20 And He *came [a](A)home, and the (B)crowd *gathered again, (C)to such an extent that they could not even eat [b]a meal. 21 And when (D)His own [c]people heard about this, they came out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “(E)He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who came down (F)from Jerusalem were saying, “He [d]is possessed by [e](G)Beelzebul,” and “(H)He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 (I)And so He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in (J)parables: “How can (K)Satan cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if (L)Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but [f]he is finished! 27 (M)But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

28 (N)Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit; 29 but (O)whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:20 Lit into a house
  2. Mark 3:20 Lit bread
  3. Mark 3:21 Or family
  4. Mark 3:22 Lit has Beelzebul
  5. Mark 3:22 One early ms Beezebul; some early ancient versions Beelzebub
  6. Mark 3:26 Lit he has an end

Jesus and Beelzebul

20 Now[a] Jesus[b] went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat. 21 When his family[c] heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 The experts in the law[d] who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,”[e] and, “By the ruler[f] of demons he casts out demons!” 23 So[g] he called them and spoke to them in parables:[h] “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If[i] a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come. 27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s[j] house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.[k] 28 I tell you the truth,[l] people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter.[m] 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin”[n] 30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”[o]).

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:20 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
  2. Mark 3:20 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  3. Mark 3:21 tc Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (hoi parautou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou hoi grammateis kai hoi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary.tn On the meaning “family” for οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (hoi parautou), see BDAG 756-57 s.v. παρά A.3.b.β.ב.sn The incident involving the religious leaders accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil (3:22-30) is sandwiched between Mark’s mention of Jesus’ family coming to restrain him (the Greek word for restrain here is also used to mean arrest; see Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46, 49, 51) because they thought he was out of his mind (3:21). It is probably Mark’s intention in this structure to show that Jesus’ family is to be regarded as not altogether unlike the experts in the law [scribes] in their perception of the true identity of Jesus; they are incorrect in their understanding of him as well. The tone is obviously one of sadness and the emphasis on Jesus’ true family in vv. 31-35 serves to underscore the comparison between his relatives and the scribes on the one hand, and those who truly obey God on the other.
  4. Mark 3:22 tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
  5. Mark 3:22 tn Grk “He has Beelzebul.”sn Beelzebul is another name for Satan. So some people, particularly here the experts in the law, recognized Jesus’ work as supernatural, but called it diabolical.
  6. Mark 3:22 tn Or “prince.”
  7. Mark 3:23 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
  8. Mark 3:23 sn Jesus spoke two parables to demonstrate the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. The first parable (vv. 23-26) teaches that if Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. The second parable (v. 27) about tying up a strong man proves that Jesus does not need to align himself with the devil because Jesus is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (1:12-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 3:29-30). For an explanation of what a parable is, see the note on parables in 4:2.
  9. Mark 3:24 sn The three conditional statements in vv. 24-26 express the logical result of the assumption that Jesus heals by Satan’s power, expressed by the religious leaders. The point is clear: If the leaders are correct, then Satan’s kingdom will not stand, so the suggestion makes no sense. Satan would not seek to heal.
  10. Mark 3:27 sn The strong man here pictures Satan.
  11. Mark 3:27 sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.
  12. Mark 3:28 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
  13. Mark 3:28 tn Grk “all the sins and blasphemies they may speak will be forgiven the sons of men.”
  14. Mark 3:29 sn Is guilty of an eternal sin. This passage has troubled many people, who have wondered whether or not they have committed this eternal sin. Three things must be kept in mind: (1) the nature of the sin is to ascribe what is the obvious work of the Holy Spirit (e.g., releasing people from Satan’s power) to Satan himself; (2) it is not simply a momentary doubt or sinful attitude, but is indeed a settled condition which opposes the Spirit’s work, as typified by the religious leaders who opposed Jesus; and (3) a person who is concerned about it has probably never committed this sin, for those who commit it here (i.e., the religious leaders) are not in the least concerned about Jesus’ warning. On this last point see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:645-46.
  15. Mark 3:30 sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.