And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
Parallel translations
- WEB If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will 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 hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
- 1 Jn 5:19And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
- Rev 20:2–3And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
- John 12:31Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
- Matt 4:10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
- Rev 9:11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
- Rev 16:10And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
- 2 Cor 4:4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
- John 16:11Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
- Rev 12:9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
- John 14:30Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath 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.