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Mark 3:30

in Mark 3

Jesus made this statement because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

KJV

Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

This verse in Mark 3

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Mark · Written before 735.

Because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit." For those who neither believe in the Holy Spirit nor believe He is God, nor believe He is indeed God but less than the Father and the Son, and confess this, being led by human ignorance …

This site's exposition

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven

on Mark 3:28-30

The sweeping breadth of verse 28, all sins, all blasphemies, is stated first so the one exception in verse 29 lands with its full weight, he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. Mark supplies the interpretive key immediately, verse 30 stating plainly what provoked the saying, because they said, he hath an unclean spirit, so the unforgivable sin in context is the scribes' specific act of calling the Spirit's own work in Jesus the work of an unclean spirit instead. The bench notes the traditions differ on how far to apply the warning beyond this scene, some reading it as a settled rejection possible only to a hardened few who have seen the clearest evidence and called it evil, others reading it as a standing warning wherever that same deliberate inversion is repeated, and the exposition names both without settling between them.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Pseudo-Chrysostom

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 500.

proposed

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) He says indeed, that blasphemy concerning Himself was pardonable, because He then seemed to be a man despised and of the most lowly birth, but, that contumely against God has no remission. Now blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is against God, for the operation of the Holy Ghost is the kingdom of God; and for this reason, He says, that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost cannot be remitted. Instead, however, of what is here added, But will be in danger of eternal damnation, another Evangelist says, Neither in this world, nor in the world to come. By which is understood, the judgment which is according to the law, and that which is to come. For the law orders one who blasphemes God to be slain, and in the judgment of the second law he has no remission. However, he who is baptized is taken out of this world; but the Jews were ignorant of the remission which takes place in baptism. He therefore who refers to the devil miracles, and the casting out of devils which belong to the Holy Ghost alone, has no room left him for remission of his blasphemy. Neither does it appear that such a blasphemy as this is remitted, since it is against the Holy Ghost. Wherefore he adds, explaining it, Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

(Serm. 71, 12, 21) Or else impenitence itself is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which hath no remission. For either in his thought or by his tongue, he speaks a word against the Holy Ghost the forgiver of sins, who treasures up for himself an impenitent heart. But he subjoins, Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit, that he might show that His reason for saying it, was their declaring that He cast out a devil by Beelzebub, not because there is a blasphemy, which cannot be remitted since even this might be remitted through a right repentance: but the cause why this sentence was put forth by the Lord, after mentioning the unclean spirit, (who as our Lord shows was divided against himself,) was, that the Holy Ghost even makes those whom He brings together undivided, by His remitting those sins, which divided them from Himself, which gift of remission is resisted by no one, but him who has the hardness of an impenitent heart. For in another place, the Jews said of the Lord, that He had a devil, (John 7:20.) without however His saying any thing there about the blasphemy against the Spirit; and the reason is, that they did not there cast in His teeth the unclean spirit, in such a way, that that spirit could by their own words be shown to be divided against Himself, as Beelzebub was here shown to be, by their saying, that it might be he who cast out devilso.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Mark · Written before 1107.

proposed

But when they see that He performs undeniable miracles, and yet blaspheme the Holy Spirit, that is, the miraculous works proceeding from the Holy Spirit, then how will they receive forgiveness if they do not repent? When they were scandalized by the flesh of Christ, …
Or this is meant; that he will not deserve to work out repentance, so as to be accepted, who, understanding who Christ was, declared that He was the prince of the devils.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. The disrespect which Christ's kindred, according to the flesh, showed to him, when he was preaching (and they knew very well that he was then in his element); they not only stood without, having no desire to come in, and hear him, but they sent in a message to call him out to them (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

3 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Because they, said, he hath an, unclean spirit.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

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."
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

5 Greek words

Every 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.

  • ὅτιFor

    hotiG37541292 times

  • ἔλεγον·they were saying;

    elegonG30041325 times

  • πνεῦμαA spirit

    pneumaG4151378 times

  • ἀκάθαρτονunclean

    akathartonG16932 times

  • ἔχει.¶he has.

    echeiG2192707 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    John 10:20

    Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”

    it leads to

    • John 7:20

      “You have a demon,” the crowd replied. “Who is trying to kill You?”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Mark 3:21

      When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”

    • John 8:52

      “Now we know that You have a demon!” declared the Jews. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet You say that anyone who keeps Your word will never taste death.

    • John 8:47–48

      Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

  • Through

    Mark 3:22

    And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”

    it leads to

    • Matthew 10:25

      It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his…

    • Matthew 15:1

      Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,

    • Matthew 12:24

      But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”

    • Matthew 9:34

      But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that He drives out demons.”

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.