If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
Parallel translations
- KJV And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
- BSB If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
- NKJV If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
- NASB And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?
- NLT And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.
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 were casting out Satan, his kingdom would be self-destructing and could not stand.
Overview
Jesus presses the absurdity of the charge to its logical end. Satan does not work against his own interests, so the exorcisms cannot be the devil's doing. The only remaining explanation is that a greater power, God's own Spirit, is at work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Col 1:13who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;
- 1 Jn 5:19We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
- Rev 20:2–3He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years,
- John 12:31Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.
- 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.’”
- Rev 9:11They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”, but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”.
- Rev 16:10The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain,
- 2 Cor 4:4in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.
- John 16:11about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.
- Rev 12:9The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
- John 14:30I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 12:26 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
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.