost coin. ⚙ Within Luke the two sweepings contrast: in chapter 15 sweeping is a seeking that recovers, in chapter 11 it is a cleaning that only makes room. This contrast is this tool’s own; the commentators in the brief do not draw it.

Luke 15:8

basis: Verifier pair check: shared lexemes G4563 σαρόω (in 3 vv) and G2147 εὑρίσκω (in 167 vv); a rare shared verb, but the contrast is interpretive, so held at structural

The desert as the haunt of evil structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge and Pulpit say spirits were believed to frequent ruins and deserts, citing Tobit 8:3 (where a demon flees to Egypt) and the Talmud. The Hebrew prophets picture ruined places as haunts of wild creatures (Isaiah 13:21; 34:14), and Luke itself sets the temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1). Greek and Hebrew cannot share Strong’s numbers, so this cross-Testament link is structural only. Tobit is not canonical Scripture and Berachoth is later rabbinic tradition: background, not authority.

Isaiah 13:21 · Isaiah 34:14 · Luke 4:1

basis: cross-Testament motif (desolate places as haunts of evil); Greek and Hebrew share no Strong's lexeme, so no verbal claim; extra-canonical sources (Tobit 8:3, Berachoth 3a) cited by Cambridge and Pulpit as background only

Israel after the Exile as the swept house flagged: verify source

Cambridge and Pulpit read the parable also as the history of the Jews: idolatry expelled by the Exile, then a return in “the sevenfold virulence of letter-worship, formalism, exclusiveness” (Cambridge, quoting an unnamed source), ending in the fall of Jerusalem (both appeal to Josephus). Gill applies it to the Jews from Christ’s death to A.D. 70. Matthew 12:45 does apply the saying to “this wicked generation,” but Luke does not, and the Exile identification is the commentators’ construal.

Matthew 12:45

basis: national application explicit only in Matthew 12:45; the Exile-to-A.D. 70 scheme is commentator interpretation, Cambridge's quoted phrase has no named source in the brief, and the Josephus appeals are not verified here

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Stronger Man who moves in ancient/widely-held

⚙ The parable stands between the stronger man who overpowers the strong man and plunders his house (Luke 11:21 to 22) and the choice of v. 23. Read with what comes just before, the answer to an empty house is the Stronger One Himself taking possession. Henry: conversion is “Christ’s victory over the devil and his power in that soul, restoring the soul to its liberty,” while the hypocrite’s heart “was never given up to Christ, nor dwelt in by the Spirit.” Cambridge’s “New Indweller” and Pulpit’s “indwelling Presence … of the Holy Spirit” say the same. The New Testament names that occupation: Christ dwelling (katoikēsai, the verb of v. 26) in the heart through faith (Ephesians 3:17), the Father and the Son making their home with the one who keeps His word (John 14:23).

Luke 11:21-22 · Ephesians 3:17 · John 14:23 · 1 Corinthians 6:19

The rest the spirit cannot find novel

⚙ The spirit roams waterless places seeking anapausis and does not find it. The same rare noun appears on Jesus’ lips in Matthew 11:28 to 29: those who come to Him “will find rest.” Restlessness belongs to the enemy, and rest is given by the Son. The verbal link is real (Verifier, G372 in 5 vv), but setting the two passages side by side as a Christ reading is this tool’s own; no commentator in the brief makes it.

Matthew 11:28 · Matthew 11:29

With Him or against Him: no neutral ground ancient/widely-held

⚙ The parable explains v. 23: “He who does not gather with Me scatters.” JFB, commenting on v. 23 in the material printed with these verses, says “Whatever in religion is disconnected from Christ comes to nothing.” Pulpit applies the same principle to all reform: it is hopeless to attempt “the amelioration of the human race without the aid of Christ.” In this passage Christ is the dividing line: a life swept and decorated apart from Him is still, in the parable’s words, the spirit’s house.

Luke 11:23 · Luke 11:28

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB with Berean interlinear; no textual variant affecting these verses is recorded in the brief. Luke lacks Matthew’s “empty” (scholazonta); Gill reports that some ancient versions (Arabic, Ethiopic) add it here, which is versional evidence, not the Greek text in the brief. Voices: Barnes and Benson only point to their notes on Matthew 12:43 to 45, and the JFB entry printed with these verses belongs to v. 23 (“gathereth … scattereth”), so those authors are not quoted per verse. Henry’s entry covers vv. 14 to 26 as one block. Cambridge and Pulpit rely on Tobit, the Talmud and Josephus for background; those are not Scripture and are not checked here. The Luke 15:8 and Ephesians 3:17 links come from a direct Verifier pair check; all others come from the brief’s thread candidates. The national (Israel) application is marked flagged because Luke does not make it.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)