And so He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?
Parallel translations
- WEB He summoned them, and said to 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?
- BSB So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?
- NKJV So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?
- NLT Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked.
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 answers in parables, asking how Satan can cast out Satan. It matters because it begins his reasoned exposure of the scribes' self-contradicting charge.
Overview
Jesus meets the accusation with logic: a divided kingdom destroys itself, so Satan would not work against his own. By summoning his accusers and reasoning openly, Jesus shows the irrationality of crediting his deliverances to the devil. The exchange demonstrates that his exorcisms in fact signal Satan's defeat, not his cooperation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Matt 12:25–30Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
- Luke 11:17–23But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.
- Matt 13:34Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,
- Mark 4:2He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,
- Matt 4:10Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
- Ps 49:4I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp.
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Christ at the center
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.'
How Mark 3:23 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.