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So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Luke 10:18 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven.
  • KJV And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
  • NKJV And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
  • NASB And He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
  • NLT “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus says He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. The mission's success signals Satan's defeat through the advancing kingdom.

Overview

Jesus' words declare the decisive overthrow of Satan that His ministry inaugurates. The disciples' victories over demons are visible signs of this larger defeat of the evil one. The verse points to the triumph of God's kingdom that will be sealed at the cross and consummated at the end.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Rev 12:7–9Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
  • Isa 14:12How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
  • John 16:11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.
  • John 12:31Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.
  • Rev 9:1Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
  • Heb 2:14Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
  • 1 Jn 3:8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
  • Matt 4:10“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
  • Rev 20:2He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 10:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 10:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.