Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
Parallel translations
- WEB But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder, unless he first binds the strong man; and then he will plunder his house.
- KJV No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
- NKJV No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
- NASB But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
- NLT Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
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
No one can plunder a strong man's house unless he first binds the strong man. It matters because Jesus reveals that his exorcisms mean he has overpowered Satan.
Overview
Jesus pictures himself as the stronger one who binds the 'strong man,' Satan, and then frees his captives. His deliverances are not collaboration with the devil but conquest of him. This points to the heart of his mission, the decisive defeat of Satan accomplished at the cross and resurrection, liberating those held in bondage.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Isa 49:24–26Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?
- Matt 12:29Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
- Luke 11:21–23When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.
- Eph 6:10–13Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
- Rev 20:1–3Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
- 1 Jn 4:4You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- Isa 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- Isa 27:1In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
- Col 2:15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
- 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.
- 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.
- Rom 16:20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
- Isa 61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- John 12:31Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.
- Luke 10:17–20The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”
- 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,
- Gen 3:15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
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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 3:27 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.