St Luke Chapter XI : Verses 14-26
Contents
- Luke xi. Verses 14-26. Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate)
- Douay-Rheims 1582 text
- Annotations based on the Great Commentary
Luke xi. Verses 14-26.
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| Others tempting, asked of Him a sign from heaven. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Et erat ejiciens dæmonium, et illud erat mutum. Et cum ejecisset daemonium, locutus est mutus, et admiratæ sunt turbæ.
15 But some of them said: He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.
Quidam autem ex eis dixerunt : In Beelzebub principe dæmoniorum ejicit dæmonia.
16 And others tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven.
Et alii tentantes, signum de cælo quærebant ab eo.
17 But he seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall.
Ipse autem ut vidit cogitationes eorum, dixit eis : Omne regnum in seipsum divisum desolabitur, et domus supra domum cadet.
18 And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say, that through Beelzebub I cast out devils.
Si autem et Satanas in seipsum divisus est, quomodo stabit regnum ejus? quia dicitis in Beelzebub me ejicere dæmonia.
19 Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub; by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
Si autem ego in Beelzebub ejicio dæmonia : filii vestri in quo ejiciunt? ideo ipsi judices vestri erunt.
20 But if I by the finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Porro si in digito Dei ejicio dæmonia : profecto pervenit in vos regnum Dei.
21 When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth.
Cum fortis armatus custodit atrium suum, in pace sunt ea quæ possidet.
22 But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him; he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils.
Si autem fortior eo superveniens vicerit eum, universa arma ejus auferet, in quibus confidebat, et spolia ejus distribuet.
23 He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth.
Qui non est mecum, contra me est : et qui non colligit mecum, dispergit.
24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out.
Cum immundus spiritus exierit de homine, ambulat per loca inaquosa, quærens requiem : et non inveniens dicit : Revertar in domum meam unde exivi.
25 And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished.
Et cum venerit, invenit eam scopis mundatam, et ornatam.
26 Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.
Tunc vadit, et assumit septem alios spiritus secum, nequiores se, et ingressi habitant ibi. Et fiunt novissima hominis illius pejora prioribus.
Douay-Rheims : 1582 text
14. And he was caſting out a Diuel, and that was dumme. And when he had caſt out the Diuel, the dumme ſpake: and the multitudes marueled.
15. And certaine of them ſaid: In Beel-zebub the prince of Diuels he caſteth out Diuels.
16. And other tempting, asked of him a ſigne from Heauen.
17. But he ſeeing their cogitations, ſaid to them: Euery Kingdom deuided against itſelf, ſhal be made deſolate, and houſe vpon houſe, ſhal fal.
18. And if Satan alſo be deuided againſt himſelf, how ſhal his Kingdom ſtand? becauſe you ſay that in Beel-zebub I doe cast out Diuels.
19. And if I in Beel-zebub caſt out Diuels: your children, in whom doe they caſt out? therfore they ſhal be your iudges.
20. But if I in the finger of God doe caſt out Diuels; surely the Kingdom of God is come vpon you.
21. When the ſtrong armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace that he poſſeſſeth.
22. But if a ſtronger then he come vpon him and ouercome him; he wil take away his whole armour wherein he truſted, and wil distribute his ſpoiles.
23. He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, ſcattereth.
24. When the vncleane ſpirit ſhal depart out of a man, he wandereth through places without water, ſeeking rest. And not finding, he ſaith, I wil returne into my houſe whence I departed.
25. And when he is come, he findeth it ſwept with a beſome, and trimmed.
26. Then he goeth and taketh ſeuen other ſpirits worse then himſelf, and entring in they dwel there. And the laſt of that man be made worſe then the first.
Annotations
[The following text is based on the Great Commentary on Chapter xii of St Matthew's Gospel, but retaining the verse numbers from St Luke's Gospel]
14. And he was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb: whence S. Augustine (L. 2 de Consens. Evang. sec. 37) is of opinion that Luke is speaking of another demoniac; but Luke does not say that he was not blind. Now the man was not blind and dumb from birth, or by disease, as Abul. and Barradi think, but was deprived of the use of his eyes and ears through the demoniacal possession. The demon, therefore, had not made him blind, nor taken away the faculty of speech, but only hindered the exercise of both. Whence, when the demon was cast out, without any other miraculous operation, the man began both to speak and to see. Thus S. Chrysostom, Enthym., Lyra, Jansen, Maldonatus. Hear S. Chrysostom: “O pestiferous craft of the devil! he seized upon, and obstructed both the ways,—sight and hearing—by which the man might believe.” Hence S. Luke says that demon was dumb, &c., in its effects, because it made the man dumb whom it possessed. There was, then, in this miracle a threefold effect. For, as S. Jerome says, “In this one man three signs were wrought at one and the same time; the blind sees, the dumb speaks, the possessed of the devils is delivered.”
Tropologically: S. Jerome says, “What was then done literally is daily fulfilled in the conversion of believers, that, when the devil has been driven out, they may first behold the light of faith, and then open their mouths to speak the praises of God.” Then S. Augustine says, “He, having a devil, is blind and dumb, who does not believe: and he is a slave of the devil, who does not understand, and does not confess the true faith, or who does not give praise to God.” (lib. 1. quæst. Evangel. q. 3.) The devil then makes men dumb lest they should confess their sins and expel their poison; lest they should praise God; lest they should instruct their neighbours: but Christ by His grace, looses their mouths to confess, to praise, to teach. Wisely saith S. Bernard (in Sententiis)
“Why art thou ashamed to speak of thy sin, when thou wast not ashamed to do it? or why dost thou blush to confess to God, from whose eyes thou canst not be hid? And if thou art so grievously ashamed to expose thy sin to one man, a sinner himself, what wilt thou do in the day of judgment, when thy consciousness of guilt will be exposed to all?”
and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke: and the multitudes were in admiration at it, ἐξίσταντο, i.e., were astonished and admired so that they, as it were, were rapt out of themselves in an ecstasy, at seeing so many and so great miracles of Christ; wherefore they said, No Prophet hath done so many miracles as Jesus hath. Therefore He is greater than them all. Consequently, He is the Son of David, the Messiah promised to David, whom we are all eagerly expecting.
15. But some of them said: He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. The Pharisees were so blinded by their envy and hatred of Christ, that when they could not deny His miracles so clearly attested, they slanderously said, that they were magical, and not wrought by power of God, but by Beelzebub. They made Christ to be a magician who had a familiar demon, by whose power He wrought miracles.
18. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say, that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. It means the kingdom of Satan upon earth could not stand, if Satan, i.e., one devil were constantly to rise up against another devil, and fight with him, so that the inferior should be continually striving to cast out his superior from men. Thus you, O ye Scribes, behold Me, continually and assiduously, with hostility punish the devils, and expel them from the souls and bodies of men. Therefore, not by the help of Beelzebub, but by the power of God, I cast them out, Neither indeed is Beelzebub so foolish as to send the devils who are subject to him, to drive out one the other. For by so doing he would destroy his and their kingdom. So also mutinous soldiers, when they rebel against their prince are closely and intimately united among themselves, for they know, if they should disagree, they would easily be overthrown by their prince.
I have spoken of Christ’s hostility to the devils; because Apollonius of Tyana, as Philostratus testifies in his life, and magicians cast out devils, but by collusion with them, that they may entice men to sorcerers, and to sorcery, i.e., fellowship with the devil. But Christ proves by what follows, that He had no fellowship with the devil. I spoke also of habitual warfare; for frequently strife and battle will arise among the devils for the possession of a man. An aged priest, worthy of credit, who had discharged the office of exorcist for many years and expelled devils at Rome, once told me he had seen with his eyes, and heard with his ears, two men possessed with devils, contending and fighting with one another, in the Church of S. Matthew. The devil who possessed one of the men was of a higher order and superior to the other; and he wished to cast out the other devil, as an inferior, from the man whom he possessed. But the inferior devil resisted, and greatly abused his superior; and among other things, he said to him, “Thou art an infernal devil, and by the just judgment of God being banished to hell, art far more heavily punished than I am, who am not an infernal devil, but am permitted to live here in the air, because I did not rebel against God as thou didst, but only clave and consented to Lucifer, as a subject to my superior.” But such things as this are very uncommon and are succeeded by peace, even as these two devils after a short time laid aside their contention, and rested, and held their peace. For although those who are damned, and the devils, burn with pride, wrath, and hatred one against another, and quarrel, and tear one another in hell like dogs; nevertheless, on earth they must agree among themselves, in order that they may establish their kingdom and dominion over men.
19. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? This is Christ’s second proof, by which He shows, that he cast out devils by the help of God not of Satan, By your children, in the first place, SS. Hilar., Chrys., Theoph., Enthym. understand, your Apostles, for they were sons of the Jews. These writers think that this happened after Christ sent forth the Apostles, when the Apostles, by the help of Christ, cast out devils, and wrought many miracles. But it is more probable that this happened before the mission of the Apostles. Hence it is better to understand by your children, Jewish exorcists, who, by the method handed down by Solomon, expelled demons. (See Joseph. Lib. 8, cap. 2.) Such exorcists were the seven sons of Sceva, a chief of the priests (Act. xix.14). So Jansen, Tolet, and others.
Therefore they shall be your judges. In the day of judgment, they shall, by their deeds, condemn you, because ye have passed so perverted a judgment upon Me, namely that they have cast out devils by the help of God, but I by the assistance of Satan; although ye behold far greater proofs of the presence and operation of God in Me, than in your own exorcists. For who of them has healed so many sick, and raised so many dead persons as I have done? Who of them has preached such sublime and Divine doctrine as I preach? Therefore shall the Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites, by their faith and repentance in the day of judgment condemn the unbelieving Jews.
20. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils &c. If I by the power of God and the Holy Ghost not of Beelzebub, cast out devils, then that is true (and the Holy Ghost himself manifestly attests it by his concurrence) which I and John Baptist have put forward as the head and sum of our preaching—the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Ye see the kingdom of the devil by Me everywhere destroyed by My words, and by what I effect in the bodies and souls of men: and thus God’s kingdom is begun by grace. This is what John says (1 Epist. iii. 8), In this the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. For as S. Leo says, “Those nails which pierced the Lord’s hands and feet inflicted eternal wounds upon the devil; and the punishment of His holy limbs was the death of the hostile powers.”
21. When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth.
22. But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him; he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. A new reason is here given, the third, whereby Christ proves that He casts out devils by the help of God, not of Beelzebub. The argument is drawn from a comparison, thus: As he who attacks the castle of any strong or valiant man, like Samson or Hercules, to spoil it, is not able to accomplish it unless he first vanquish and bind the strong man; so in like manner, I Christ, who spoil the kingdom of Satan by leading sinners, his subjects, to repentance and salvation, must needs overcome and bind Satan himself; for, otherwise, he would not allow this spoliation. Satan therefore is My enemy, and has been overthrown by Me. He is not My friend or ally in casting out demons, as ye calumniously assert.
The strong man then, in this passage, is the devil; the house is the world; the vessels are his arms; his goods, his instruments. The arms of the devil are fraud and deceit by which he entiees men to sin; his arms are wealth, honours, riches. They are also inferior demons and wicked men, says S. Chrysostom. These the devil makes use of against us, to tempt and vex us. His goods are the souls of sinners, and the bodies of the possessed; yea the souls of the fathers detained in Limbus before Christ. All these Christ took away from the devil, and bound him in hell.
Moreover, the devil is here called a strong man, because he goeth about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, as S. Peter saith. Job (xl and xli) depicts his strength and might under the figures of Behemoth and Leviathan. By the strong man understand Lucifer, the prince of the devils, the antagonist of Christ and S. Michael. For Lucifer, being conquered by Christ on the Cross, was thrust down to hell, that there he should remain, personally bound, until the day of judgment. Then he will be loosed for a little space, as John says (Apoc. xx.). Nevertheless, Lucifer is so bound in hell, that he is not only able to go forth himself, but even by means of his demons, whom he sends forth into the world. Yet he is not able to hurt men as much as he was before. For Christ has greatly restrained and diminished the power and might of the demons. S. Anthony was taught this by long experience, as S. Athanas. testifies in his Life. “The devil,” he says, “was hooked by the Lord, like a dragon, by the hook of the Cross; and was taken in a drag-net, and was bound like a fugitive slave, and his lips were perforated by a ring and a bracelet, and he is not permitted to devour any of the faithful. Now, like a wretched sparrow, he is made sport of by Christ; now he groans at his companions, being trodden like serpents and scorpions under the heels of Christians. He who boasted that he drank up every sea, he who pretended that he held the world in the hollow of his hand, lo! he is conquered by you; lo! he is not able to prevent my entering the lists against him.” And he confirms this by the devil’s own con fession (cap. 20). “I saw,” he said, “a man of enormous height, whose head reached unto Heaven. When I asked him who he was, he said, I am Satan. And I, What seekest thou here? He answered, Why do all Christian people curse me? I answered, Hast thou not read, ‘Because the swords of the enemy have failed at the end, and thou hast destroyed their cities?’ (Vulg.) He said, Lo, now have I no place, I possess no city, I have no arms: the name of Christ sounds throughout all nations and all provinces, and the wilderness is peopled with choirs of monks. Let them, I beseech you, look at themselves, and not wound me without cause.”
23. He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. First, SS. Hilary, Jerome, Chrysostom, Theophylact expound of the strong man, i.e., the devil The devil is not with Me, in such manner that he is against Me: and the things which I gather, he strives to disperse. This, therefore, is a fourth argument of Christ against the Scribes. Its force is as follows: They whose works are contrary, are themselves contrary. But My works and the devil’s are contrary; therefore, I and he are contrary to each other. For, as S. Jerome says, “He, the devil, desires to hold captive the souls of men, but the Lord to deliver them. He preaches idolatry, Christ, the knowledge of the one God; the one draws to vice, the other recals to virtue. How, then, can they have agreement between themselves, whose works are contrary?”
2. You may take the passage more simply with S. Chrysostom, with an application to the Pharisees, thus: As when a sedition arises in a kingdom or city, and one part rises against another part, so that evil-disposed men endeavour to seize upon the commonwealth, and spoil it, as Catiline with his fellow-conspirators did at Rome; then it is necessary for good citizens to defend the state, and he who does not, but desires to be neutral, is looked upon as an enemy and a companion of the seditious: because, under those circumstances, all citizens are bound to help the city or republic with all their might. Thus, in like manner, I, who have proclaimed universal war with Satan, that I may expel him from his dominion over the world, look upon all men as it were citizens of the world, as subjects of Me, their true Prince. If, therefore, they are not with Me in this war, and if they do not fight under My banner, they are contrary to Me, and My enemies, and, as such, I shall treat them, and punish them. Such, therefore, are you, O ye Pharisees, who ought above all, as my subjects, and better instructed than other men, to receive Me as the Messiah, the Christ prophesied of in your law and the prophets, and to commend Me as such to the people; notwithstanding, ye are secretly My adversaries, and openly ye dissimulate as though ye were judges appointed to make inquisition concerning My life and doctrine.
Thus this saying of Christ is not opposed to what He says in Luke ix. 50—He who is not against you, is on your part: for there He is speaking of one who is really in doctrinal agreement with the Apostles, and therefore is with them and for them, although for some just reason he does not profess as much openly.
24. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out.
25. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished.
Observe, Christ still continues to treat of the subject of demoniacal possession: for the possessed, whom He healed, were corporeally possessed by a demon, but the Scribes and the Jews, who reviled Christ’s miracles, were spiritually possessed. Christ here speaks parabolically, after the manner of the Syrians. The meaning is: As a man who is an exile wanders through arid and desert places, so the devil when driven by the law of God from man, that is to say, from you, O ye Jews, who were the people of God, amongst whom God dwelt, and manifested Himself by prophecies and miracles, wanders through desert places, and seeks rest. But when he cannot find it save in man, and when he sees that ye despise God’s grace, which I offer you, then he eagerly returns to you as to a house that is empty and swept, as to a place prepared and adorned for him.
26. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.
Then he takes seven, i.e., many other companions, more wicked than himself, and they joyfully inhabit that house, i.e., your souls; and that they may not be again expelled, and that they may make you more wicked, with that object in view they cause you to blaspheme Me, My doctrine, and My miracles, and to say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub, and that ye may at length crucify Me, which is of all wickedness the chief and the greatest. Wherefore God will punish you with utter destruction by Titus, and will cause you to be without God, without Messiah, without law, or temple, or sacrifice, and without faith—yea, that ye shall think your own perfidy and blindness to be the true faith and the true light.
Moreover, the house, that is the soul, is empty, because it is without God, and devoid of His grace. It is swept with besoms because all virtue, piety and goodness have been driven out of it, and the poison of impurity has been scattered in it, and the tapestry of pride hung about it. For such adornment as this is the adornment of uncleanness, and is pleasing to the devil who delights in nothing but what is impure and filthy.
Again, the devils are driven by God and His Saints into desert places, that they may not injure men. Thus Raphael bound Asmodeus in the deserts of Upper Egypt. (Tobit viii.) So also Isaiah says, (Isaiah xiii and xxxiv) that Babylon should be wasted and rendered a desert; and that hairy creatures, Satyrs and Onoccntauri, i.e. demons in the shape of goats and monsters should dwell there. But the devil does not find rest in such places, for, as Abul. says, “The devil cannot rest, because he shall be tormented eternally, but he seeks the rest of his own evil will: for he is envious, and loves to injure men: and when he is able to injure them he rests after a fashion.” He acts thus, partly from envy, because he grudges man the happiness of heaven, from which he himself has fallen; partly from hatred of God: and because he cannot injure God himself, he would injure man who is God’s creature and image, that he may thus, as far as he can, do an injury to God.
Mystically, dry places are the souls of the Gentiles, in which, by the grace of Christ, the moisture of concupiscence is dried up. Hear S. Jerome,
“The unclean spirit went forth from the Jews, when they received the law, and being driven from them, walked in the wilderness of the Gentiles. But when the Gentiles had believed in the Lord—finding no place among them, the devil said, I will go back to the Jews.”
And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. This is the end and scope of the parable. Christ shows that relapsing into sin is worse than falling into it at first; even as a relapse into a disease of the body is worse than the original disease. S. Augustine says (Epist. 137), “I confess unfeignedly, before the Lord our God, who is the witness of my soul, from the time when I began to serve God, that I have not found any who have made greater progress in religion than those in monasteries. So too, in like manner, I have never found worse men than those who have fallen, being monks. And this is why I believe it has been written in the Apocalypse (ch. xxii) ‘He that is just, let him become more just; and he that is filthy, let him become more filthy.’ ” Thus Lucifer, who was the most fair of all the angels, became the worst of the devils. So too Judas, from an Apostle, became an Apostate, and the betrayer of Christ. So also Nestorius, Eutyches, Pelagius, Arius, and in our time Luther, Calvin, and the rest, their companions, from monks and priests, became apostates and heresiarchs. As it is commonly said, the best wine makes the sourest vinegar.”
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SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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