Mark 3:23
in Mark 3So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
KJV
And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
⋯
This verse in Mark 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
We all know how painful it is to have our conduct misunderstood and misrepresented, when we are doing right. It is a trial which our Lord Jesus Christ had to endure continually, all through His earthly ministry. We have an instance in the passage before us. The "Scribes who came down from Jerusalem" saw the miracles which He worked. They could not deny their reality. What then did they do? They accused our blessed Savior of being in league and union with the devil. They said, "He has Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casts he out devils."
This site's exposition
So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables
on Mark 3:23-27
In the strong man picture, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Each exorcism shows Satan bound.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoEIGHTY-THREE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, QUESTION 79.2 · Written before 430.
proposed
Now as for the Lord's saying: "Satan cannot drive out Satan," lest perhaps anyone using the name of some of the lowest powers when driving out a demon should think this opinion of the Lord's to be false, let him understand the point of this saying: Satan does spare the body or the senses of the body, but he tempts the senses for the purpose of dominating the will of the man in question, in a triumph of greater import, through the error of impiety. Satan does not strike for the body as such, but rather for the innermost self in order to work in him in the manner described by the apostle: "according to the prince of the power of this air, who is now active in the sons of disobedience." For Satan was not troubling and tormenting the senses of their bodies, nor was he battering their bodies, but he was reigning in their wills, or better, in their covetousness.
(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) The blasphemy of the Scribes having been detailed, our Lord shows that what they said was impossible, confirming His proof by an example. Wherefore it says, And having called them together unto him, he said unto them in parables. How can Satan cast out Satan? As if He had said, A kingdom divided against itself by civil war must be desolated, which is exemplified both in a house and in a city. Wherefore also if Satan's kingdom be divided against itself, so that Satan expels Satan from men, the desolation of the kingdom of the devils is at hand. But their kingdom consists in keeping men under their dominion. If therefore they are driven away from men, it amounts to nothing less than the dissolution of their kingdom. But if they still hold their power over men, it is manifest that the kingdom of evil is still standing, and Satan is not divided against himself.
The Medieval Church2 voices
He refutes the hateful Jews with irrefutable examples. How is it possible, he says, for a demon to cast out demons, when even in ordinary houses we see that as long as those living in them are at peace, the houses stand well, but as …
And calling them together, he said to them in parables: How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. A kingdom and city divided …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he called them unto him,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
We all know how painful it is to have our conduct misunderstood and misrepresented, when we are doing right. It is a trial which our Lord Jesus Christ had to endure continually, all through His earthly ministry. We have an instance in the passage before us. The "Scribes who came down from Jerusalem" saw the miracles which He worked. They could not deny their reality. What then did they do? They accused our blessed Savior of being in league and union with the devil. They said, "He has Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casts he out devils." In our Lord's answer to this wicked accusation, there are expressions which deserve special attention. Let us see what lessons they contain for our use. We ought to notice, in the first place, how great is the evil of dissension and divisions . This is a lesson which is strongly brought out in the beginning of our Lord's reply to the scribes. He shows the absurdity of supposing that Satan would "cast out Satan," and so help to destroy his own power. He appeals to the notorious fact, which even his enemies must allow, that there can be no strength where there is division. "If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." This truth is one which does not receive sufficient consideration. On no point has the abuse of the right of private judgment produced so much evil. The divisions of Christians are one great cause of the weakness of the visible church. They often absorb energy, time, and power, which might have been well bestowed on better things. They furnish the infidel with a prime argument against the truth of Christianity. They help the devil. Satan indeed is the chief promoter of religious divisions. If he cannot extinguish Christianity, he labors to make Christians quarrel with one another, and to set every man's hand against his neighbor.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| προσκαλεσάμενος | proskalesamenos | having called to [Him] | G4341 → | 28 times |
| αὐτοὺς | autous | them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| παραβολαῖς | parabolais | parables | G3850 → | 50 times |
| ἔλεγεν | elegen | He was speaking | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| αὐτοῖς· | autois | to them: | G846 → | 5565 times |
| πῶς | pos | How | G4459 → | 103 times |
| δύναται | dunatai | is able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| σατανᾶς | satanas | Satan | G4567 → | 36 times |
| σατανᾶν | satanan | Satan | G4567 → | 36 times |
| ἐκβάλλειν; | ekballein | to cast out? | G1544 → | 79 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
προσκαλεσάμενοςhaving called to [Him]
proskalesamenosG4341 →28 times
αὐτοὺςthem
autousG846 →5565 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
παραβολαῖςparables
parabolaisG3850 →50 times
ἔλεγενHe was speaking
elegenG3004 →1325 times
αὐτοῖς·to them:
autoisG846 →5565 times
πῶςHow
posG4459 →103 times
δύναταιis able
dunataiG1410 →207 times
σατανᾶςSatan
satanasG4567 →36 times
σατανᾶνSatan
satananG4567 →36 times
ἐκβάλλειν;to cast out?
ekballeinG1544 →79 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 4:10“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
it 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…
- Deuteronomy 6:13–14
Through
Matthew 13:34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.
it leads to
- Mark 4:33–34
With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.
- John 16:25
I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
- Mark 4:33–34
Through
Mark 4:2And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,
it leads to
- Matthew 13:34–35
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.
- Matthew 13:34–35
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Augustine of Hippo, EIGHTY-THREE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, QUESTION 79.2; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.