Mark 3:23

23 And, having called them near, in similes he said to them, `How is the Adversary able to cast out the Adversary?

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 his friends having heard, went forth to lay hold on him, for they said that he was beside himself,

22 and the scribes who [are] from Jerusalem having come down, said -- `He hath Beelzeboul,' and -- `By the ruler of the demons he doth cast out the demons.'

23 And, having called them near, in similes he said to them, `How is the Adversary able to cast out the Adversary?

24 and if a kingdom against itself be divided, that kingdom cannot be made to stand;

25 and if a house against itself be divided, that house cannot be made to stand;