The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.”
- KJV And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
- BSB 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.”
- NKJV And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
- NLT But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.”
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
Scribes from Jerusalem accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the prince of demons. It matters because it is a grave attempt to credit Christ's holy work to Satan.
Overview
Unable to deny Jesus' power, the religious authorities attribute it to Beelzebul rather than to God. This slander turns the truth upside down, calling the work of the Holy Spirit the work of the devil. Jesus' response will expose the absurdity and the deadly seriousness of such willful blindness to God's evident work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 15:1Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,
- Matt 10:25It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
- Matt 12:24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
- Matt 9:34But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.”
- John 7:20The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”
- John 8:48Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
- Matt 11:18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
- Mark 7:1Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem.
- Luke 11:15But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
- John 8:52Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’
- Luke 5:17On one of those days, he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them.
- Ps 22:6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
- John 10:22It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.
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Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
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Original language
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