Mark 3:23

23 And he called them unto him and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

Mark 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 3:23

And he called them unto him
The Jerusalem Scribes, to come nearer to him, and attend to what he had to say in defence of his character and miracles:

and said unto them in parables:
similitudes, and proverbial expressions, as the following seem to be,

how can Satan cast out Satan?
or one devil cast out another? how unreasonable is it to suppose it? can it ever be thought that such, whose interest it is to unite, would ever oppose and dispossess one another? if therefore, as if he should say, I am Beelzebub, or have him, and he is in me, and I am in confederacy with him; was this the case, can any think I should ever cast him out of others, as I do?

Mark 3:23 In-Context

21 And when his friends and family heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him; for they said, He is beside himself.

22 But the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said that he had Beelzebub and that by the prince of the devils he cast out devils.

23 And he called them unto him and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot remain.

25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot remain.