Mark 3:23

23 And he called them vnto him and sayde vnto them in similitudes. How can Satan drive 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 they that longed vnto him hearde of it they went out to holde him. For they thought he had bene beside him selfe.

22 And ye Scribes which came fro Ierusalem sayde: he hath Belzebub and by ye power of the chefe devyll casteth out devyls.

23 And he called them vnto him and sayde vnto them in similitudes. How can Satan drive out Satan?

24 For yf a realme be devided ageynste it silfe that realme cannot endure.

25 Or yf a housse be devided agaynste it silfe that housse cannot continue: