MATTHEW XII. 43—48 55 in his honour, and we call that day he third, Physicians also, when a fever leaves only one day in the middle, call that fever éertiary. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he goeth round about, etc. ; but allegorists and others say that éhe unclean spirit is the error that has receiyed from Satan [power] to be within men, but that came out of a man, out of the people of the Jews, in which it had dwelt; and the places without water are the lands of the heathen, that were deprived of the voice of the prophets, and also of the Gospel which was compared to water; but because by our Lord and by His disciples devils were driven out from men who were in the land of Judwa, they were obliged to depart to the Gentiles, where our Lord and the disciples who drove them out were not present, in the hope of finding rest ; but it did not find rest, not even there, because the preachers were appointed to go after the ascension of our Lord ; and when the voices of the Apostles drove it out from amongst the Gentiles, then it took counsel with itself, / cui/l return to my ferst house from whence I was driven out before; and then it goeth and findeth the nation of the Crucifiers, whose mind was swept in regard to earthly things, and empty of all faith and of the fear of God, and garnished with all vile things, and even [empty] of its preachers, because our Lord had ascended to His Father, and the Apostles had been driven thence ; and it served afterwards as a dwelling, not to one devil only, but to all dev and the Jast state of the nation, which is compared to a man, is worse than its first. But the /wterpreter says that just as if a man is possessed by a devi afterwards escapes from him if he continue in his wickedness of necessity in every way, when the devil sees that that man is a useful house to it, it brings also others with it, and it enters and dwells in him ; thus also your own evil things frequently receive absolution from God; because ye remain in the hardness of your minds, evils still more bitter than the former ones will come to you, and they will not receive any absolution. He was speaking then of those who were suffering from the Romans, as places without water, Gentiles deprived of the teaching of Truth; but it did not find rest because they had sources of erroneous doctrine. But that it was empty, that is to say, of good things, and brushed bare of virtues ; this is what is swept. This, Who is My mother? and who are My brethren? now He says these things, not as one who rejects mother and brethren; but to shew that spiritual affinity is preferred by Him to bodily relationship ; and because of this He also loves those if they have that. After these things, He begins with parables; and first we will say £32b PXg Ephr. Diat. (Mos) p.120