Mark 3:23

23 And he called them together, and he said to them in parables, How may 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 kinsmen had heard, they went out to hold him; for they said, That he is turned into madness.

22 And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem, said, That he hath Beelzebub, and that in the prince of devils he casteth out fiends.

23 And he called them together, and he said to them in parables, How may Satan cast out Satan?

24 And if a realm be parted against itself, that realm may not stand.

25 And if an house be parted against itself, that house may not stand.