Luke 11:18

If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? After all, you say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

ASV

And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

YLT

and if also the Adversary against himself was divided, how shall his kingdom be made to stand? for ye say, by Beelzeboul is my casting forth the demons.

DBT

and if also Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom subsist? because ye say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

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On this verse

In like manner, it is He who will give the Holy Spirit, at whose command is also the unholy spirit. When He cast out the "demon which was dumb" (and by a cure of this sort verified Isaiah), and having been charged with casting out demons by Beelzebub, He said, "If I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? " By such a question what does He otherwise mean, than that He ejects the spirits by the same power by which their sons also did-that is, by the power of the Creator?

Tertullian· Against Marcion Book IV, 220patristic

Related commentary

Herein also He shows His own kingdom to be undivided and everlasting. Those then who possess no hope in Christ, but think that He casts out devils through the chief of the devils, their kingdom, He says, is not everlasting. This also has reference to the Jewish people. For how can the kingdom of the Jews be everlasting, when by the people of the law Jesus is denied, who is promised by the law? Thus in part does the faith of the Jewish people impugn itself; the glory of the wicked is divided, by division is destroyed.

Ambrose of Milan· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 397patristic

And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?.... This is the accommodation of the above parables, or proverbial sentences; suggesting, that Satan must be against himself, if what the Pharisees said was true; and consequently, his kingdom and government, could not long subsist: because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub; which is all one as to say, that Satan is divided against himself, which is not reasonable to suppose; See Gill on Mat 12:26 and See Gill on Mar 3:26.

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

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Cross-references

5 linked verses

The verses this one reaches5

Matthew 12:26
If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
Matthew 12:31–34
Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luke 11:15
but some of them said, “It is by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons, that He drives out demons.”
Matthew 4:10
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
James 3:5–8
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Featured studies

Featured studyPrayer in Luke — Jesus at Every HingeThis study walks through this verse.

About this book

The Return of the Prodigal Son — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Luke — Luke's 'orderly account' (1:3) follows Jesus from Bethlehem through the long travel narrative to Jerusalem and the Emmaus road.

Canon: New Testament
Author: Luke, beloved physician (Col 4:14), travel-companion of Paul
Date: c. AD 60–62

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 4:10
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:13–14
  Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
- Deuteronomy 10:20
  You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.
- Joshua 24:14
  Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
- Luke 4:8
  But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- 1 Samuel 7:3
  Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts…
Through
Luke 11:15
but some of them said, “It is by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons, that He drives out demons.”
leads to
- Matthew 9:34
  But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that He drives out demons.”
Through
Matthew 12:26
If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
leads to
- Colossians 1:13
  He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
- John 12:31
  Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

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