Matthew 12:29 is the 29th verse in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Content In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort, this verse is: Ἢ πῶς δύναταί τις εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ καὶ τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ διαρπάσαι, ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον δήσῃ τὸν ἰσχυρόν; Καὶ τότε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ διαρπάσει. In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: 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. The New International Version translates the passage as: Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. Analysis This is the third reason that Christ gives to prove that He casts out devils by the help of God, not by Beelzebub. Essentially the argument is by comparison. That is, he who attacks the stronghold of any valiant person, like Samson or Hercules, to plunder it, must first conquer and bind the strong man. So also Christ overcomes the kingdom of Satan by guiding sinners, his subjects, to repentance and to salvation. So Satan must be His enemy. Allegorically Lapide asserts that the strong man, is the devil; the house is the world; the vessels are his arms; his goods, his instruments. The weapons of the devil are fraud and deceit, through which he leads people to sin. Other weapons are wealth, honors, riches. His goods are the souls of sinners, and the bodies of the possessed; in addition to the souls of those detained in Limbo before Christ. All of these Christ took from the devil, and bound him in hell. Note that devil is here called a strong one, since he goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter). Job (chapters 40 and 41) depicts his strength with the figures of Behemoth and Leviathan. The conquering of Lucifer by the Cross and being trust into hell where he remains, bound, until the day of judgment is recorded in Revelation 20. Commentary from the Church Fathers Chrysostom: "Having concluded the second answer, He brings forward yet a third, saying, Or how can any enter into a strong man’s house? For that Satan cannot cast out Satan is clear