Matthew Chapter 12 verse 29 Holy Bible
Or how can one enter into the house of the strong `man,' and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong `man'? and then he will spoil his house.
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Or how may one go into a strong man's house and take his goods, if he does not first put cords round the strong man? and then he may take his goods.
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Or how can any one enter into the house of the strong [man] and plunder his goods, unless first he bind the strong [man]? and then he will plunder his house.
read chapter 12 in DARBY
Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
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read chapter 12 in WBT
Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house.
read chapter 12 in WEB
`Or how is one able to go into the house of the strong man, and to plunder his goods, if first he may not bind the strong man? and then his house he will plunder.
read chapter 12 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 29. - Parallel passages: Mark 3:27; Luke 11:21, 22. Mark is practically identical with Matthew. Luke ("the strong man armed," etc.) is more detailed and vivid, and is perhaps the original form of the saying. Or else; or (Revised Version); i.e. if this be not the case, that the kingdom of God is come upon you, how else do you explain what has happened, the fact of Satan's instruments being taken from him? How can one enter into a strong man's house; the house of the strong man (Revised Version). (For the article, cf. Matthew 1:23, note.) And spoil (ἁρπάσαι) his goods. Carry off his household tools and utensils (τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ). Except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. This is more than merely the conclusion. It is an emphatic statement that he will do this, yes, utterly plunder (διαρπάσει) the whole house. The interpretation of the parable is self-evident: the strong man is Satan; his vessels are those afflicted by him; the one who binds, etc., is Christ. For Christ's appearance and work, even before the Crucifixion and Resurrection, bound Satan in this respect. Observe that there is probably a tacit reference to Isaiah 49:25, which at any rate now received a fulfilment.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(29) How can one enter into a strong man's house.--The parable implied in the question appears in a fuller form in Luke 11:21-22. Here it will be enough to note that the "strong man" is Satan. The "house" is the region which is subject to him--i.e., either the world at large, or the spirits of individual men; the "goods" or "instruments" (comp. the "armour" of Luke 11:22) are the demons or subordinate powers of evil by which he maintains his dominion; the "binding of the strong man" is the check given to the tyranny of Satan by emancipating the possessed sufferers from their thraldom; the "spoiling of the house" implies the final victory over him.
