And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive.
Parallel translations
- WEB If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he can’t stand, but has an end.
- KJV And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
- BSB And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come.
- NKJV And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.
- NASB And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!
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
If Satan is divided against himself, his end has come. It matters because Jesus shows the accusation would mean Satan's own destruction, which is absurd.
Overview
Jesus completes the argument: a self-opposing Satan would be finished, so his charge collapses. The real truth is that Jesus is bringing about Satan's end, but by overpowering him, not by serving him. His ministry announces that the kingdom of God is invading and conquering the kingdom of darkness.
Cross-references & the web
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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 3:26 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
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